New PST resource plugs gap

While piloting pedestrian skills training (PST) to reduce child casualties, the road safety team in Bradford discovered a lack of resources suitable for use with many of the city’s sizeable ethnic community.

While there are PST resources available nationally - Walk-Wise and Footsteps to name two – the Bradford team found nothing suitable for communities in which English is a second language.

"PST utilises parents to train their children - so there is a need to first train parents to show them how to teach children," explains Bradford’s senior RSO, Ken Scarlett. "Both children and parents must be able to relate to any resource used if training is to be successful."

To address this shortcoming, Bradford RSO Huma Rahman (in partnership with Keighley SRB and the Bradford West area panel) developed a new multi-purpose resource, 'Stepping Forward Together' (SFT). "SFT is designed to be used by teachers working with children and by tutors working with adult volunteers," says Huma. "A phonetic translation in the teachers’ notes helps monolingual tutors teach multi-lingual children. We also consulted the advisory service to ensure SFT fits into the National Curriculum."

SFT is predominantly pictorial and features images representative of the target communities and the Bradford area. It is designed for use in primary schools and with adults for whom English is an additional language. The format of the resource is simple and consists of a series of picture scenes, with each scene accompanied by a set of teachers’ notes.

Further information about SFT can be obtained from Ken Scarlett, senior RSO, City of Bradford MDC at ken.scarlett@bradford.gov.uk or by phone on 01274 434643.