Footsteps
What is Footsteps?
Footsteps is a practical pedestrian training scheme for children age 4-7 years old, which develops awareness of roads and helps them live safely with traffic. Children are taken into the local area with a volunteer trained tutor to observe the traffic and discuss road safety. There are three stages, green, amber and red. Each builds on the last stage, covering the basic “Green Cross Code” then adding other aspects of road safety.
Footsteps forms part of the wider portfolio of pedestrian training programme New Journey, which also includes First Steps for younger pre-school children and Making Tracks aimed at children moving on from primary to secondary school.
The Training
Footsteps is a three stage programme which focuses on the skills needed to become safer road users. It includes:
- The Green Cross Code
- Safe places
- Vehicle lights
- Stopping, looking and listening
- Crossing – while holding an adults hand
- Fast and slow
- Near and far
- Parked cars
- Crossing
- Being seen
- Weather conditions
- People who can help
- Planning a safe route
Road Safety Lesson plans are available to support Footsteps Training. You may also like to invite Gist Ltd to come along to your school to deliver their Child Road Safety Programme.
Setting up Tutor training
Volunteers are trained as Footsteps Tutors by Buckinghamshire Council. They take the children into the local area to observe the traffic and discuss road safety, through a series of practical exercises.
Schools should appoint a Footsteps Co-ordinator to organise Tutor Training and arrange the children’s training sessions.
Tutors can be parents, grandparents or Learning Support Assistants, even teaching staff if they have the time. They must attend a Tutor Training course, organised by the Strategic Transport & Infrastructure Team at Buckinghamshire Council. The course lasts up to 1.5 hours and takes place at two venues, Walton Street Offices, Council Offices, King George V Road, Amersham, each term. Training is free of charge to all schools, nurseries and children’s centres.
All training sessions are 10am until 12noon. Places are limited on all courses. They will be available to book at the start of each term.
Setting up Tutor training
Schools usually train children from Year One or Year Two – depending on how many Tutors are available. Each child will take part at least twice a term. Certificates can be awarded once a stage is completed. These can be downloaded from this page.
How to book
We are currently pausing our Footsteps Tutor Training Programme. We are working on a class based work objective as an alternative for Child Pedestrian Training.
If your school already has trained Footsteps Tutors and wish to continue with the current Footsteps Programme, it is ultimately the decision of the school. Your Chair of Governors are accountable and responsible.
The school must also review and update the Footsteps Risk Assessment Schools coronavirus (COVID-19) operational guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Useful resources
To help parents practice pedestrian skills for life with their children, it may be worth sharing this Road Safety Wales video.
Further resources including lesson plans, films and games can be found on the DfT THINK website.