BY DJANGO, JUDE, HARRISON, OSCAR, SEBASTIAN AND BEA
This morning, Judith Kerr students were praised by local MP Helen Hayes for our successful campaign to make the road outside our school safer.
A large crowd gathered outside the W16 cafe on the corner of Half Moon Lane and Holmdene Avenue to celebrate the new pedestrian crossing and wider pavement.
This happened because some students created a petition, made flyers and even went to Southwark Council to talk about all the reasons why a safer school crossing was so needed.
Bea, one of the key campaigners said: “It felt exciting to see all our hard work finally pay off.”
Talking to the students, parents and teachers gathered opposite our school, MP Helen Hayes said one of the best things about the new crossing is that the campaign was led by the students.
“I remember meeting here on a very rainy morning and you presented us with a big folder full of all of your evidence as to why we needed to make this road safer and why we needed a crossing. And you have done it!
“You asked for it, you got everybody shouting about it in the local area. You persuaded the council to do it. So that is really brilliant, and congratulations to you.”
The campaign has been going for more than two years and was previously reported on by the Mog Chronicle.
Bea said it was really hard to persuade the council to spend their money on our school but added: “we did not give up.”
“They never said no but they kept telling us they were going to think about it,” explained Bea. “Only in the Spring this year did they finally say they would do it.”
This morning, the Mog Chronicle reporters got to meet Helen Hayes and ask her quite a few questions. You can read the full interview here.
“I felt nervous and shaky,” said Jude. “But she was very nice and smart.”
“She did a very good speech,” explained Django. “This campaign felt really important to us because one of our friends nearly got hit by a car a few years ago when he was scooting out of the school gates.”
“It felt like we had a voice and we were being listened to for once,” said Bea
Helen Hayes was joined by Dulwich Ward Councillors Margy Newens and Richard Leeming.
She said that the crossing was a huge win for Judith Kerr students because the road was now safer.
But there was an added environmental benefit because when the roads are safer for walking and cycling, people are less likely to use their cars for short journeys.
Helen Hayes also said that she hoped that this successful campaign would be something the JKPS students would remember always.
“I hope, for all of you, you will take this into everything else that you do in life,” Hayes said. “And you will know that that’s kind of how democracy works. That you ask for things, you put a bit of pressure on and sometimes, not always, but sometimes, you get what you want, especially when what you want is about making your community better for everybody.”
Councillor Richard Leeming said the lesson was to “never give up.”
“Because you came to us, and you asked for this and we weren’t sure how we were going to do it. And you asked again …. and you kept asking and you kept making those brilliant posters and those brilliant signs.
“And it got to the point where we absolutely had to listen to you because we realised that you were doing the right thing.
“It’s our job as politicians and grown ups sometimes to listen to you lot. So I want to thank you for being so persistent and so clever in actually making us do this.
“I want a round of applause for the kids.”
