Competition runner-up presented with Kindle
Congratulations to Emily Bagshaw from Roding Valley High School in Loughton, who is a runner up in the SERP schools’ poetry competition.
Under the school poem competition – which formed part of Project EDWARD 2017 activities – SERP invited schools to submit the best poem written by one of their pupils, with entries restricted to one from each school.
Poems could be in any form but had to be a maximum of 200 words and relate to road safety (walking to school, driving, being a passenger, horse riding or cycling).
Year 7 pupils at Roding Valley High School participated in the competition as part of their English lessons, with Emily’s poem selected as the school’s entry.
‘A Life Changed’ by Emily Bagshaw
Today a life changed forever.
But was it really her own fault however?
She was standing there, headphones on quietly humming
Peeking out between the parked cars to see what was coming.
Standing on the other side of the road
I could see the lorry racing along with its heavy load.
I could have yelled I could have screamed
But I just stood there frozen in a dream.
The memory of seeing sheer horror on her face
Is a memory that I just want to erase.
The lorry driver screeched his breaks
However it was just too late…
The competition winner was Maria Azzi, (below) a Year 6 pupil from St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School in Grays, while the other runner up was Samuel Joys from Merryland Primary School in Laindon.
Maria’s poem, titled ‘I love to ride’, highlights a number of key safety messages for cyclists including taking extra caution when the ground is wet and remaining observant at times. It also highlights the importance of wearing a helmet.
Maria’s prize for winning was an iPad, while Emily and Samuel received a Kindle as runners up.
The schools’ competition was one of two organised by SERP as part of Project EDWARD 2017 – the other was open to all employees of Essex Highways, which comprises Essex County Council and Ringway Jacobs, as well as SERP members and partners.
The in-house competition was won by Eric Ovel, a maintenance technician at Essex County Council, and Jackie Roerig, a permitting officer at Ringway Jacobs, for their drink-drive related poem ‘I Wish’.
Project EDWARD
Project EDWARD (European Day Without A Road Death) 2017 took place on 21 September and looked to encourage drivers, riders and pedestrians to spare an extra thought for their safety.
Conceived by TISPOL – the European Traffic Police Network – in 2016, the long-term aim is to use Project EDWARD to spearhead significant and sustained reduction in death and serious injury on roads across the world.
In Essex, SERP supported Project EDWARD 2017 with more than a dozen road safety-related events across the county – as well as the poetry competitions.
The events staged across Essex ranged from young driver activities to pedestrian training, Bikeability cycle training, community speed watch and a ‘surround a town’ event in Chelmsford.
04 January 2018