Scottish Government

EVALUATION OF THE CHILDREN'S TRAFFIC CLUB IN SCOTLAND: NEW NURSERY AND PLAYGROUP PACK

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 In September 2002, ODS Ltd. was commissioned by the Scottish Road Safety Campaign to carry out an evaluation of the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland (CTCS) Revised Nursery and Playgroup Pack.

1.2 The CTCS was introduced in 1995 as a way of raising awareness among parents and developing key road safety awareness and skills in younger, pre-school children. The club works by providing to children registered with it, a series of structured road safety activities in a number of workbooks.

1.3 Parents of all three year olds are invited to register their child with the Club. Just under 60% of children invited become registered with the club. The proportion of children registered is falling slightly since the scheme was first established. However a greater cause for concern is that in more disadvantaged areas where child involvement in road casualties is disproportionately higher, uptake rates are lower.

1.4 In order to compensate for this and to increase the impact of the Club's activities, the Scottish Road Safety Campaign developed a number of initiatives. One such initiative was the production of a complementary resource pack for use with nursery schools and playgroups. This pack has recently been modernised and revised. A recent inclusion is a "Curricular Links" document which connects road safety education activities to the curriculum for 3-5 year olds. Parents' Cards and Stickers were also developed, which were designed to encourage parental involvement in road safety education.

CHAPTER TWO: BACKGROUND TO STUDY

2.1 The CTCS Nursery and Playgroup Pack was re-launched in November 2001. The pack is a revised and updated version of an earlier nursery resources pack produced in 1996 following on from the launch of the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland in 1995.

CTCS NURSERY AND PLAYGROUP PACK CONTENTS

2.2 The contents of the pack include:

• Children's Traffic Club Books 1-6
• Children's Traffic Club Storybook
• A range of posters and wall charts.
• Masters and templates for "colouring in" activity
• Story tape
• Curricular Links Book
• Nursery and Playgroup Guide

2.3 The pack includes an updated Nursery and Playgroup Guide, which offers suggested learning activities for nursery classes around specific themes and learning outcomes. Also new to the pack is a "Curricular Links Guide" which assists nursery teachers to link road safety education to the curriculum for children aged three to five years.

2.4 The pack also includes copies of the CTCS booklets which are sent directly through the post to children registered as members of the club. The aim is that the Nursery Pack is in itself a complete road safety resource but will also " complement any work done at home".

2.5 The Parents' Cards and Stickers have been designed for distribution by nurseries to encourage parental involvement in road safety education. Children are given a "Road Safety Card" which details four key road safety messages. These are taken home and signed by parents once the child has "learned the lesson". This is then returned to the nursery who give the child a sticker for the card displaying a CTCS character. Once the child has all four stickers on their card they receive one final, large sticker.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE NURSERY PACK

2.6 Responsibility for the distribution of the pack was given to the network of twenty two local authority and police Road Safety Units throughout the country.

SRSC TRAINING FOR ROAD SAFETY OFFICERS

2.7 In order to familiarise Road Safety Officers with the purpose and content of the new Nursery and Playgroup Pack, the Scottish Road Safety Campaign invited all RSOs to attend workshop events at the time of the launch of the pack. These workshops were well attended, and provided RSOs with training on the use of the pack, and in particular the new Curricular Links document.

CHAPTER THREE: OUR APPROACH

3.1 This report forms the second part of the evaluation of some of the key aspects of the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland, the first being an evaluation of the CTCS Superbus Tour and its impact on membership and participation in the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland.

This Report aims to assess the uptake and usefulness of the resource material provided to Nurseries and Playgroups including the material specifically for parents' use and information.

3.2 This has been done by contacting Road Safety Units to establish which nurseries and playgroups in their area have been distributed with resource packs and support materials. From this information, a sample of nursery and playgroups throughout Scotland were contacted. This has included a postal survey of 200 nurseries, a telephone survey of 118 nurseries, and visits to 15 nurseries.

3.3 The aim of these interviews has been to look at:

• Knowledge and involvement with the CTCS by children before and after any work undertaken using the new support materials
• Views on the parents' support material (stickers and cards), the level to which parents have participated in this, and its effectiveness in raising awareness of the CTCS among parents
• Suggestions for improvement by nurseries in terms of distribution of materials, access to materials and the content of resources.
• Good practice in nurseries in relation to the use of the Nursery Packs and road safety education in general

A number of telephone interviews were undertaken with the local authority nursery education advisers or the Childcare Partnership co-ordinator.

CHAPTER FOUR: SUMMARY OF CONSULTATIONS

ROAD SAFETY UNITS

4.1 Responsibility for road safety education varies between local authority areas within some, a local authority unit, usually incorporated within the Council's Roads (or equivalent department) and in other areas within a unit of the Police force.

4.2 Road Safety Units were initially contacted by telephone in September 2002 with a request to supply a list of nurseries that had been provided with the pack.

