Junior Safety Officer Scheme
The Junior Safety Officer Scheme (JSOS) has been operating in the London Borough of Richmond since 2003 and is organised by the Safety Education Team. Thirty primary schools now enjoy membership of the scheme and this year the newly appointed Junior Safety Officers met on the 15th October for their Annual Seminar.
The aim of the scheme is to increase safety awareness amongst pupils and encourage them to accept responsibility for keeping each other safe.
How the scheme works
In July, each primary school in the Borough of Richmond is invited to join the scheme and appoint two or three Junior Safety Officers from Year 5 (and on occasions Year 6). The Junior Safety Officers serve for a period of one academic year, during which time they work in close partnership with the Borough’s Safety Education Team to promote safety initiatives and cascade safety messages in their school.
How to be a JSO
Pupils applying for the post of Junior Safety Officer are asked to tell their teacher why they would like the job and why they feel they would be a good JSO. Very often the class vote to elect the candidates.
At the beginning of the autumn term all the new Junior Safety Officers are invited to a Junior Safety Seminar where they meet their Support Officer and members of the Safety Education Team. The Junior Safety Officers are given a special information pack, prizes for competitions they hold and a timetable of what their duties will be for the year. The seminar provides an opportunity for Junior Safety Officers to attend workshops on various safety issues.
Throughout the year the Junior Safety Officers are asked to promote various safety campaigns, maintain a junior safety notice board, take assemblies and organise competitions promoting safety.
The duties of a JSO are to:
- Promote pedestrian and cyclist safety
- Raise awareness of personal safety, by identifying dangers
- Raise awareness on water safety in the home, near rivers, open water or at the seaside
- Inform the children of fire safety precautions and what to do in the case of fire
- Identify dangers and causes of accidents in the home
- Provide a link between the council's Safety Education Team and the pupils.
- Promote in car safety to parents.
Junior Safety Officers of the Year
Each year the Junior Safety Officers compete with each other to become a ‘Junior Safety Officer of the Year’. The Junior Safety Officers who have worked especially hard to put over their safety messages and have maintained an impressive notice board are presented with a certificate and prize. In 2008-2009 the winners were Junior Safety Officers from St Edmund’s Primary School.
Richmond Safety Poetry Competition
There has been a huge response from pupils in the borough. Their poems reveal how seriously children feel about road safety in this borough and that everyone should take extra care during the winter month. Well done to all pupils who entered this competition.
More information about Junior Safety Officer Scheme
For further information about the Junior Safety Officer Scheme please contact Heather Pitney.
Telephone: 020 8487 5133
Email: h.pitney@richmond.gov.uk