Creative young people from across Britain arrived at the National Railway Museum in York today to collect their prizes in the National rail safety competition - Making TraX organised by the Rail Safety and Standards Board with support from Northern Rail.
The Making Trax competition attracted 382 entries and is about youngsters using their imagination and skills to develop creative ideas to inform other young people about the dangers and consequences of railway crime and anti-social behaviour. Every year four or five children under 16 are fatally struck by trains. The idea came from the Track Off education campaign team with support from the education sector.
The national competition, aimed at and promoted through British secondary schools and advertised on the rail industry’s Track Off website (www.trackoff.org) had four categories; music, drama, multimedia and art. The judges were looking to see if entries conveyed the safety message succinctly and effectively to young people in a thought provoking way.
The winners are:
Herschel Grammar School in Slough for Music
Duncanrig Secondary School in East Kilbride for Drama
Penketh High School in Warrington for Multimedia
Nower Hill High School in Pinner for Art
Overall competition winner Penketh High School
Presenting the prizes Maurice Wilsdon, Head of National Initiatives at Rail Safety and Standards Board said ‘The overall standard of entries was high and demonstrated some original powerful imagery, touched real-life issues and were delivered in a vibrant and confident way. All the winning material
may be used in forthcoming rail safety education campaigns aimed at young people and could directly save lives’.
The winning schools each receive a cheque for £2,500 with Penketh High School receiving a further £2,500 in prize money donated by Northern Rail and presented by Joanne Thompson, Head of Marketing to the winners.
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For further information please contact the Rail Safety and Standards Board press office, on 020 7904 7524/5
Notes to editors:
1. Rail Safety and Standards Board builds industry-wide consensus and facilitates the resolution of difficult cross-industry issues. We provide knowledge, analysis, a substantial level of technical expertise, powerful information and risk management tools. This delivers a unique mix to the industry across a whole range of subject areas.
2. For more details of the winning entries visit www.trackoff.org/makingtrax/winners.htm
3. The judging panel were Susan Cutsforth (IT consultant, Education Leeds) Bob Miller (Music producer and manager) Angus Hubbard (Actor and presenter) John Webster (Creative manager) A young person
4. The competition was supported by RSSB on behalf of the Track Off education campaign, Northern Rail, British Transport Police, EMI and Play Time.
5. www.trackoff.org is a website sponsored by RSSB and accredited by the National Grid for Learning. It carries materials about the risks of inappropriate behaviour on the railway. These are for use in schools as part of their National Curriculum studies. Partners Against Railway Crime is the railway industry’s national campaign to combat crime on the railway network.
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