4.3 All twenty two road safety units had been contacted by telephone and letter with a request for lists of nurseries with the pack, all of whom responded with information. Two of these units confirmed that they have not yet distributed the pack, although one of these was due to distribute them at a training event for nursery teachers, scheduled for April. Two sub-areas of a road safety unit did not forward specific information regarding pack distribution although the pack has been distributed in these areas. A number were still in the process of distributing the pack, this was particularly true of two areas where less than ten packs had been passed on to nurseries at the time of contact.

4.4 The RSUs which responded to our request for information have distributed the pack to a total of 1,645 nurseries. This represents about 60 per cent of the nurseries in Scotland. Road Safety Units have to date ordered just over three and a half thousand packs from the Scottish Road Safety Campaign.

4.5 In some areas it became clear from interviews that a number of nurseries were not aware of receiving the pack. Explanations for this included where a nursery was part of a primary school, delivery of the pack may have been to the primary and it had not been "passed on". In larger nurseries, some staff acknowledged that they would not necessarily see all resources which arrived in the nursery.

4.6 Some RSUs indicated that when distributing the pack, they would spend some time with nursery staff explaining the purpose and contents of the pack. The ability to do this was limited by the numbers to be distributed and the other demands being placed on the RSO's time. In other cases the pack was "dropped off".

4.7 Overall, Road Safety Officers had a positive opinion of the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland in general, and the Nursery and Playgroup Pack in particular. As one RSO stated - "We are very keen to promote the Children's Traffic Club in our area, and we are keen that nurseries complement this work. Nurseries are seen as key players in promoting the Club".

4.8 The RSOs generally felt that the Nursery and Playgroup Pack contained useful and high quality resources for promoting road safety. However, RSOs stated that the most important indicator of the value of the pack is the response of nurseries. All of the RSOs had received "really good feedback" on the pack, with the tape and storybook proving particularly popular among nurseries. The CTCS characters were also seen by nurseries as a useful and memorable way of teaching road safety to younger children .

4.9 Although all Road Safety Officers felt that the CTCS Nursery and Playgroup Pack was a valuable resource, one RSO suggested that many more resources were needed. It was suggested that the pack was "certainly useful and of a very high quality" but that this should be seen as a foundation which could be built upon. Ideally, the RSO suggested that a much wider range of resources should be available, such as 'hands on' resources for children which allowed for incidental learning. Another RSO felt that the Pack provided useful basic information for the nurseries to keep, and that this could be supplemented by receiving further resources on loan from the Road Safety Units. It was also suggested that the inclusion of stickers and gym cards had helped make the packs modern and more appealing.

4.10 The importance of involving parents in CTCS work was also stressed by RSOs. The Parents' Cards and Stickers were seen as very useful and a positive step for enabling nurseries to involve parents in road safety work. One RSO commented that the packs served a useful purpose particularly when children were not in the CTCS (which was greatly dependent on their parents). The pack provided other children in the nursery with access to an excellent resource. It was felt that the pack was also very useful as a "marketing tool" for the CTCS to parents.

NURSERIES AND PLAYGROUPS

4.11 Nurseries and Playgroups throughout Scotland were consulted on their views on the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland Nursery and Playgroup Pack. Nurseries were consulted in three ways:

Nursery Visits

4.12 A small number of nurseries (15) were visited, mainly to provide a contextual overview of the use of the pack and to assist with the development of the survey and to give a feel for what "good practice" might look like. These visits were to a range of nurseries including local authority nurseries, nursery departments of primary schools and private nurseries. The areas visited were Glasgow, North and South Lanarkshire, North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire.

Use of the Pack

4.13 Of the fifteen nurseries visited, twelve had received the revised CTCS Nursery and Playgroup Pack. The remaining three were still using the original version of the pack and reported not having yet received the revised pack. Of those twelve nurseries who had received the new pack, three had not yet made use of it.

Nurseries are using the pack flexibly, tending to use it as a resource that they could "dip in to" rather than working through it systematically. In most cases, the pack complemented other resources that nurseries were drawing on to teach road safety.

Training

4.14 Five of the nurseries reported having received training from local road safety staff on how to use the pack. Training had consisted of workshops introducing nursery staff to the pack, its use, as well as raising awareness of the other resources and support available to them from RSOs.

4.15 Some nurseries that were not using the pack felt that training or an introduction to the pack would have been useful. For example, in one nursery, it was reported that the pack had "arrived without any explanation" and had subsequently been put away with other resources and forgotten about.

4.16 On the other hand, one nursery teacher making extensive use of the pack felt that training from Road Safety Officers was not necessary because of the ease of use of materials. She gave very positive feedback regarding its value as a resource.

4.17 Many staff from nurseries - in one particular local authority - had attended training events. There was an enthusiasm for the materials in the pack from this group. Those that had attended training events seemed particularly aware of how to link the pack into the nursery curriculum. Those who had not used the pack planned to do so in the near future.

