O’Dowd joins pupils to celebrate 50th Anniversary of Road Safety Teaching Calendar

Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd has visited Dunmurry Primary School to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Road Safety Teaching Aid Calendar (TAC).

The Minister is pictured with school principal, Mrs Judith Hackett and pupils (from left to right) Jaxx Owen; Evie McCaughey; Rory Minnick; Sonika Chimanya; Jake Green; and Harper Williamson.

The calendar which is produced in three variations for pupils at Foundation stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 highlights road safety messages through a combination of a photograph, main message and associated teacher's notes.

During his visit Minister O’Dowd met school principal, Mrs Judith Hackett and pupils to hear how the TAC has helped the school in delivering road safety learning.  He said: 

“Learning how to stay as safe as possible on our roads is a vital lesson for all of us in society.  I believe that it is particularly important that we start this learning at a young age so I commend the work that our schools do to support parents in getting this message across to children. 

“For 50 years now the Road Safety Teaching Aid Calendar has been produced and delivered to every primary and nursery school across the north.  It provides a valuable tool to assist teachers when talking to the children about road safety in an age appropriate way. I was delighted to visit Dunmurry Primary School today to hear first-hand from the pupils about how they use the calendar in their classroom and what they have learned from it.  I would like to thank the principal, teachers, staff and pupils for their warm welcome and wish them all the best for the rest of the school year.” 

The Road Safety Teaching Aid Calendars are available on the nidirect website at the following link:  www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/road-safety-calendars-2022-2023

Notes to editors: 

1. Photo caption: Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd visited Dunmurry Primary School to mark the 50^th Anniversary of the Road Safety Teaching Aid Calendar.  The Minister is pictured with school principal, Mrs Judith Hackett and pupils (from left to right) Jaxx Owen; Evie McCaughey; Rory Minnick; Sonika Chimanya; Jake Green; and Harper Williamson.    
2. The Road Safety Teaching Aid Calendar was first published in 1972 with the mascot Jimmy guiding children through the do’s and don’ts of road safety issues.
3. As time moved on there were several more mascots teaching children the necessary steps to stay safe.  As new legislation was introduced like the compulsory wearing of seat belts and child restraints the calendar evolved to reflect these changes. Now we have our current mascots “Skooter” and “Hattie” leading the way on how children should stay safe.
4. The current calendar is printed in three versions to reflect Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 with each weekly theme targeting the main areas for pedestrians, passengers, or cyclists. The calendar provides teachers with the opportunity to make road safety a prominent part of the school week. The calendar is issued on an annual basis to every class in primary school and nursery.
5. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Infrastructure Press Office at: press.office@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk
6. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 6.00pm and 8.00am Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
7. Follow us on Twitter @deptinfra and on Facebook @DepartmentforInfrastructure

Share this page