Press Release
Junior Road Safety Officer Presentations
Child deaths on Scottish roads rose from 121 in 2007 to 124 in 2008*. With this in mind Shetland schools take part in the Road Safety Scotland (RSS) initiative for Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSO). RSS launched the JRSO scheme in 2002 as part of a national strategy for road safety education in all Scottish schools. Working with their local Road Safety Officers, primary schools in Scotland are encouraged to appoint two JRSOs from Primary 6 or 7 for a one-year period, to be road safety champions in their school.
The aim of the JRSO scheme is to empower children to highlight road safety issues within their school and to help reduce the number of child deaths and casualties on our roads. Throughout the year they will be required to carry out four main tasks including, creating and maintaining a prominent notice board, running school competitions, giving class or assembly presentations and using the website (www.jrso.com). The JRSOs are supported during their year in post by an individual at the school along with regular visits from their local Road Safety Officer.
In Shetland there are 20 Schools taking part in the JRSO scheme with 58 Shetland pupils being appointed as JRSO’s.
On Friday 11th June 2010 in the Town Hall, a Presentation day was held to award this years JRSO’s with their certificates. The JRSO’s from each school also gave a small presentation of their work over the last year. These ranged from a short play, to PowerPoint presentations, to rap songs.
Councillor Iris Hawkins, Chair of the Road Safety Advisory Panel said: “I was delighted to present certificates to this years outgoing JRSO’s following their exciting presentations on Friday morning. I was pleased to see how confident the young people of our schools are, standing up and giving presentations to a hall full of people. These pupils are our drivers of tomorrow and they are learning and teaching their peers how to keep Shetlands roads safe.”