Opinions on Resources

4.18 Overall, nurseries found the resources to be accessible, easy to use and of a high quality and standard. One or two felt that there was too much emphasis on written materials and that the CTCS workbooks and storybooks were not always appropriate for the nursery environment.

4.19 Nurseries that were using the pack gave positive feedback on its usefulness as a resource. The appearance of the pack was viewed as "up to date" and an attractive resource that was "bright and appealing" to children. One nursery commented, "the characters are good…child-friendly". Resources were seen as being of a high quality, with material for teachers being well laid out and easy to follow. Overall, teachers saw the materials as an effective resource in helping to increase road safety awareness among children.

4.20 A number of nurseries commented that some of the resources or suggested activities were best suited to work with small groups, one to one work or for use by parents with their children. A number of nurseries commented that the pack was an improvement on older materials.

4.21 Nurseries were asked specifically about each resource element within the pack:

• Masters and templates

Nurseries had different views about the value of these. There are for example, varying views in nurseries of the value of "colouring-in" activities. One nursery was quite cautious of using them. However, several nurseries made use of them to reinforce road safety lessons in a fun way. In one, a member of staff frequently used the colouring templates and found them to be "useful and helpful". Another nursery felt that the templates were ideal for giving to children to decorate and familiarise them with the CTCS characters.

• Wall Charts and Posters

Resources such as discussion posters and wall charts were singled out by several nurseries as an effective way to stimulate discussion and learning among the children and focus their attention. The alphabet poster and the height chart from the CTCS were mentioned specifically as being particularly useful and maintained the children's interest. In several nurseries the posters and charts had been placed in the area where parents drop off and meet their children. This was seen as a useful way of publicising the CTCS and gaining parents' interest.

• Curricular Links and Guide

These were felt to be valuable by all the nursery staff using the pack. Among those that were not, they were also seen to be a valuable resource to have. Most nurseries already covered road safety but enhancing an awareness of the curricular links was valued. The style and layout of the Curricular Links Guide was commented on as maximising the benefits of this. Staff who had undergone training or familiarisation with the pack seemed more likely to have an awareness and recognise the value of this part of the pack.

The Guide was seen as a clear and helpful resource that contained "more manageable" and "less adult-led" activities than previous CTCS resources. The layout of the Guide was also praised, following a format that nursery teachers would use to plan their learning activities. Nurseries that had used the guide had tended to pick and choose elements to suit circumstances rather than working through it one theme after another.

• CTCS Books and Storybook

The CTCS books were seen as most useful for one to one and small group work. Some nurseries indicated that it could be difficult to get the time and lack of interruption to work in a sustained way on the books. Most felt that there was always value in having new storybooks to hand.

The storybook was also praised by one nursery as having "people and scenarios that the children can relate to". In another case a nursery had adapted the stories to fit the nursery environment by linking them to activities. Overall, the pack was praised for being clear and attractive in its presentation with additional explanatory material for teachers proving to be a helpful resource.

• Parents Cards and Stickers

One nursery had received the Parents Cards and Stickers. They had received positive feedback on them from parents. It had been easy to administer and had raised awareness of the CTCS among parents.

Awareness of the CTCS among staff and children

4.22 There was a generally high level of awareness among nurseries about the existence and aims of the CTCS. However, some nurseries actively promoted the CTCS more than others and were more enthusiastic about the Club.

4.23 In one nursery, which had not yet received the new pack, staff that had been there for some time were aware of the CTCS but it was commented that over time its profile had declined in the nursery. Interestingly, two of the nurseries most enthusiastic about the CTCS were still using the old pack.

4.24 In general, nurseries did not know how aware their pupils were of the CTCS. However, it was clear that RSE was something that children enjoyed. One nursery that did know how many children were members commented that this was having an impact on their road safety knowledge, "it's surprising how much they do know". Teachers felt that the majority of parents were aware of the CTCS and had registered their children. One teacher commented that parents said their children were more interested now in road safety topics as a direct result of the CTCS

4.25 All the nurseries were positive about an initiative like the CTCS seeing it as "an excellent idea" with resources that appealed to the children because it was " bright and colourful".

4.26 It was difficult to assess from nursery visits the impact that the pack has had in increasing awareness and uptake of the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland. Although it was seen as a useful resource to promote road safety education, the role of the pack in promoting membership of the Club is less clear. One nursery suggested that a more effective way would be for nurseries to be given more of a role in promoting the registration of children to the club.

Suggested Improvements

4.27 Nurseries welcomed as many resources as possible, but particularly those that are interactive and activity-based. Some commented that the CTCS resources would benefit from more of the, "hands on things that the children can use", such as street scenes and cars, "children like to touch things and do things with them".

4.28 Although the books were seen as an excellent resource, they were sometimes difficult to use in the nursery environment, "games are more appropriate"… " the books are useful for one-to-one work…. Less useful for involving children in groups".

