Everything You Need to Know About Victoria’s ‘Starting Out Safely’ Program
09 September 2021Starting Out Safely is about families and early childhood educators working together to guide children’s learning in being and becoming safe and independent road users. Starting Out Safely, funded by VicRoads, is Victoria’s early childhood road safety education program. Early Learning Association Australia has successfully delivered the Starting Out Safely program in collaboration with VicRoads since 2011. The Starting Out Safely program works on the premise that effective road safety education delivered during early childhood plays an important role in laying the foundations for safe road use throughout life.
The early childhood road safety education program has been developed through evidence-based research, in collaboration with leading early childhood experts and is based on best practice principals. Educators and early childhood professionals, working collaboratively with families, can help children become safe and independent road users.
“Stop, Look, Listen, Think.”
Part of a series of animated TVC’s aimed at children, each centered around the ThingleToodle character demonstrating safe travel behaviours through jingles. Seatbelts, holding hands when crossing the road and stop, look, listen. The Starting Out Safely program has four main objectives. Below are the following objectives.
Starting Out Safely Program’s Advocacy
To improve road safety outcomes for children through advocating for the value of early childhood road safety education and influence early childhood policy at state and national levels.
Starting Out Safely Program for Professional Education: To improve road safety outcomes for children through delivering road safety education professional development sessions to early childhood professionals across Victoria.
Starting Out Safely Program For Child Car Restraint Education: To improve road safety outcomes for children through delivering child car seat and booster seat education sessions across Victoria.
Starting Out Safely Program for Preschool Education: To improve road safety outcomes for children through delivering ThingleToodle education sessions at preschools across Victoria.
Childhood Educators
Over 3830 early childhood educators have participated in road safety education, professional development sessions, delivered by leading early childhood experts, including over 500 early childhood students from tertiary institutions.
Preschools
Over 1800 preschools across Victoria have participated in ThingleToodle education sessions, reaching over 24,400 young Victorian children and their families. Then, over 2400 parents and carers from culturally and linguistically diverse communities have attended over 125 child car restraint information sessions while more than 1300 family day care educators have attended a child car restraint information sessions.
We have some fantastic free resources such as best practice policies and resources for educators and early childhood service providers which support the current quality principals in early learning including the Early Years Learning Framework, the National Quality Standards and the National Practices for Early Childhood Road Safety Education.
SOURCE:
Early Learning Association Australia. (2015). Are Your Children Starting Out Safely? Victoria’s Early Childhood Road Safety Education Program. Retrieved August 12, 2021, from Early Learning Association Australia: https://elaa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Victorias-Early-Childhood-Road-Safety-education-program.pdf
