Pedestrian Skills Training
Purpose:
To encourage students to walk more by giving them the knowledge and skills they need to be able to do so safely and confidently.
Description:
Comprehensive skills-based education session(s) designed to teach children about the benefits of walking, how to identify safety risks, and how to use common street features such as traffic signs, signals and crossings. Sessions are usually led by qualified instructors, working with a group of children to take them through several hours of teaching and coaching.
Initial introductory learning can take place in the classroom, but in order fully develop skills and confidence, training should include an experiential component where students practice applying what they have learned, with supervision, out on local streets. A program might also include follow-on classroom learning to reinforce what students have learned over time, and parent communication to reinforce the learning at home and help foster positive parental attitudes toward independent mobility for children.
If you are also running a Cycling Skills Training program, be sure to consider how it could be delivered in coordination with your Pedestrian Skills Training to improve efficiency of program delivery.
What you will need:
Trained instructors, curriculum (see the Resources section), suitable learning space (gymnasium, school yard, community centre, local park, local streets).
Help:
Teachers, community organizations, school transportation staff, parents, volunteers.
Resources:
Sidewalk Smarts Program by Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region
Making Tracks Program by the Ecology Action Centre
Niagara Student Transportation Services:
– Interactive Pedestrian Safety Training Program
– Pedestrian Safety Video with Blue the Butterfly
Road Safety Training by the Ottawa Safety Council
The Walking and Wheeling Skills Resource Hub by Green Communities Canada contains many useful resources, including:
– List of existing training programs and providers,
– Lessons learned from existing programs,
– Tools to help scope out a program model and budget,
– Information on potential funding sources, and
– Vetted, transferable curricula to use in your community.