4.29 Some nurseries also felt that there should be a "bigger push" from RSO's for nurseries to use the pack and promote the CTCS and would welcome access to training or more contact with the RSO about the pack or the CTCS.

Road safety methods in the nurseries

4.30 All the nurseries reported using a wide variety of resources and a range of approaches to teach RSE. They all reinforced road safety education throughout the year, particularly during outdoor activities or excursions.

4.31 Several also indicated that they had a specific focus on road safety at a certain time of the year, either as a specific project or as an element of another project such as personal safety " Looking after ourselves".

4.32 RSE was also linked in with other themes. For example, in one nursery, road safety is covered as a specific project but is also linked to environmental themes and "People Who Help Us".

4.33 Many nurseries re-enacted real life scenarios to help pupils learn about RSE. One nursery had created a street scene in the playground outside the nursery. This included a zebra crossing and a "lollipop lady" and involved the children having to cross the road. Some also reported borrowing realistic resources from RSU's, such as mock traffic lights or lollipop sticks, to add to the realism of the situation being recreated.

4.34 CTCS resources were often used in conjunction with these activities. In one nursery a story from the CTCS had been used with a child on an individual basis to illustrate the dangers of running out into the road. Another nursery incorporated the resources into different lessons on number and language, in addition to road safety activities.

Telephone Survey

4.35 Telephone interviews were carried out with a total of 118 nurseries. Although we had been informed by RSOs that all of these nurseries had received the CTCS Nursery and Playgroup Pack, only two thirds of those contacted (79 nurseries) reported having received the pack. (See Appendix II ). These nurseries had received the pack between January and October 2002, with the majority receiving the pack in June, August or September.

Use of the Nursery Pack

4.36 Of the nurseries who reported receiving the pack, just under one third (25 nurseries) had used the pack. Of these:

• 64 per cent had used the discussion posters
• 60 per cent had used the tape
• 52 per cent had used the wall charts
• 48 per cent had used the story book
• 40 per cent had used the CTCS books

4.37 Just over three quarters of nurseries who had used the pack reported finding it easy to use. The resources in the pack had been used in a range of ways, including the introduction of one CTCS character per week or month, making puppets of the characters, enlarging copies of the characters and displaying these and displaying the wall charts and discussion posters. Some of the nurseries attempted to encourage links with parents through copying colouring sheets and sending them home with children. Others linked CTCS activities with visits from Community Police or Road Safety Officers.

Training

4.38 Fourteen per cent of the nurseries (10) had been trained in the use of the resource Pack. Training had either been in the form of either in-service meetings within the nursery (3) or briefing discussions with RSOs when the pack was delivered (7).

4.39 Training appears to have had an impact in encouraging nurseries to use the pack. Of the ten nurseries which received some form of training, six reported currently or recently using (elements of) the pack i.e. 60% of nursery staff familiarised with the contents and use of the pack had used it, compared with 25% of those who had received it with no briefing or training.

Raising Awareness of the CTCS

4.40 Most nursery staff interviewed were generally aware of the CTCS. Most also reported that the pack had been useful in reminding or "refreshing" their knowledge of the CTCS. Around a quarter of nursery staff interviewed indicated that they had subsequently discussed CTCS membership with parents, although there was no clear view on the extent to which parents had acted on this. One reported " I'm pretty sure that it would have encouraged some parents to send off the Club application"

4.41 Several respondents commented that they were aware of the CTCS leaflet being available in the nursery; however there was no clear view on whether this had resulted in parents registering their children with the Club. The CTCS "child height poster" also kept up the profile of the Club "Children regularly like to measure themselves against this - with their parents around"

4.42 The main view though that emerges is that the Nursery Pack was seen as a useful resource in its own right, rather than a promotional tool for the CTCS.

Parents' Cards and Stickers

4.43 Of the nurseries who had received the pack, nine per cent (seven nurseries) had received the parents' cards and stickers. This survey was carried out in November and December 2002 and many of the nurseries may not yet have received these cards. Only three of the nurseries had used the parents' cards and stickers, and all felt that these were "excellent". The nurseries felt that they created a "good reward system" for children through the stickers, and that they "have a positive effect on children recollecting the characters".

Suggested Improvements to the Pack

4.44 The majority of nurseries were content with the pack as it currently is. However, some nurseries suggested a number of potential improvements:

• Fluorescent arm bands or stickers
• Resources in CD Rom format
• Puppet characters which are more interactive and imaginative

Other Road Safety Work carried out

4.45 Almost all of the nurseries had carried out some form of road safety activity with the children. The main activities undertaken were:

• Visits from RSOs, "Lollipop people" or Community Police (30 per cent)
• Road safety awareness walks (20 per cent)
• Marked roads, traffic lights and road signs (16 per cent)
• Road safety projects/ weeks/ terms (12 per cent)
• Role play (9 per cent)
• Other - involvement of parents through colouring sheets, videos, car safety demonstrations and 'home packs', green cross code discussions, road safety displays, etc.

