By Taylah Eastwell
Students at Yarra Hills Secondary College are reaping the rewards of their participation in a state government road safety program, having recently received $1000 in sporting goods for their efforts.
Year 10 students participated in the Road Smart Program, a free education program funded through the TAC that prepares beginner drivers for a lifetime on the roads.
Eastern Metro Region MP Sonja Terpstra visited the school on Friday 14 May to congratulate the staff and students for their participation in the program.
Students listened and participated during interactive in-class sessions about the causes of road trauma and the importance of a staged approach when learning to drive. The program included e-learning elements and eligible students each received a free in-car driving lesson.
Karen Maclean from the Road Smart Program also visited the school on Friday.
“It’s an interactive workshop that we run with year 10’s across the state to talk about road safety and making safe choices in the lead up to them become licensed drivers or learner drivers,” she said.
“We talk about making good choices, not just as a driver but as a general road user,” Ms Maclean said.
Yarra Hills Secondary College won the sports equipment purely for booking in and completing the Road Smart sessions.
Yarra Hills Year 10 Co-ordinator Rachel Clare said the school facilitated Road Smart coming to the school to teach the students road safety, to help with their learners and what steps they should take towards becoming safe road users.
“We also helped facilitate a training video where Road Smart filmed the delivery of one of the sessions,” she said.
Ms Maclean said the sports equipment will be a huge benefit to the school and will engage more students in sports activities.
“We are going to use it as a lunch-time loan out, so hopefully they engage in physical activity at recess and lunch as well as in the classroom. New equipment is always really exciting,” she said.
