Rodborough School’s road safety campaign

Students of Rodborough School in Godalming were concerned that the local road infrastructure was not very safe for the number of students walking and biking to school in the area.

“We wanted to gather information about the problem and also spread awareness at the same time. We decided that visiting local primary schools to talk to the pupils there would be perfect. Before we visited, we created presentation slides to help get our message across. Our presentation was great and feedback was that it was well delivered to all of the schools.

“Following this, we conducted a survey to inform our action plan to improve road safety outside the school. This involved finding various metrics for how pupils travel to school, and why they travel in the way they do, as well as collating issues and feedback they can give about their commute. Issues included individuals being unable to walk as there is no pavement in parts, and feeling that their commute is unsafe due to the lack of proper crossing facilities.

“We took this information and wrote a letter to the council to try and convince them to improve local infrastructure so that the safety of pupils on their way to school is guaranteed. We worked together as a group when drafting the letter so that we could be very persuasive. We are now waiting for a reply.

“We hope that the other pupils are now both more aware of road safety as well as their rights to be able to campaign to their local government for a better quality of life.”

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