Children from St Andrew’s School in Plymouth recently teamed up with local police officers to raise awareness about driving and parking safely near schools.

Devon & Cornwall Police and the school ran a competition to design safety posters to be given out to drivers. Five designs were chosen, copies of which were printed and which the pupils took with them when they went on a short foot patrol with local officers to speak to drivers who were driving or parking dangerously.

During the patrol, which took place around school finishing hours, several motorists were spoken to by the children and officers and given a poster to take home.

PCSO Katie Mole, who created the scheme, said: “It’s really important to build relationships with local schools and students and to teach children about road safety from a young age.

“Hopefully through engaging with the children and with officers and seeing the very effective posters, local drivers will think twice about driving and parking dangerously, not just near schools, but anywhere to help keep people safe.”

Head teacher, Sarah Field, added: “The children have really enjoyed this project and it’s been great to make links with the police. The younger children contributed by designing road safety posters, and the older ones were able to go out on patrol with officers to promote safety messaging.

“It’s been a wonderful opportunity for the children to take an active role in supporting the police with their work in the community, keeping us all safe. too. We’ve also had road safety assemblies delivered by officers, which were engaging and relevant and of benefit to the whole school.”

For general road safety advice, visit: Road safety | Devon & Cornwall Police