Scottish Government

Main Findings

• The Pack has had a significant effect in raising or reinforcing awareness of the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland among nursery staff, children and with parents, though its actual effects on Club membership are unknown.
• The Pack format and content are well regarded, considered attractive and useful.
• Nurseries have integrated the Pack into a wide range of road safety activities and used it to complement and reinforce them.
• Use of the Pack seemed to be influenced by the extent to which nursery staff had been briefed or trained in its use and familiarised, even briefly, with its contents.
• Generally, individual nurseries determined the format and approaches to road safety education and there was relatively little intervention on the part of pre 5s advisers in this area of activity.
• Examples of Good Practice included: training and briefing nurseries on the use of the Pack, linking the use of the Pack to road safety events, integrating use of the Pack within wider personal safety education, and raising parental awareness.

Introduction

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

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.

Parents of all three year olds are invited to register their child with the Club. Just under 60% of children invited become registered. 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.

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 by nursery schools and playgroups. In 2001 the Pack was modernised and revised.

Research Methods

RSOs were contacted and they were asked to provide information on which nurseries and playgroups the Pack had been delivered to.

RSOs were also interviewed regarding their views on the Pack.

Further evaluation involved a combination of personal and telephone interviews and a postal survey with:

• Nursery and playgroup staff drawn from over 200 nurseries throughout Scotland
• Local authority Nursery Advisers and Childcare Partnership Co-ordinators

Over two hundred nurseries and playgroups throughout Scotland were asked about their use of the Pack.

Resource Pack and Distribution

The CTCS Nursery and Playgroup Pack was re-launched in November 2001. It is a revised and updated version of an earlier nursery resources pack produced in 1996 to follow on from the launch of the CTCS, which had taken place a year earlier.

The pack contains a Nursery and Playgroup Guide, the CTCS booklets, a Story Tape, posters and templates to provide "colouring in" exercises, all based around the theme of road safety.

A recent inclusion is a "Curricular Links Guide" document. This connects road safety education activities to the curriculum for 3-5 year olds.

CTCS Parents' Cards and Stickers were also developed, which were designed to encourage parental involvement in road safety education. These cover four key road skills. As these are learned, children receive stickers to record progress and achievement.

The SRSC provided initial training to Road Safety Officers (RSOs) on the contents and use of the Pack in advance of its distribution to nurseries.

Road Safety Units were responsible for the distribution of the Pack.

Use and Awareness of Pack

About eighty percent of nurseries and playgroups contacted were aware of having the Pack. It was being used by about half of those who reported having the Pack. The Pack was well regarded as a useful resource to complement and support the work they already undertake on road safety. The Story Book and the Curriculum Links Books from the Pack were particularly valued, providing assistance with the planning of activities within the nursery.

Seventy per cent of those nurseries and playgroups using it indicated that the Pack has had a positive effect in raising awareness of the CTCS among teachers, children and parents, though its actual effects on Club membership are unknown

The Pack was positively viewed by RSOs.

Nurseries and playgroups have integrated the Pack into a wide range of road safety activities. Their suggestions for improving the Pack included more group activities and games, and inclusion of more road safety teaching aids.

Use of the Pack seemed to be influenced by the extent to which nursery staff had been briefed or trained in its use and familiarised, even briefly, with its contents.

In the main, individual nurseries and playgroups determined the format and approaches to road safety education and there was relatively little intervention on the part of pre 5s advisers in this area of activity. There was a relatively high level of awareness among advisers on the CTCS, though less specific awareness about the Nursery and Playgroup Pack.

Good Practice

In the course of the study a number of examples of Good Practice were identified around the following themes:

• Training and briefing nurseries and playgroups on the use of the Pack
• Linking the use of the Pack to road safety events
• Integrating use of the Pack within wider personal safety education
• Raising parental awareness

Conclusions

At the time of the evaluation, Road Safety Units reported that three quarters of all nurseries and playgroups had been delivered the Pack.

However, of the nurseries and playgroups surveyed, 20% of them who had been given the Pack were unaware of receiving it. Around half of those who did report receiving the Pack were using it with children in the nursery or playgroup.

Awareness and use of the Pack appear greatest in nurseries and playgroups where it has been distributed either personally by an RSO who has explained its use or linked to in-service training for nursery staff.

The Pack format and content are well regarded, considered attractive and useful. The Pack is always used to complement and reinforce other road safety education activities.

While there is 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 Pack has had a significant effect in raising or reinforcing awareness of the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland among nursery and playgroup staff and with parents.

To date, distribution of the Parents' Cards and Stickers seems to be less prevalent than the Pack, and it is estimated these are currently available in between five and ten per cent of nurseries.

Recommendations

Distribution

• Road Safety Units that still have to distribute the Pack should do so accompanied by a personal visit to the nursery.
• Where the pack has already been distributed, RSOs should aim to pay visits to the nurseries in their areas to encourage and support the use of the pack.
• A simple system for acknowledging receipt of the pack should be put in place.
• The SRSC should continue to provide support to RSO's in explaining the Curriculum Links document to nursery staff, if required.
• Where there are large nurseries, RSO's should be made aware that multiple copies of the pack are available.
• 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 may be better co-ordinated by the SRSC.
• Where Parents' Cards and Stickers still have to be distributed, this should be done in person by an RSO, and their use explained. When distributing CTCS materials, RSOs should encourage the nursery and playgroups to encourage parents to register their children with the CTCS.

Training

• We would recommend that Road Safety Units initiate discussions with local authority nursery and Pre 5s education advisers, offering support to incorporate training in the use of the Nursery and Playgroup Pack.
• Road Safety Units should also liase with the Scottish Pre-school Play Association to consider ways in which training in the use of the Pack can best be delivered to the network of its members.

Contents

• The Pack contents are well regarded and do not require to be changed at this stage.
• In any subsequent versions of the Pack, a number of additional items or elements might be considered for inclusion. These could include small group activities.
• 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 professionals working with children with special needs.