Honey Honey

Over four days in February, the Platform team worked with Woolaston Primary School on a rail-education package that incorporated safety, confidence, and the opportunity to explore street art.

On the first day, Imogen from the Platform team went into the school to deliver a rail safety, confidence, and behaviour workshop. Students were focused and engaged, which was clearly reflected in the results from the QR-Code quiz carried out by Imogen at the beginning and end of the session. There was a huge leap in knowledge from beginning to end, especially in the question about train stopping distances – at the beginning of the session, 6% of students knew the right answer; by the end, 100% did.

The following week, across three days, each class travelled with the Platform team from Lydney to Cheltenham Spa by train. The team were joined by Geraint Morgan from Transport for Wales, who kindly supported with the travel on their trains. At Lydney station, the students continued to show off their rail-safety knowledge by answering a string of retrieval questions, before safely entering onto the platform and boarding the train.

The ride from Lydney to Cheltenham Spa is simply breath-taking; with beautiful views of Lydney Harbour being a highlight for most.

On arrival in Cheltenham Spa, the students were taken to stand safely in the newly revamped station car park to look at some of the artwork on display. Students were asked to comment on the artwork, particularly offering adjectives that reflected how they felt when standing and looking at it. Many identified that it was “Welcoming”; others said it made them feel “Happy” whilst others suggested it helped them feel “Safe”.

Following this, the students walked down to The Honeybourne Line – now accessible from the station car park without having to cross a road. The Honeybourne Line is a disused railway track which is now a walking and cycle track that can lead you safely into Cheltenham’s town centre. However, at the mouth of the track, students were able to notice that there was a large amount of “tagging”. When asked how this part of the track made them feel, they suggested it made them feel “nervous”, “worried” and a bit “unwelcome” – much of this was due to the fact that this space felt less well monitored and looked after.

The students walked further down the Honeybourne Line, stopping at a wall where there was a large amount of tagging. Students were given a design task at this point; thinking about how the carpark art had made them feel, and how the tagging on the line had made them feel, students were challenged to create a piece of artwork that would make people walking down that path feel happy and safe.

They created some beautiful, unique designs, showing real awareness of how different art can make us feel, and being mindful of how poor choices – like tagging – can impact on how other people feel. Students then returned to the station for a quick story-time with our favourite book character – Arlo – before boarding the train for the journey home.

Leanne Thomas, a teacher from Woolaston School, said the following: “I have to say that this has been the most amazing experience for both the staff and children. We have all learned so much about the railway and travelling by train safely. Emilie and Imogen were so knowledgeable and were able to answer the children’s questions so thoroughly.”

A huge thank you to Transport for Wales for providing complimentary travel for rail-education, meaning the whole package was delivered to the school at no cost.

You can find out more about travelling from Lydney, and through other Gloucestershire stations, by visiting Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership.