Neale-Wade students highlight road safety in new films

Students from Neale-Wade Academy in March have produced a series of films highlighting the importance of road safety amongst young people.

The films have been produced and acted by the young people themselves in conjunction with the Road Safety education team at Cambridgeshire County Council.

Neale-Wade Academy already has a nationally accredited school travel plan which they worked on with the county road safety team. Surveys for the plan revealed that students felt that much of the road safety education material available to them did not resonate with them or their peers.

The road safety education team wanted to develop a resource that would be relevant to young people and asked Neale-Wade if they would help create a road safety film for young people by young people.

Five Year 10 drama students and four sixth form media students worked with road safety and local company Cambridge Filmworks to create a series of short films to illustrate the dangers young people face involving roads.

With a title of ‘Small Change Big Difference’, the four short films show issues for young people around bike and scooter safety, peer pressure in cars, pedestrian safety and traffic danger in the dark. The films end with the message: “Road deaths and injuries are not inevitable - making small changes can make a big difference.”

Emma Liversedge, head of drama at Neale-Wade, said: “Our students have been planning, scripting and filming the road safety project for several months. Right from the start, our students have learned so much about film and sound and have sometimes worked for over three hours for every two-minute clip to ensure they get it just right.”

By promoting road safety through creative initiatives like this, important messages about road safety can be effectively shared with other schools.

Councillor Peter McDonald, chair of Cambridgeshire’s highways and transport committee, said: “It is inspiring to see the level of commitment the young people at Neale-Wade have shown. We are confident that their road safety messages will resonate with other students across the county.

"Addressing travel issues which are of concern to schools, students and families, encouraging the use of sustainable transport such as public transport, walking and cycling - leads to safer and healthier roads for all.”

The film can be seen here and will be shared with secondary schools across the county.