Postal Survey

4.46 A total of 200 questionnaires (see Appendix III) were distributed to a sample of nurseries throughout Scotland. The questionnaires were sent to a selection of nurseries identified by Road Safety Officers as having received the CTCS Nursery and Playgroup Pack. Nurseries were given an incentive to return the questionnaire - a road safety resource box provided by the SRSC. A total of 75 responses were received - a 38 per cent response rate.

4.47 Of the 75 nurseries responding 63 (84 per cent) reported having received the pack. As the Road Safety Officers were able to provide quite detailed information on the distribution of the packs, often with dates of delivery to nurseries, it could be assumed that the questionnaire was completed in by a member of the nursery staff who was not aware of the Pack. It would therefore be likely that these nurseries do not make regular, or any, use of the pack.

4.48 There was a significantly higher level of awareness of the pack among nurseries contacted by postal survey, where 84 per cent reported receiving the pack, compared with those involved in the telephone survey, where only 66 per cent reported receiving it. This can be attributed largely to the method of consultation. Firstly, those completing a postal survey would be more likely to return the form if they were aware of the pack, whereas the telephone survey would not be skewed in this way. Secondly, a postal survey may be passed to various staff members, one of whom may be aware of the pack, while a telephone survey relies on the individual contacted being aware of the pack.

4.49 Most of the nurseries surveyed had received the pack in the past year. One quarter of nurseries had received the pack less than six months ago, and 45 per cent between six months and a year ago. Thirty per cent of nurseries indicated that they had received the pack more than one year ago. Although it was stressed that the questionnaire related to a new CTCS pack, it is possible that these nurseries were referring to an older version.

Use of the Pack

4.50 Of the 63 nurseries that had received the pack, 47 (75 per cent) had made use of it. The most common resources used by the nurseries were the Story Book and the Nursery Guide.

4.51 The nurseries made a number of comments on the resources. While the majority of nurseries found the Story Book "excellent" and "at a good level for the nursery", one nursery felt that the stories were "weak and irrelevant". The guide was seen as "very helpful" and "very easy to follow", and the Curricular Links document was a "useful aid for planning time". The discussion posters were seen as "useful for display and discussion", with one nursery indicating that it was "good that there are town and city posters". The colouring sheets and tape were both seen as "great fun" with many nurseries stating that "the children particularly enjoy the songs". While the CTCS books were seen as useful, it was felt that "these are more helpful for parents to use at home" or "for older children".

Training

4.52 A number of nurseries (21), 38 per cent, had received some form of training in use of the Nursery Pack. This ranged from discussion with the RSO when the pack was delivered (6), through to joint training with other nurseries (9) and in-house training in individual nurseries (3). Of the nurseries that had received training, 82 per cent had made use of the pack. This compares to 52 per cent among nurseries that had not received training.

Raising awareness of the CTCS

4.53 Nurseries were asked if the Nursery Pack had made any difference to the awareness of the CTCS among their children. Of those using the pack, 70 per cent indicated that it had contributed to this. Respondents were asked to indicate in what ways this had been demonstrated. Some commented that the use in the nursery had triggered parents to "dig out" the CTCS books which they had at home. Another two nurseries mentioned the interest that had been stimulated in two year olds, whose parents were then alerted to the invitation to join the Club the children would receive in the next year. A number of respondents - about ten per cent - reported that some children did not seem to be aware of the Club, but as a result of nursery work and contact, encouraged parents to follow this up.

Parents' Cards and Stickers

4.54 One quarter of the nurseries which had received the pack (18) had also received the 'Parents' Cards and Stickers'. However to date, only four nurseries had used them. All four found the cards easy to use. Three of the four felt that it had raised the parents' awareness of the CTCS. One further nursery indicated that it had only just received the cards and stickers at the same time as the survey was being conducted, though would be likely to use them in the near future. Another nursery indicated that they intended to use the cards in conjunction with their road safety topic later in the term.

Suggestions for Improvement

4.55 Although the nurseries were generally satisfied with the pack, they did have some suggestions for improvement.

• Group activities: some of the nurseries felt that while the activities and resources were interesting and appropriate for individual work, they were not really suitable for group work within the nursery. These nurseries felt that it would be useful to have more games and group activities. (This suggestion has been reflected in the recent launch of the Road Safety Gym Cards in February 2003).
• 'Flexible' resources: nurseries suggested that it would be useful to have the resource pack designed as a 'road safety programme' with a schedule of activities which could be worked through over a week, a month or a term. Many of the nurseries taught road safety as part of month or term long projects such as ' Where we live' or 'Travel and transport' and would appreciate a range of activities to integrate into these projects.
• Visual aids: nurseries suggested that resources such as large traffic signs, puppets and large books would help children with group activities and 'imaginative play'.
• Copies of the resources: some larger nurseries and those attached to schools indicated that it would be useful to have more than one copy of the pack per nursery. Nursery staff indicated that because there is such a lot of material it takes a long time to become familiar with it, particularly if staff are sharing it within the nursery. One nursery also suggested that it should be easier to order more copies of resources such as stickers.
• Resources available in different formats: one nursery was a Gaelic language nursery and although they had made use of some of the pack, they had been unable to use the story books and CTCS books. This nursery felt that the pack could be an important resource, and that it would be very useful to have a pack produced in Gaelic. Another school which had received the pack was for children with severe physical disabilities. This school felt that the materials provided and underlying assumptions were not appropriate for their children.

