Neighbourhood News
Sticker collecting scheme makes positive impact on youngsters - Buckinghamshire
More than 3,600 year six pupils from across Buckinghamshire made their community a better place over the past months, thanks to a county-wide sticker collecting competition which has just finished.
The CopCards scheme was organised by Thames Valley Police, the four district councils, Buckinghamshire County Council, Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service, local primary schools, voluntary and private sector partners. It saw youngsters receiving 24 different stickers for taking part in a variety of activities such as clear-up days, attending talks about healthy eating, internet security, fire safety, recycling and more.
A total of 37,000 stickers were handed out – 7,500 were for youngsters meeting their local neighbourhood policing officers face to face and 1,900 for attending talks on knife crime and anti-social behaviour.
Ch Insp Dave Cherrington from Thames Valley Police, who managed the project on behalf of the partnership, said: “Young people who have a positive interaction with authority figures early on in their lives are more likely to come to us if they have problems or have information that can solve a crime. They also develop a positive attitude towards the law in general, which will help them stay out of trouble.
“Taking part in this competition has taught them valuable life skills which will help them be responsible teenagers who stay safe and make a positive contribution to their community.”
After taking part in the competition, one pupil from Chenies School in Chiltern District said: “There is so much I can do in my community that I didn’t even know about and it is so easy to help by doing little things. Another bonus is that I now know who my local PCSO is.”
Winners announced
Pupils at the schools which collected the highest ratio of stickers per child will each receive a prize.
Ch Insp Cherrington said: “We have been impressed with the enthusiasm and commitment shown by the young people and I hope they enjoy their prizes. The scheme could not have been possible without support from our public sector partner agencies and private sector sponsors, who are Legoland Windsor, The Entertainer of Chiltern, John Lewis, AMF Bowling and Empire Cinema of High Wycombe.
Year 6 pupils from the following schools have won a visit to Legoland in Windsor on Tuesday (13/7):
Dorney School (South Bucks)
Cedar Park School (Wycombe)
Curzon Church of England Combined School (Chiltern)
Waterside Combined School (Chiltern)
Seer Green Church of England Combined School (Chiltern)
St Louis Catholic Primary School (Aylesbury Vale)
Oakley Church of England Combined School (Aylesbury Vale)
Oakridge School (Wycombe)
Westfield School Wycombe)
Runners-up
Year Six pupils from Frieth Church of England Combined School (Wycombe), Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School (Chiltern), St Mary’s Church of England School (Aylesbury Vale) and Iver Heath Junior School have each won a rock climbing session.
Eighteen individual pupils and four other schools – Ashmead Combined School (Aylesbury Vale), Longwick Church of England Combined School (Wycombe Rural), Holtspur School (South Bucks) and Stone Church of England Combined School (Aylesbury Vale) have won awards for commitment and contribution.