"'Ello, 'ello, 'ello, what's all this then?" For pupils of a St Albans primary school it was a rare chance to meet the boys and girls in blue without finding themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Over the summer term, Year 5 children at Wheatfields Junior School in Downes Road took part in the Mini Police initiative, which aims to bridge the gap between the police and young people.
Over eight weeks, the police team delivered lessons to the children around themes that show how young people can support their community by working closely with the police, how everyone’s view matters and how they can help to inspire other young people to do the right thing.
Themes included anti-social behaviour, bullying, online safety and different ways to report when they are unsafe or feel in danger.
Pupils carried out a community project on the issue of parking around the school. With handmade parking tickets they sent a strong message to parents who park illegally around the school gates in the morning and after school.
Assistant headteacher Penny Laskar-Brown said: "The project ended with a fantastic assembly to parents and children to share the project and the valuable messages and lessons they had learnt.
"The children had the chance to see the police vehicles up close and even go inside and experience the back of a police van…which we hope they may never experience again!"
Some of the comments from pupils about the initiative included:
"We have learnt what not to do when you get older and we have been taught the consequences can be very serious." - Thomas.
"The assembly was good to do to help other people understand how they can help the community and to tell people what not to do and why." - Jamie.
"The Mini-Police showed us that doing the right thing will help us in life." - Celine.
"I learnt it is really important to take responsibility for your actions." - Tess.
‘’We were protecting the children in our school when we handed out tickets to people who were parking badly." - Alba.
"I loved going in the police van and we got to use the different equipment and go in the mini prison at the back!" - Yasmin.
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