Other Road Safety Work Carried Out

4.56 The nurseries had carried out a wide range of road safety activities, either through making use of the CTCS pack or other resources.

• Outdoor safety walks: Around one fifth of nurseries mentioned that they had carried out 'road safety walks' to reinforce with children the importance of road safety. In some cases the nursery staff took children out on walks in the area surrounding the nursery, while in other nurseries Community Police or Road Safety Officers took the children out. Other nurseries had made it a priority to talk about road safety on any outings.
• Work with parents: One nursery had three 'green story bags' containing road safety resources which they lent to the children for one week at a time to use with parents. Other nurseries sent home copies of the CTCS pack colouring sheets. Many nurseries felt that it was important to get parents involved in road safety work.
• Regular work within the nursery: The majority of nurseries undertook road safety work within the nursery. Some nurseries had road markings, traffic lights and costumes in order to reinforce road safety. Other nurseries carried out activities such as 'Road Safety Lotto', role play, group discussion and regular use of the resources in the CTCS pack.
• Road safety projects: Many of the nurseries had integrated road safety into projects or themes over a week, month or term. Themes included 'People who help us', 'Our community' and 'Looking after ourselves'. One nursery planned a Traffic Club week twice a year where parents are invited to join in and a topic is discussed each day. Other activities carried out by nurseries included a survey of traffic passing the nursery, visits from Road Safety Officers and road safety plays.

Overall Views from Postal Survey

4.57 Overall, 96 per cent of nurseries who had used it said that they found the Nursery Pack easy to use. Those that did not find it easy to use stated that they felt the pack was more geared towards one-to-one work, or that they had to share the pack with the school or other nursery classes. Over 70 per cent felt that the pack had made a difference to the knowledge of the CTCS Club by children in the nursery, and 100 per cent felt that it had increased the children's knowledge of road safety.

4.58 Some of the comments received include:

"It made it easier to explain the dangers to children without it being too frightening"

"Awareness increased among children and parents as we used it on a weekly basis and the children always looked forward to their stickers"

"The children found that the characters made the lessons more interesting"

"The pack made a great impact on children, and even the two year old children enjoyed it. Their knowledge of road safety has improved greatly"

Nursery Advisers and Childcare Partnership Co-ordinators

4.59 A small number of Childcare Partnership Co-ordinators and Pre-5 Curriculum advisers were contacted for their views on the CTCS and its role in local nurseries and playgroups.

4.60 There were varying levels of awareness of the CTCS. In general, staff had heard of the CTCS but did not really know very much about it. Childcare Partnership staff knew less about the CTCS. Pre-5 education advisers demonstrated more awareness of the CTCS and the Nursery Pack.

4.61 Consultees did not know how much the CTCS was being promoted by nurseries in their area. Nurseries are not being directed by the local authority as to how they use the CTCS pack or promote CTCS membership. The general consensus was that, at the moment, it is left up to individual nurseries to decide this, "road safety is part of the curriculum…how nurseries teach or promote road safety is up to them".

4.62 Most felt that the nurseries were an appropriate place to promote the CTCS but that this was the responsibility of the nurseries themselves. There was no clear view whether the local Education Department or Childcare Partnership could have a role in relation to this.

CHAPTER FIVE: GOOD PRACTICE

5.1 During the course of the study we came across a number of examples of good practice in relation to dissemination of the Nursery Resource pack and its application within nurseries. In this section we summarise these. As is often the case, good practice is not demonstrated through major activities but often small and relatively simple ideas.

TRAINING AND BRIEFING NURSERY STAFF

5.2 A number of local authorities have been able to work with their colleagues in Education Departments to incorporate training in the use of the Nursery pack in the in-service training for nursery staff. One particular example which we came across during the study was with the North Lanarkshire Road Safety Unit.

5.3 The Unit carries out a yearly programme of training with nurseries. The Unit has found that the optimum time for these is in Autumn to coincide with new intakes of children. Training sessions normally last half a day. In the last year 65 nurseries received the training with approximately 85 nursery staff involved. Nursery packs are distributed at the training sessions and are followed up by either a phone call or visit to the nurseries. There are also a number of requests received from nurseries for staff visits, to borrow equipment and general advice about the pack. The unit also runs training courses in further education colleges for students.

