Scooter Safety For Schools

The Micro Scooter Safety Program promotes active travel and teaches children how to ride their scooters safely. With more and more children riding scooters to school it has become an essential lesson.

Many NSW schools participated in the program when it was launched. It can be delivered by schools, or organised by your local Council. If you are a parent keen to know more, or a teacher interested in running the program at your primary school, please fill out the Register Your School form and we’ll send you more information.

Feedback from trainers & schools:

Father John Therry Catholic Primary School

It was a first – but as it was raining on our first day at FJT Catholic Primary School in Balmain, we conducted the Scooter Program inside the beautiful parish hall. This didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the 30 + students, who all managed to navigate their way around the hall on scooters, weaving in and out of the cones and practicing lots of safety stops.

Forest Lodge Public School

We were at Forest Lodge Public School over 2 days and had a great time there. Some very eager students which is always great to see. Thanks to everyone at the school for helping us out and making us feel welcome.

Rainbow Street Public School

Just the one class at Rainbow Street Public School but there were some very good riders amongst them. A great undercover area as well to escape the sun!

Newtown Public School

It was quite a hot day but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm among the students (and teachers!) at Newtown Public School.

We had a large area outside on the basketball court to run through our drills and everything went smoothly. Having a teacher get involved with the setting up (helping put safety equipment on etc) and also the flow of the lesson really does help and we get through everything much faster which gives the students more time riding the scooters. So a big thanks to all of the teachers at Newtown for a great day.

Darlinghurst Public School

Another great inner city school with lots of students who ride scooters to school and many who had brought in their own scooters to show us!.

Due to the layout of the playground, we did have to modify the structure of our program somewhat. But all of the students still got the same message regarding safe riding of scooters and where potential hazards may come from. Just because you are a capable scooter rider, an accident still may occur due to someone else, whether they be a pedestrian, bike or scooter rider etc. Always wear your protective equipment!

Ultimo Public School

Despite being quite inner city in location, Ultimo Public School had a relatively large area for us to do our scooter riding on. And it had been swept clear earlier that morning! So that means no sticks, twigs, or other items which could become hazardous for scooter riders.

There was quite a bit happening at school on this day: Ourselves running the scooter safety program and gymnastic classes in the hall. But everything went ahead as per plan so a big thanks to everyone at Ultimo Public and Mr Jackman in particular for making us feel so welcome.

Rozelle Public School

It was a great day at Rozelle Public School! We had the basketball court set aside for our classes which worked perfectly.

First up was ‘Gulpilil’ who had some very good scooter riders. After lunch was ‘Perkins’ who were very well behaved and had a great time on their scooters, and then finally ‘O’Loughlin’ who despite quite a warm afternoon, managed to maintain concentration and take in everything this instructor had to say.

A great day all round.

Bondi Public School

Just as the students of Bondi Public School were closing their books on term 3, we were present for four full days to pass on our scooter safety class to the year 1 and 2 students.

We loved our time at Wellington Street, the students were great and the teachers were very enthusiastic. Many of them even had a go on the scooters! It was great to see people of all ages getting involved.

Randwick Public School

In late term 3 we were at Randwick Public School to give the Year 1’s and 2’s some scooter safety lessons. Very rarely do we come across students of this age who have not ridden a scooter at least once. Randwick was no different with some very good scooter riders. But the message of safety is still the same regardless of skill level. The ‘Ten Golden Rules’ apply across the board.

Crown Street Public School

On a very chilly August morning we were at Crown Street Public School in Surry Hills, a great inner city school. Our two Year 1 classes braved the cold and had a great time as they took on board all our lessons have to offer. We even had a teacher get involved. This was our second time back at Crown Street Public School, after running our successful pilot program.

The scooter safety program provided my class with an engaging and rewarding learning experience that has true relevance and connection to their lives as inner-city children. The organisation and delivery of the program was second to none and I would not hesitate in recommending ALL children and teachers in the early years of schooling participate and support this wonderful course.

Chris Pevy-Buenen, Assistant Principal, Assistant Principal Crown Street Public School

Glebe Public School

We had a great day at at Glebe Public School. It is such a good little community in Glebe and the school reflected this. There was a chance of rain on the day so we had the C.O.L.A. as a backup option.

Both classes had some very impressive scooter riders. This is quite common as scooters are very popular but our message of safety, and more importantly road safety, is still valuable for everyone.

Nicholson Street Public School, Balmain

It was a cold and wet winter’s day at Nicholson Street Public School in Balmain, but we still had a great time teaching the kids all about Scooter Safety. We discussed the importance of safety gear, and everyone thought the shiny helmets were ‘cool’. We talked about the hazards of riding in the rain, and the importance of stopping a safe distance before driveways and intersections.

We also proved that (although not ideal), we can run the program in a very tight space, as the COLA area was only a few metres wide. Well done everyone at Nicho Public School for getting out there on a cold day and having a go! It was great to see your teacher riding too!

