Challenge

Road crashes are a leading cause of death and injury to children in New Zealand. In 2001, Land Transport NZ (now the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA)) asked Educating NZ to develop and deliver a road safety education strategy to reduce the number of children killed and injured on our roads.

Approach

We developed RoadSense – Āta Haere, a national professional development and support strategy for primary and intermediate schools. It aimed to:

• increase road safety education in schools
• help develop lifelong road safety thinking and learning
• create a safety culture in schools and communities.

We employed up to 12 RoadSense facilitators who provided professional support to 160 schools in areas with high rates of road death and injury amongst children. The facilitators worked closely with police education officers to help these schools include road safety across all subject areas.

In latter years, we updated RoadSense to incorporate findings from evaluations and international research, and to realign it with the New Zealand curriculum. We also revised the approach to professional support, upgraded the resources and developed new ones.

Results

We helped over 1,500 schools to implement the RoadSense strategy. Kura and schools with immersion classes requested a te reo Māori equivalent, Āta Haere.

"I’ve found Educating NZ both flexible and extremely professional to deal with, in sometimes difficult circumstances. When the RoadSense – Āta Haere programme was launched in late 2001, Educating NZ managed to get it up and running successfully in a very short time." – Michael Cummins, Manager Education, Land Transport Safety Authority

Challenge

In 2007 Land Transport NZ (now the NZTA) asked Educating NZ to develop a te reo Māori version of RoadSense for kura and schools with immersion classes.

Approach

Educating NZ enlisted writer Ian Cormack (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe) of Taumatua Māori Language Services to help with developing Āta Haere. The resource includes:

• a teachers’ handbook in te reo Māori, and aligned to the Te Marautanga o Aotearoa draft curriculum
• a CD-ROM with plans and templates in te reo Māori.

Results

Āta Haere was distributed to all kura and bilingual schools in 2008.

Challenge

Promoting ecologically sustainable transport is an important goal for the NZTA. In 2008, the NZTA asked Educating NZ to develop and run a workshop for its education and social marketing teams. The purpose was to develop the capability of these staff as educators and communicators, so they are better able to support the sustainable transport goals.

Approach

We worked with the teams’ managers to understand their staff’s development needs and put together a two day workshop for twenty staff. We invited officials from other government agencies working in sustainable transport to present to the workshop. We also arranged for education practitioners and programme managers from organisations that deliver sustainable transport education programmes to add their expert and practical advice.

Results

Feedback on the workshop showed high satisfaction with the programme, facilitation, learning opportunities, and motivation for continued discussion about their teams’ roles and strategies to achieve their goals. The workshop was held at our conference facilities - the Willeston Conference Centre in Wellington.

"...the evaluation summary shows overall the workshop objectives were met. There is work for us as an education team to continue working on ...but I think this workshop was a fantastic start to that process." - Adrian Stephenson, Senior Education Advisor, Land Transport Safety Authority

Challenge

Schools are a major participant in the annual national Bike Wise Week. Educating NZ was asked to develop a resource to help primary teachers provide cycling activities during Bike Wise Week 2006. The aims were to increase school participation by sharing ideas and information, and to support participation in other school-based initiatives that encourage cycling.

Approach

We did a stocktake of relevant materials available in New Zealand and consulted with stakeholders, including the Cycle Steering Committee, NZ Police Youth Education Services, Road Safety Coordinators and RoadSense facilitators. Using this information, we developed a range of teaching activities that could be used through the week and beyond. The resource was provided in digital format on the Bike Wise website.

Results

There was a twenty-five percent increase in the number of schools participating in Bike Wise Week from the previous year. Schools expressed greater awareness that safe cycling programmes can be important in encouraging students to cycle to school, rather than being driven.

Challenge

The NZTA organises Feet First Walk to School Week (Feet First) – an annual week-long event to boost the number of students walking to and from school. They asked Educating NZ to develop resources that would help schools get involved.

Approach

We developed lesson planner ideas for teachers -- from primary to secondary schools -- to use during the Feet First week. Teachers can pick and choose activities according to their needs. The lesson plans are available on the Feet First website.

What’s happening now?

Feedback on the resources has been excellent and the NZTA are looking at ways of promoting walking beyond the actual walk to school week.

Challenge

The Walking Maps project aims to promote walking as a healthy, enjoyable and sustainable means of transport for children, parents and school staff. It was introduced by the Health Sponsorship Council (HSC) and the resulting handbooks are now the responsibility of the NZTA.

In 2006, the Council asked Educating NZ to run a pilot, which would result in the design, production and dissemination of useful maps that promote walking as a good way of getting to school and other destinations.

Approach

In association with the HSC and Living Streets Aotearoa, Educating NZ developed two Walking Maps handbooks to guide schools and community groups through the map-making process -- from getting funding, and consulting with schools and the wider community, to producing and promoting a walking map. We piloted the school handbook with two schools and provided the community handbook to Living Streets Aotearoa for distribution and use amongst community groups.

Results

As a result of the pilot, schools reported significant increases in children walking to school. The schools also found that parents reported an increase in their own walking. As well, we facilitated workshops throughout New Zealand to over a hundred local authorities, schools, sports and environmental organisations who have taken up the challenge to get their communities walking.