5.4 In the coming months the North Lanarkshire RSU in conjunction with local nursery advisors are setting up a training base in St James Primary School, Coatbridge. This school functions as a Pre five Nursery Training Centre and will feature a permanent display of road safety materials and will provide a centralised location to deliver training in the area.

LINKING USE OF THE PACK TO ROAD SAFETY EVENTS

5.5 Leslie Nursery in Fife holds a Children's Traffic Club week in May and September each year. Each day the nursery focuses on one particular topic, reading appropriate stories, singing songs from the tape and giving the children colouring sheets to take home.

5.6 In addition the nursery makes up its own stickers and gives each child a different one each day (e.g. 'Handy Hold' or 'Lucy Look' stickers). Parents are encouraged to join in during this week. Police and the lollipop lady are also invited into the nursery to support the teaching staff. The key aim of this week is to involve parents and to stress their responsibilities in relation to road safety.

5.7 Langholm Nursery in Dumfries and Galloway hold a week of road safety activities which focuses on a visit from the Road Safety Officer. The resources in the CTCS pack are used with a different character being introduced each day, and the children getting a colouring sheet to take home with them. This year the nursery hopes to also undertake outdoor activities with a new zebra crossing and street signs which the nursery recently acquired.

INTEGRATING USE OF PACK WITHIN WIDER PERSONAL SAFETY EDUCATION

5.8 In a number of nurseries, road safety education had been integrated within a wider programme of personal safety education. Dingwall Nursery in Highland had incorporated road safety into their "Looking After Ourselves" thematic approach. This covered a wide range of risk areas including fire, strangers, avoiding accidents in the home as well as road safety.

RAISING PARENTAL AWARENESS

5.9 Bellahouston Nursery in Glasgow send home a road safety pack with the children for a week at a time. This was to encourage parents to actively become involved in RSE with their children and reinforce the work being undertaken in the nursery.

5.10 Newburgh Nursery in Fife made use of the colouring masters and templates provided in the CTCS pack, sending these home for 'Home Link' work.

5.11 St. Serf's Nursery in Airdrie displayed the posters from the Nursery Resource Pack in the area of the nursery where parents collect their children. This was also with an objective of promoting awareness and membership of the CTCS.

CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CONCLUSIONS

6.1 To date, we estimate that the Nursery Pack has been distributed to two thirds of nurseries and playgroups in Scotland.

6.2 There is a relatively high level of awareness within a majority of nurseries about the existence of the pack - between 75-80% of those had received it.

6.3 About half of the nurseries that have the pack had not started to use it.

6.4 Awareness and use of the Nursery Pack appears greatest in nurseries where it has been distributed either personally by a Road Safety Officer who has explained its use or linked to in-service training for nursery staff. Even a short briefing visit to the nursery appears to significantly increase the likelihood of using the pack.

6.5 The pack format and content are well regarded, considered attractive and useful. A number of nurseries indicated a wish for more "group activities" and "games". While the Nursery and Playgroup Guide does contain a number of these, it may be useful to formulate more activities along these lines for use in nurseries. The SRSC has however recently launched CTCS 'Gym Cards' for nurseries which may go some way to addressing this need, as they do provide a number of physical group activities and games.

6.6 The pack was always used to complement and reinforce other road safety education activities which nurseries undertake, rather than being the only road safety resource within the nursery.

6.7 While there was general satisfaction with the pack as a whole, the Nursery and Playgroup Guide, the Curricular Links Book, the Story Book and the posters are the most valued and used elements of the pack. The individual CTCS "My Books" are the least used element.

6.8 The pack has had a significant effect in raising or reinforcing awareness of the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland among nursery staff and with parents. While it is impossible to say how this has been translated into Club membership, it would appear to have two significant effects. First it has increased the use of the CTCS resources in the home by parents whose children were already members, and secondly it has prepared parents of younger children for the future invitation to join and is felt likely to enhance the prospects of this.

6.9 To date, distribution of the Parents' Cards and Stickers seems to be less prevalent than the Nursery Pack, and we estimate these currently being available in between five and ten per cent of nurseries. Those using them have universally reported them as being very useful in reinforcing key road safety messages and helping parents to support their children to learn these. Children appear to like and value the cards and stickers. A number of consultees reported that these too raised awareness of the CTCS among parents.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Distribution

6.10 It is recommended that the distribution of the Nursery Pack to the one third of nurseries in Scotland who have not yet received the pack should be dealt with as a priority.

6.11 Where RSUs still have to distribute the Nursery Pack, it is recommended that they aim to do this accompanied by a training session or a personal visit to the nursery and short briefing on the purpose and content of the pack.

6.12 Without being over-bureaucratic, we would suggest that a simple system for acknowledging receipt of the pack, put in place by RSUs, could reduce the uncertainty of which nursery has it and which has not.

6.13 Where RSOs would benefit from advice on explaining the Curricular Links to nursery staff, they should invite the SRSC's Education Officer to provide them with a briefing and support, and should be made aware that any additional follow up support from the SRSC is available.