Ferncourt Public School

We had a great day at Ferncourt Public School in Marrickville with the year 2 students. We ran 2 groups on the day and had a great time doing so.

There were some very observant students amongst the 2 classes! It’s great to see kids listen to, and take note of all of the safety messages and practical examples we try to include in our lessons.

At Ferncourt we had a great area for scooter riding on the outdoor basketball court. We even had a teacher who for the first time ever rode a scooter and did some of the drills! We love seeing this as it really drives home the message that scooter riding is fun for all ages.

Erskineville Public School

On Thursday the 31st of May and Tuesday 5th June we went to Erskineville Public School to teach the year 1 and 2 students all about scooter safety. What a great school! A real community driven learning environment. The students were extremely polite and were a joy to to teach. We had a great area to set up our drills at the front of the school.

Many of the students have scooters so were competent riders already. We can cater to all skill levels so with quite an advanced group such as this our aim was to focus on braking ability: there are various methods of slowing down or stopping for different situations. We also try to improve each child’s natural balance by riding with the un-natural foot forward. We also include mini-slalom courses so that the ability to control the scooter is enhanced.

Overall we had a fantastic time teaching the kids at Erskineville Public School all about scooter safety!

My son Gus came home thrilled to have participated in the safe scooter workshop. Thanks for your enthusiasm and well organised program.

Ali.

Australia Street Infants School

What better way is there to get through ‘Hump Day’ than some Scooter Safety classes! At Australia Street Infants School we had 3 classes throughout the day of very keen scooter riders. The Red, Purple and Green Dragons!

From the time we were setting up early in the morning we noticed many students ride their scooters to school. By morning assembly the scooter and bike racks were full! In what could be described as a bustling area, safety becomes even more important. All of our groups really embraced what we were teaching which is great to see. We also had lots of positive feedback from parents at the end of the day as well which is very encouraging.

All in all, we had a great time at Australia Street Infants School and would like to thank the Year 1 and 2 Teachers, Principal and staff for helping us to run a successful program.

Glenmore Road Public School

On what had originally promised to be a very cold May Monday morning, the sun came out to shine as we ran our Scooter Safety classes at Glenmore Road Public School in Paddington.

We had some very keen onlookers (both students and parents) as we set up prior to commencing. The great thing about riding scooters is that it is a great way for the family to get outdoors and enjoy a shared activity.

We had two classes of Year 2 students: 25 and then 20. What we usually do in class numbers of this size is split up into two groups and while one group is doing the particular activity or drill the other is observing.

We always give real life scenarios to provide reason to the particular drill we are doing. We try to include as much practical road and footpath safety as possible but still have fun doing it. We incorporate this with our 10 Golden Rules. It is great to see the kids take all of this in and answer the little quiz style questions we have at the end of the session.

We had a great time at Glenmore Road Public School – and the basketball/netball court was a perfect location to run our Scooter Safety Program. Keep up the great work kids!

Bourke Street Public – After School Care Pilot

We ran the last session of our pilot program with the kids at After School Care at Bourke Street Public School – in Surry Hills on Tuesday, 20th March.

What a superb session! We had 20 enthusiastic children, mostly from Year 1, eager to learn some new scooter skills. As a large percentage of children from Bourke Street Public School already scoot and ride to school, we focused on important road safety messages such as stopping a safe distance before intersections and driveways, and we practiced a lot of braking!

Thanks to Catherine and all the kids at Bourke Street – we really enjoyed teaching you and were impressed by how many of the ‘golden scooter safety rules’ you were able to recount at the end!

So now we’re ready to implement this program into schools, starting off in the City of Sydney region. If your school is interested, please contact us for more information.

Crown Street Public – After School Care Pilot

With our new instructor Richard Thomas on board, we ran one of our final pilot sessions at Crown Street Public School in Surry Hills on Monday, 19th March.

We had over 20 children from After School Care participate in the Scooter Safety Program. They were taught many practical scooter skills, like turning, braking and safely jumping off their scooters. We also talked about the hazards of riding in the rain, which was timely as it started to rain straight after that and we had to move undercover to complete our training.

Well done Richard and thanks to all the Crown Street kids for scooting safely and listening so well! Everyone came through with flying colours. A great time was had by all & most importantly some important lessons were learned to help you travel safely on your journey to school.

One of our local papers, The Wentworth Courier was there to photograph the last part of the session, and you can see by the photos how much fun the kids had!

It’s a big week for scooter riding and active travel, as this Friday March 23rd is National Ride2School Day! Expect to see lots of kids on wheels!

A final note: we were impressed by the new scooter and bike racks installed at Crown Street Public School thanks to the City of Sydney. Great to see local councils supporting kids who scoot and ride to school.

Crown Street Public School Pilot

In November, René Lauper-Perotti, the Swiss pioneer of the program, came to Australia to run Australia’s first ever Scooter Safety Program after its success abroad. Over 60 Year 2 students from Crown Street Public School were lucky enough to learn all about scooter and road safety from René. And they had a lot of fun in the process!