CHILDREN from Bridge of Allan Primary School have received runner up and commended recognition in a Junior Road Safety Officer (JRSO) competition.

To support Global Road Safety Week 2017, hundreds of youngsters throughout Scotland entered the competition to design a poster to highlight the dangers of speeding.

Now in its fourth year, the United Nations Global Road Safety Week runs from May 8-14 and seeks to raise awareness about the dangers of speeding through its #SlowDown campaign.

Pupils from JRSO participating primary schools were encouraged to get imaginative and enter the competition through their own choice of media.

A total of 616 pupils from 37 primary schools entered with a range of impressive and informative poster designs, including traditional hand drawn entries to digitally created designs as well as some accompanied by a selfie.

Primary 2 pupil Olivia Cairns and primary 5 pupil Hamish Glencross of Bridge of Allan Primary School were both awarded runner up position for excellent designs that carried strong and effective messaging highlighting the dangers of speeding.

Additionally primary 4 pupil Eva Gardner and primary 7/6 pupil Scarlett Toon submitted road safety posters that were commended by judges and they received commended certificates.

Stirling Council chief education officer, Kevin Kelman, said: "This is real accolade for our Bridge of Allan Primary pupils.

"We are very proud of them and the flair and creativity they have shown in this competition, and for reinforcing the important messages around road safety."

The overall first prize went to five year old Isra Ahmed, a primary 1 pupil at Milton Primary School, South Lanarkshire, with her creative design that kept it simple yet impactful with the message: ‘Read the sign, take your time.’

Michael McDonnell, director of Road Safety Scotland, said: "The enthusiasm of young people and schools across the country never ceases to amaze me, and the quality of the submissions shows great imagination.

"Hopefully, the underlying reasons for the competition and Global Road Safety Week will be brought home to the children and strike a chord with their teachers and parents.

"The road environment can be dangerous and inappropriate speed choice is a major factor in the type of injuries vulnerable people can suffer.

"JRSOs do a fantastic job of promoting road safety messages in their schools and it’s encouraging to see so many schools getting involved and putting Scotland on the global road safety map. A massive thank you and well done to all those involved.”

A further 26 runners up and 77 commendations were awarded to pupils from schools in Aberdeenshire, East Dunbartonshire, Midlothian, Moray, North Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian.

All schools who entered received a participation certificate.