Six new Moreland school crossing supervisors ready for first day
School’s not just back for thousands of students this week but also hundreds of crossing supervisors across Melbourne. Veteran supervisor Silvana Bennardo shares her top road safety tips ahead of the first day.
North West
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As thousands of students prepare for the first day of school this week, it’s not just the kids who are bubbling with excitement.
Also among those with the back-to-school jitters are hundreds of crossing supervisors, who share a passion for keeping children safe on their way to and from school.
Moreland has 80 crossing supervisors, including six new starters, who are getting ready for their first day on the job this week.
During a typical hour on a school day, 3944 people cross one of the 80 supervised school crossings in Moreland.
Veteran crossing supervisor of 10 years, Silvana Bennardo, said she was looking forward to meeting all the new Preps, who looked “so cute” in their school uniforms.
SEE SUPERVISOR SILVANA BENNARDO’S TOP SAFETY TIPS BELOW
Ms Bennardo said she started the job because the work hours suited her lifestyle when her own children were younger.
She oversees a crossing at St Oliver Plunkett Primary School in Pascoe Vale for 45 minutes both before and after school.
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“In Moreland we take pride in being a crossing supervisor to the extent where we’ve developed a program to go into schools and teach the Prep, grade one and two students how to cross the road safely and how to be vigilant,” she said.
“We really pride ourselves in taking care of the kids.”
Ms Bennardo said they also educated kindergarten students in term four so they we able to learn about road safety before they started school and got to a crossing for the first time.
She said the most enjoyable aspect of the job was how the children became attached to their “lady pop”.
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“Some of them say that if you’re not here, they don’t want to go to school anymore, so you build up a relationship with the children,” Ms Bennardo said.
New Prep Raj, 6, who practised using a crossing with Ms Bennardo last week, said he was looking forward to making new friends at school.
With students set to return this week, motorists should also be alert to 40km/h speed zones around schools.