The aim of the initiative is to increase lower-secondary students’ awareness of safe behaviour on the road. The “I Ride Smart” project is addressed to teachers, lower-secondary students, local communities and municipal authorities in towns with fewer than 50,000 residents.
In addition to achieving its educational objectives in the teacher–student relationship, the programme also provides for cooperation between the participating entities: the police, local authorities and Bank BGŻ, which inspire one another and work together to improve road safety in their community.
Stages of the initiative:
- educational: includes lessons conducted by a teacher, during which students gain knowledge about safe behaviour on the road and applicable traffic regulations
- social: as part of sharing knowledge and cooperating with the local community, lower-secondary students prepare a city game based on a map of road-safety problems observed in their community. The programme includes an interschool competition for a social-change project presented as a short video report. Valuable prizes are available for the local authority, school and lower-secondary students, including mountain bikes and interactive whiteboards.
Every student at our school received a useful reflective item from the “I Ride Smart” programme. The teaching aids were supplemented with an educational game from the “I Ride Smart – I Love Cycling” programme. A quiz, charades and a board game in one!
All the school’s students learn through play during road-safety lessons. Among other things, they tested how reflective items work in the dark. They were informed of the obligation to wear reflective elements outside built-up areas.
On 25 November, the Sybiracy Lower Secondary School in Jerzmanki held a special day aimed at reminding everyone of traffic rules and first aid during accidents.
The students had to complete tasks related to road safety, moving around on the road and providing first aid to an injured person.
The police, the fire service and Bank BGŻ in Zgorzelec supported the lower-secondary students during the game. After completing the tasks, meetings with firefighters and police officers were held. At the meeting with the firefighters, the students could test their skills by taking on the role of uniformed officers—for example, Magda and Karolina learned how to cut through metal structures.
The day ended with prizes being awarded to the groups that received the most points, followed by a commemorative group photograph. Every game participant also received something reflective.
“I really enjoyed the event; it made me realise how important reflective items and safety are in traffic. The organisers of ‘I Ride Smart – Reflective Outdoor Game’ were Classes Ib and IIa, under the watchful supervision of Ms Barbara Andrzejak,” says Karolina Banaszewska from Class III b. “I hope there will be more events like this at our school!”
What is more, at a meeting with the head of Gmina Zgorzelec, Piotr Machaj, and the head of the Education, Promotion and Development Department of the Gmina, Małgorzata Dzięcielska, the students of the Sybiracy Lower Secondary School in Jerzmanki presented the local-government officials with a Road Problems Map.
The aim of this action is to draw the attention of officials and residents of Gmina Zgorzelec to local road-safety problems and encourage measures to solve them. The students collected 89 signatures for the petition to the head of the Gmina.
“In it, we call for support for specific measures to improve road safety. The road-safety assessment, including surveys conducted by the Road Traffic Expert among 122 residents of Gmina Zgorzelec, confirms which places require improvements in pedestrian and cyclist safety. We believe that building pavements for pedestrians, cycle paths and traffic lights, repairing verges and road surfaces, and installing speed-limit signs in the localities of Gmina Zgorzelec will improve safety on these roads. The daily journey to school for students at our lower-secondary school will become safer. We believe that implementing the proposed changes will help prevent dangerous incidents in these specific places,” the project participants say.
During the meeting, the head of Gmina Zgorzelec confirmed that the lower-secondary students’ assessment was very accurate. Details on the Gmina Zgorzelec website.
B.A./Gmina Zgorzelec/ii