Orange Day Parade highlights importance of road safety for students

By Education Gazette editors

Issue: Volume 97, Number 17

Posted: 20 September 2018

Reference #: 1H9ky6

Over 1,400 primary students marched the streets of Wellington wearing orange costumes on Friday 7 September to send an important message to road users to look out for them when they cross the road to go to school.

Students march to remind road users to look out for them when they walk to school.

The annual Orange Day Parade, supported by the Wellington City Council and New Zealand Police, celebrates and recognises the hard work of school traffic safety teams to help students cross the road and get to school safely.

There are 53 Wellington schools with patrols at school crossings and they help around 14,000 students to cross the road safely. These patrollers include kids who volunteer their time to provide road patrol duties in all weathers throughout the school year.

The Orange Day Parade recognises the hard work of school traffic safety teams.

Wellington School Community Officer Aaron Dann, who trains road patrollers, says they make a big contribution to keeping our school communities safe during one of the busiest times on the roads.

“School patrollers are out in all weathers, doing a great job keeping their peers safe. Orange Day is an opportunity for Wellingtonians to acknowledge the job they do for road safety and it’s also a reminder that drivers should slow down and be alert when passing schools,” he says.