SCHOOLS CRIME PREVENTION POSTER COMPETITION

I was invited to take part in judging the junior schools’ crime prevention poster competition which had been organised by the Safer Communities Partnership Ream of West Berkshire Council. When I arrived at 2 p.m. at the Council Chamber, there were already a number of children and teachers from the participating schools there and I met up with Andrew Rowles the Chairman of West Berkshire Council and Phil Dray Mayor of Thatcham who would be judging with me. There were a large number of posters displayed on the side of the Chamber; these were the ones which had been eliminated from the competition from an earlier elimination. Andrew, Phil and I had the difficult job of deciding the winning poster so we agreed a criteria under which the posters would be marked; the three were design, message and impact. There were eight posters to judge and none were marked with the name of the school so that we could not be influenced as to where they were from. I found it difficult to believe that we were able to get a winner because they all had good messages about vandalism, anti-social behaviour and alcohol abuse. The one which won had all these but we agreed that the winner had the most impact and the winner was John Rankin Junior School. I felt slightly embarrassed because I am a governor of the school but I was equally proud that it was first.
I commend all the schools for taking part as it does get the children thinking about the local issues which can make or break community spirit. I hope that this competition will continue over subsequent years as it gives some important messages.