Case Studies

Surrey County Council

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  Title:

  Young Driver & Passenger Road Safety

  – Programme aimed at Year 12 students to form part of the Council’s overall Drive Smart Anti-social Driving Initiative.

  Overall Aim:

  To reduce the number of young people involved in road traffic accidents by teaching students how to keep themselves safe as pedestrians, drivers and passengers and to equip them with strategies and confidence to enable them to influence anti social driving behaviour.

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  Details

  We have just completed delivering a theatre in education programme to 36 schools and colleges across Surrey. The hour long seminar-style session raises awareness of the risks and consequences of failure to adopt safe behaviour as both drivers and passengers.

  Using a more sophisticated and subtle approach to theatre than programmes designed for younger age groups, the interactive session encourages participants to come up with realistic strategies that enable them to influence the behaviour of others (peers, family members) and to have the confidence to do so.

  Issues covered include speed, distractions, the influence of drink and drugs, seat belt use and peer pressure.

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  Key Challenge

  We felt the key to really successful working with this age group was not to fall into the typical trap of providing a dramatic scenario which focused too heavily of the consequences. We wanted to build upon much of the great work already done by Surrey County Council in really enabling the audience to understand how younger drivers think compared to older drivers.

  The audience explores the multiple influences which affect the mindset of the characters, who then ultimately challenge these negative mindsets. By genuinely increasing self-awareness the audience leaves with the knowledge and tools to challenge themselves and others to be safe on the road.

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  Outcomes

  • 94% of students felt more able to identify attitudes which can cause unsafe behaviour
  • 77% of students felt more able to speak up if someone they knew was taking risks
  • 86% of students felt the event had helped them learn how to influence someone who is taking risks
  • 95% of teachers felt this work was valuable to student learning

  "Excellent team work. Material to the level of the pupils. Good use of humour, but getting a message across. Informative, well delivered, and interesting."

  "I am writing to thank your team for an excellent presentation at Epsom College. The pupils responded well and have been positive about the issues raised in the time after...The presentation given was a perfect pre cursor to the Upper Sixth Driving Safety programme we run that includes a Safe Drive Stay Alive presentation at Dorking Halls in October.

  Once again many thanks for the presentation and please let me know if it will be run again next year."

  Lawrence Matthews, 6th Form Tutor Co-ordinator, Epsom College