New multi-lingual road safety book for children

New multi-lingual road safety book for children

 STEP is delighted to announce the launch of a new multi-lingual road safety booklet for primary school age children. The book forms part of a project which has been delivered by STEP on behalf ofDOE RoadSafety. The launch took place at STEP’s Language Club which is a multi-lingual club that meets weekly to allow children to meet, improve their language skills and celebrate their language and culture.

 STEP, a community development and training organisation based in Dungannon, is one of many organisations across Northern Ireland delivering projects for this DOE Road Safety initiative[JL1]  which has been administered by the Community Transport Association(CTA). Their project has involved the writing and design of a book that includes a short story based on two school children along with further concepts which allow conversations between child and adult about the importance of safety on the roads. The book has been translated into Lithuanian, Polish and Portuguese – three of the most common other languages in the borough council area. Copies of the books will be distributed to the 44 primary schools in the Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council area.

 A project website www.journeytoschool.com has been developed which contains PDF versions of the book available for download. This will allow parents, guardians, youth groups and schools acrossNorthern Ireland to access the book as a learning resource, so the benefits reach well beyond the original target area of Dungannon and South Tyrone.

 Bernadette McAliskey, STEP CEO continues:

 “Our work with new immigrants and migrant worker families continues to reinforce our belief that there is a need for basic information most of us take for granted to be available in other languages.  It is imperative that from a young age children from all language backgrounds should have the basic rules of the road on hand in their first language to make life safer for them outside the home. Phrases such as “Green Cross code” mean very little to children or adults from another country. This book is therefore, a very important educational tool.

 The book has been written in a way that allows guardians and parents to discuss and explain about road safety regulations and thus has the secondary benefit of also educating adults about road safety. We are delighted to have been given this opportunity and it has opened our eyes to further initiatives. We are grateful to the CTA and DOE Road Safety for allowing us the opportunity to work on this project and hope that the local schools within the council area find it to be a very useful resource.”