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Primary school pupils have been taking action against illegal parking outside their school – and have even given out tickets to some of the culprits.
The issue has been a longstanding issue at the Twyn School in Caerphilly, teacher Rebecca Bantjes told Caerphilly Observer.
Year 4 pupils at the school dished out the tickets as part of the Heddlu Bach (mini police) scheme, which sees children aged between nine and 11 work with Gwent Police to become community ambassadors.
This is the first year the Twyn has been involved with the scheme, which a number of other schools across the borough have been taking part in over the last few years.
The pupils have been given their own police uniforms as part of the scheme, which sees them learn about topics such as stranger danger and cyber bullying.
They have also been visited by police officers, who have spoken to them about policing.
In total, 14 pupils are involved in the school’s Heddlu Bach – a role they’re all “taking very seriously,” according to Mrs Bantjes.
She said: “The pupils decided that parking on double yellows outside the school was a big issue for them.”
Following on from their ticketing activity, which the children will be doing every term, Mrs Bantjes explained: “From this, they will give a presentation in the school assembly about what they’ve been doing.
“They’ll be encouraging other pupils to speak with their parents and ask them not to park on double yellows.”
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Mrs Bantjes said the pupils have also decided they wanted to do litter picks and bag packing for the elderly at Morrisons as part of the scheme.
Another activity the mini police officers have done included a crime investigation into who had ‘stolen’ their sweets.
To find the guilty party, the pupils did fingerprint testing on their headteacher and teaching assistants – and then decided what punishment ought to be given out.
“They’re taking responsibility for what’s going on around their school,” Mrs Bantjes said.
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