Staff and pupils at 21 Nottinghamshire schools have been recognised for their hard work in improving levels of safety and courtesy among young people using public transport. The seven primary and 14 secondary schools each won Safemark certificates from Nottingham City Transport (NCT) in a ceremony held at the Council House yesterday (Tuesday 9 October).
But it was Trinity School in Aspley which carried away the top award, the Golden Safemark, for its consistent efforts to improve the standard of safety and behaviour among pupils who regularly use its school buses.
The Safemark scheme introduced a Code of Conduct on pupil travel between NCT and participating schools when it was launched in 2005.
Since then, the number of participating schools has grown to 40 and incidents of poor behaviour have fallen – in part because of the Code of Conduct, but also because head teachers are co-operating more fully with NCT when incidents have occurred.
This year, the Golden Safemark award was introduced to recognise the achievements of a single school whose pupils have consistently behaved better than average.
In all over 100 pupils and staff attended yesterday’s award-giving ceremony, with certificates being presented by Nottingham City Councillor Jane Urquhart, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services.
The winning primary schools were: Portland Primary School, Wollaton; Carrington Primary School; Springfield Primary School, Bulwell; St Theresa’s Catholic Primary School, Aspley; Netherfield Primary School; Mornington Primary School, Nuthall and Seely Junior School, Woodborough.
The winning secondary schools were: Elliott Durham School, Mapperley; Top Valley School; Gedling School; Trinity School; Christ the King Roman Catholic Comprehensive School, Arnold; Rushcliffe School; Ellis Guildford School, Old Basford; Harry Carlton School, East Leake; Wheldon School, Carlton; Farnborough School, Clifton; Manning School for Girls, Aspley, Djanogly City Academy, Sherwood Rise and Haywood Comprehensive School, Sherwood.
Three schools received special commendations: Harry Carlton, Djanogly City Academy and the Nottingham Bluecoat School and Technology College, in Aspley and Wollaton.
The decision to award the Golden Safemark to Trinity School was based on the recommendations of pupils, NCT drivers and members of the public who travel as bus passengers.
Trinity’s deputy head teacher, Steven Wadsley, said: “We have at least 18 members of staff outside the school every night to make sure our pupils get on their buses safely. We also received a £10,000 grant from Travel Plan which we’ve used to install CCTV at the front of the school. Although we’re not so naïve as to think that there are no problems on our buses, we don’t shy away from dealing with incidents and getting parents involved where necessary. I’ve been at the school for 12 years and the number of serious incidents of misbehaviour has fallen. In fact, we’ve had no serious incidents at all this year.”
Mr Wadsley was accompanied by two Trinity pupils, Jordan Hathaway and Calicia Daniel, both 15.
Calicia said: “It’s quite a privilege because we can now encourage other pupils to contribute to Safemark.”
Many of the primary schools which participate in the Junior Safemark scheme have been involved in a multi-agency safety project titled Safety Zone. Others, such as Seely, have put their efforts into specific projects such teaching pupils about the dangers of throwing stones at buses.
Councillor Urquhart commented: “All of the schools have worked hard in terms of increasing their pupils’ understanding of appropriate behaviour and public safety.”
She said that Safemark was also helping young people to learn the value of using public transport as an efficient means of travelling around Nottingham.
Safemark and Golden Safemark are both supported by the Respect for Transport campaign, which aims to reduce actual and perceived levels of crime and anti-social behaviour on Nottingham’s buses and trams.
Respect for Transport was launched in July 2004 and is backed by Nottinghamshire police, Nottingham City Council, Nottingham City Transport, Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottingham Express Transit, JC Decaux, British Transport Police and Greater Nottingham Transport Partnership’s The Big Wheel.
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