2010 before reflective blazers

Published 19 Feb 2009 10:00 0 Comments

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Grieving parents feel let down by system

It could be 2010 before high visibility material is integrated into school uniforms, a working group developing a strategy to improve safety of pupils travelling to school has heard.

The group was set up in wake of the road deaths of two Fermanagh teenagers and Devenish College pupils, Debbie Whyte and Nathan Gault, who were tragically killed by a passing car as they walked home from school in Florencecourt.

Members of DOE Road Safety Education, WELB and WELB Tranport, PSNI Community Safety, Fermanagh DPP and members of Fermanagh District Council including SDLP Councillor Frank Britton, Sinn Fein Councillor Domhnall O"Cobhtaigh, UUP Councillor Alec Baird and DUP Councillor Arlene Foster all attended the meeting at Fermanagh Library last Wednesday afternoon.

Head of Administration and Management Provision of the WELB, Mr. Adrian Kennedy, updated members on the progress regarding the integration of reflective material in schools uniforms. He said the feedback and support from suppliers was positive, they could not give an exact time on when such plans could be implemented.

'From the workshop at Gortatole, we found that the young people regard life as more important than a blazer and wouldn"t mind wearing uniforms that were reflective as long as they weren"t lit up like beacons. So, we (WELB) researched the main suppliers of school uniforms including multiple suppliers like Tesco and Asda about the possibility of high visibility material being integrated into school uniforms. They all showed phenomenal interest and enthusiasm with some already making contact with their designs teams in London,' he said.

However, the Board learnt that all uniforms have already been made for the next school term and said they would be looking at 2010 before any integration plans were implemented. This was questioned by all councillors who said something needed to be done on the interim.

'What concerns me is that we"re looking at September 2010. Is there not something we would could do in the short-term, like some sort of reflective triangle or innocuous object that could be sown onto school uniforms by parents as a temporary measure?' said Councillor Alec Baird.

Mr. Kennedy said the Board is looking at ways of introducing some sort of reflective accessory for the next school term, but in order for this to work, there needs to be an "appetite" for schools to stock these types of reflective accessories and that it would be up to schools to decide on what could be used.

'We are looking at the potential of embedding reflective material into the design of school clothing that would be a temporary measure as well as being culturally acceptable. At Gortatole, coincidentally, a teacher on the trip explained to us that when they taught in Finland, a country which deals with only four hours of daylight in the winter, the importance of high visibility material on clothing was naturally built into the cultures of young people and reflective materials such as shapes were sown into their uniforms, so we could learn and build ideas from Scandinavian countries. We are waiting on schools to give us a sense of what kind of accessories could be worn as we don"t want boxes of stuff coming back to us not being used. We have talked to our procurement people and it is something that could be done at a cost, although it would be minimal.'

DUP Councillor Arlene Foster said she was concerned that any cost no matter how minimal would be "off-putting" to parents. 'We do need a temporary solution and it"s great to know that Northern Ireland could lead the way in this initiative with the multiples. But any cost, now matter how small, I believe would not go down well with parents.'

Councillor O"Cobhtaigh said there needs to be more in terms of the redesigning of the actual uniforms and when this is actually going to be made available. He also raised other road safety issues that affect school children such as lack of car parking facilities outside primary and secondary schools.

The uniform suppliers are expected to brief the WELB within eight to 12 weeks of their progress on ways in which they could integrate reflective material onto uniforms and the Working Group agreed they would not meet again until the Board was given this update.

In the meantime, the Action Plan said the Board would explore other mediums to convey the road safety message such as hosting information stands by 6th formers in Fermanagh libraries, highlight the message through text messages and social networking sites and explore the potential of formally launching an awareness campaign to promote the concept of reflectivity for young people travelling to and from school. Chairing the meeting Chief Administration Officer (WELB) Rosemary Watterson said they were overwhelmed with the support given by schools, groups and uniform suppliers and placed particular emphasis on the success of last month"s workshop at Gortatole with pupils from Devenish College.

'The creativity we witnessed at the workshop was marvellous and we learnt a few lessons in how to consult with young people more and to promote road safety in a way that is culturally acceptable to them,' she said.

Mrs Watterson said it was agreed that letters be written to both the Minister of Environment and Education seeking to ascertain the expectation of teaching road safety in the curriculum and to seek support for guidance to schools on uniform policies that address integrated reflective material on uniforms.

She also said the board agreed that a delegation from the group should seek a meeting with the Education Minister on what could be done in order to improve and enhance road safety education for school children.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 19 Feb 09

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