The inspirational Stage 3 students at this school completed a comprehensive action based learning unit on road safety education, with their teacher librarian, Sheridan Oborn leading the way.

Sheridan learned about meaningful student involvement and incorporating road safety into a whole-school approach after attending a Road safety education: Safer behaviours through PDHPE K-6 professional learning workshop. Hearing that road crashes are the highest cause of accidental death for children profoundly affected her, so she committed to making her lessons count.

Sheridan created a unit that integrated road safety education with PDHPE and other KLA?s, with the focus on developing effective ways to communicate road safety messages to the school community.

Students investigated road crash statistics, the Towards Zero campaign, each road user category (passenger, pedestrian, on wheels) and the key road safety messages.

Students chose a key message and developed their own communication strategy for a target audience of their choosing, kindergarten to year 4 classes. Some produced posters, whilst others made videos, 3D models and interactive presentations.

A really impressive project was by four girls who produced a detailed 3D model of their local area to use to teach about safe road user behaviours. The girls challenged younger students with various scenarios which were answered by acting out using the 3D model.

Sheridan and her Stage 3 students at Cowra Public School are excited to have their model entered into the local Recycled Art for Cowra Awards (RAFCA).

To make the project meaningful, Sheridan took her students to the school’s entry and exit points to observe real traffic conditions. She demonstrated the correct way to use the crossing, which the students then practised. This hands-on experience sparked lively discussions, especially when a car didn’t stop and drove straight through the crossing during the demonstration!

The students also wrote a letter asking parents to “take care in our highest risk exit point of the school.” This letter was published in the school newsletter and submitted to the local newspaper, and the students are eagerly waiting to see if it will be printed.

The safety message reached across the whole school with posters displayed around the grounds and their models exhibited publicly.

This learning experience involved many key skills, including:

• English: communicating, discussing, reading and writing, creative and critical thinking, and reflecting
• Maths: collecting, analysing, reasoning, and measuring data
• Science: planning, designing, and carrying out investigations
• ICT: using technology effectively to communicate and present ideas
• CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts): creating artworks for different audiences, representing real-world objects
• PDHPE: problem-solving, decision making, and communicating with others

It was especially rewarding to see students who usually find learning challenging become more engaged and successful. For example, shy students developed their speaking skills by interacting confidently with younger students.

Through this project, students also gained a deeper appreciation of the work teachers do every day.

Congratulations to Sheridan and all the Stage 3 students at Cowra Public School for their fantastic effort and achievement!