NEW:
Please read this letter
of 29/01/2010 from our Director and the
President of the Parents' Association concerning changes
in the traffic situation around the school.
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| Traffic |
| How
does one get to school safely and back home again past
rows of parked cars and bicycles zooming by? Keep to
the rules yourself and discuss them with your children!
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| 1. What can I do around our school as
traffic participant? |
| as car driver: |
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Keep to the parking rules;
above all do not park where the buses park or on
the roundabout on Churchilllaan or in the dropping-off
zone along Molenweidtje; |
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Always drive slowly in the vicinity
of the school; |
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Remember that Molenweidtje is a one-way
road from the entrance of the Mytyl School onwards;
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Take care when opening car doors;
cyclists also ride along the one-way roads in the
opposite direction! |
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| as cyclist: |
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Push bicycles along pavements and
in the playground; |
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Pay attention to parked cars and children
getting out; |
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Reduce speed, especially
when riding mopeds or motorbikes, and in the carparks
in front of the Europahalle. |
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| as pedestrian: |
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Keep your
eyes open for possible sources of danger; |
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Speak to
your children and other parents! |
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| 2. What are the traffic parents? |
| The traffic parents act as
a link between parents, school and others - like, for
example, the local community, the police, the 3VO (Verenigde
Verkeer Veiligheids Organisatie) or neighbourhood organizations
- when it concerns the safety of our children in traffic.
The traffic parents co-ordinate
and work together with other parents, the school team,
the head of school and non-school organisations. This
concept evolved in 1995 from the co-operation between
traffic safety organizations (3VO) and four national
parent organizations within education, and is today
a recognized institute in the Netherlands.
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| 3. The aim of the safety project? |
The above named organizations
ensure that traffic parents represent as many primary
schools as possible. Consequently parents are able to
take on an important role in the traffic safety of their
children.
It would be desirable to share the problems of child traffic
safety at schools in constructive co-operation between
parents, teachers and heads of school. To make this possible
a permanent contact at the school is necessary, responsible
for safety issues: the traffic parents. |
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| 4. The tasks of the traffic parents |
The traffic parents participate
in talks within the school where suggestions for improving
traffic safety are concerned. The traffic parents involve
parents in this.
Together with the local community, police and other organizations
they work on safe routes to school and good traffic teaching.
The traffic parents do not give traffic instruction nor
do they regulate the school traffic!
All primary schools in Bergen are connected to the
"traffic parents" project. With their help
the following progress has been made in the last years
(so also through the commitment of our parents!!!):
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A survey among the parents located
traffic problems right around the different schools.
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A plan of action was designed to tackle
these points of difficulty. |
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Organisation and/or co-operation with
written and practical traffic inspection, bicycle
checks and parents evenings with the topic "traffic
safety". |
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Together with the schools
expert advice is given on the educational material
for the traffic instruction. |
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Activities are carried
out in connection with the campaign "Back to
School" ("De scholen zijn weer begonnen").
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Assistance with organizing
the national playing-in-the-street days. |
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At our school there is
a traffic column in the school magazine (ES-INFORM).
If need be, parents and pupils are informed here
about new traffic rules |
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We also carry out traffic puzzles
and a traffic quiz. |
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| 5. Results from the work done by the
traffic parents |
On the suggestion of the traffic
parents in Bergen a zebra-crossing with pedestrian/cyclist
traffic-lights was installed on the Landweg as well as
further cycle paths on Molenweidtje. In addition extra
traffic and warning signs were erected.
The chaotic situation around the schools was tackled regarding
the bringing and picking up of children. There are still
various measures planned regarding this in order to improve
in par- ticular the traffic situation at the European
School. The understanding and co-operation of all parents
is extremely important in this matter! We are after all
the ones who cause the chaos!
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| 6. Traffic parent meetings |
| The traffic parents in Bergen meet approx.
every 6 weeks at one of the schools. Representatives from
the local community, police and 3VO are also present at
these meetings. Guests are sometimes invited along to
provide information on study material and methods.
A regional traffic parent
meeting is held twice per school year. Various interesting
topics are discussed at these gatherings. The experiences
of the traffic parents receive the most attention.
Being a traffic parent is therefore
more than wearing an orange uniform and helping children
cross the road in the morning. It is possible to influence
traffic safety in Bergen.
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Are
you interested? Then please contact
the Parents Association!
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