6.14 RSOs who have not already done so, should ensure copies of the pack are distributed to Pre 5s and Nursery Advisers, and the field work staff of the Scottish Pre-school Play Association. In the case of the SPPA, this contact may be best co-ordinated by the Scottish Road Safety Campaign.

6.15 Provision should be made for multiple copies of the pack to be provided to larger nurseries.

Encouraging the use of the Pack by those nurseries which already have it

6.16 Where the pack has already been distributed, RSOs should aim to pay visits to nurseries in their areas and provide training to encourage and support its use, especially to those nurseries which have not received any briefing when the pack was first distributed.

6.17 The SRSC should continue to promote the Nursery Pack to nurseries through undertaking awareness raising activities through a range of media, such as mailings to nurseries and to Pre-5s advisers and Scottish Pre-school Play Association field staff.

Training

6.18 In authorities where this has not progressed, we would recommend RSUs initiate discussions with local authority nursery and pre 5s education advisers, offering support to incorporate training in the use of the Nursery Pack with in-service training for nursery staff. Again, RSUs should invite the SRSC Education officer to provide support in these discussions if required.

6.19 RSUs which have not yet done so, should also liaise with the Scottish Pre-School Play Association to consider ways in which training in the use of the Nursery Pack can best be delivered to its network of its members. The SRSC could have a role in taking a lead on this at national level before local RSUs liaise with the SPPA regional offices and fieldworkers.

6.20 The forthcoming Training Resource for RSOs, currently being produced by the SRSC, should include training material on the Nursery Pack in terms of its purpose and content.

Nursery Pack Format and Contents

6.21 The pack contents are well regarded and do not require to be changed at this stage. However:

6.22 In any subsequent versions of the pack, a number of additional items or elements might be considered for inclusion. This could include the development of simple learning activities. These could be short, one page "lesson plans" badged with the CTCS "identity" which reinforce key road safety messages and skills. These would particularly focus on small group activities, such as those found in the CTCS 'Gym Cards' recently introduced by the SRSC. Again these would show "curricular links". In the short term, these might be made available via local RSUs or the SRSC web site. Additionally, RSUs could encourage nurseries to access the National Children's Traffic Club downloadable resources (when these become available).

6.23 We do not think it practical for any future version of the Nursery Pack to contain "substantial" learning aids such as puppets as was suggested by some consultees; however examples of aids such as reflective arm bands and stickers and smaller three dimensional games might be considered.

6.24 The SRSC may wish to consider ways in which the Pack can be adapted to meet the particular needs of young children with physical or learning disabilities. This should be done in consultation with nurseries working with children with special needs.

Parents Cards and Stickers

6.25 Where Parents' Cards and Stickers still have to be distributed, this should be done in person by an RSO along with a short personal briefing for nursery staff (as we recommend with the Nursery Pack). These visits could also be used to carry out recommendation 6.26 below.

Encouraging CTCS Membership

6.26 When distributing the Nursery Pack and/or Parents' Cards and Stickers, RSOs should encourage the nursery to encourage parents whose children are not members of the CTCS to join. Nurseries should be regularly contacted (at least once a year) to ensure they have supplies of the CTCS Pre School Registration Pack, Parents' Cards and Stickers, and leaflets.

6.27 We also understand that increasingly children will be able to join the CTCS through their nursery. This is to be welcomed and we would recommend that this opportunity is actively promoted throughout nurseries and playgroups by local RSUs.

Appendix I

Children's Traffic Club in Scotland (CTCS)
Nursery and Playgroup Pack -
Questionnaire

The Pack

1. Have you received a CTCS Nursery and Playgroup Pack?

(It is a yellow box folder which contains resources such as teacher's Guide, 3-5 Curricular links, story book, song tape, CTCS books, colouring sheets and wall posters)

2. Approximately how long ago did you receive the pack?

3. Did you receive any guidance/training from your local Road Safety Officer in the use of the pack?

If yes, what form did this take?

4. Has anyone in your nursery used the pack?

If no-one has used the materials, please go to Question 10.

The Materials

5. Please state whether you have used the following materials and whether you found these easy to use:

6. Have you received the 'Parents Cards and Stickers'?(Cards that get sent home for parents to sign after CTCS work has been undertaken at the nursery)

If yes:

7. Generally, have you found the materials easy to use?

If no, please state why:

8. Do you have any suggestions to improve the materials offered in the resource pack?

Impact of the Resource Pack

9. Did the introduction of the new Children's Traffic Club in Scotland pack make a difference to the knowledge of the club by children in your nursery?

If yes, please describe the difference:

10. Do you think that the materials have helped increase the children's knowledge of road safety?

11. Finally, can you give us details of any Road Safety work that you have done with your nursery, either using the CTCS pack or other resources?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. PLEASE RETURN THIS QUESTIONNAIRE BY FRIDAY 21 ^st FEBRUARY IN THE FREEPOST ENVELOPE PROVIDED.