Be Street Smart Excursion

All Year 10 students attended the Be Street Smart excursion on Wednesday 21st August at Qudos Bank Arena. This excursion focused on road safety and educating young people about the importance of being safe road users and included a real-life simulated crash scene. This valuable learning experience aligns with our unit of study this term on road safety, titled ‘Arrive alive’ as part of our PDHPE curriculum.

It was an incredibly eye-opening experience designed to educate students about staying safe on the road and expose them to a multitude of potential risks often overlooked in our day-to-day lives. From learning about situational awareness to understanding how to navigate unfamiliar contexts, the excursion provided valuable knowledge to enhance student safety but also left a lasting impression about how to stay safe and be prepared for any situation on the road as a passenger, pedestrian or driver.

A huge takeaway from this experience was listening to the detrimental impact that poor decision-making on the road had on people's lives from those willing to tell their stories about how being dangerous on the road led to a significant change in their lives. Students heard from speakers who are living with a brain injury and others who were left in a wheelchair as the result of people drinking and/or drug driving. They also heard from the perspective of a mother who lost her 17-year-old son after he chose to drive under the influence and killed 4 other people. We then watched an experiment conducted by a driving school demonstrating the impact of going only 10km over the speed limit and the impact various stopping distances have when braking (40kms compared to 50kms, 60kms and 80kms). This was a harsh reality check and reminder about the consequences of being dangerous on the road. We hope this experience has encouraged students to think before making decisions when driving or being a passenger as they learn to drive and work towards their provisional licence.

Mrs Kayla Brogan

Leader of Learning - PDHPE