Community Heroes

Written by Anne Trout & Leah SareenIllustrated by Bethan Matthews

With the help of two local PCSOs, four friends work together to give information about a theft. They learn about Crimestoppers

as well as setting up a Neighbourhood Watch scheme.

Other materials available in the series:On Track (KS1)Keep On Track (KS2)Keep Aware Drug Information Cards (KS2)8 Personal Safety Books (KS2) exploring issues such as internet safety and cyber bullying; community safety; valuing difference; dealing with emergencies.

Devised, researched and written by Anne Trout – Independent Education Consultant and Leah Sareen – Community Safety Team, Nottinghamshire County Council

Storylines developed by Amy Graham, Linda Taylor and Rob della-Spina – Consultant Teachers

Illustrated by Bethan Matthews

Formatted by Lindsay Donnelly & Fleur Winters – Nottinghamshire Police

Copyright © On Track 2012

In partnership with

Community Heroes

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Community HeroesIt had been raining all weekend. It was still raining on Monday morning as Chris and Toby walked to school. As they arrived at the school gates, they were greeted by their friends Eloise and Chantelle. “Have you heard about the school roof?” asked Eloise with some concern.

“No. Why, what’s happened?” questioned Chris.

“The school hall floor is completely wrecked from a leak in the roof. Mr Turner, the caretaker has been trying to clear it up. This means we won’t be able to do our school play in there!” said Chantelle who was feeling very disappointed.

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“I heard that it’s leaking because some lead has been stolen off the roof,” replied Toby informatively.

As they arrived into their classroom, they had to pass the hall and could see the damage that had been caused. There were buckets everywhere catching the rain coming through and the floor was a mess. They could see Mr Turner frantically trying to mop up all the water that was pouring in.

Back at the police station PCSO Dave was busy checking the CCTV footage of the area around the Naidoo house. The two boys had been captured on the cameras. It showed one of them clearly riding off on the small bike and the other running beside him. When PCSO Claire arrived back later that day, she shared the witness statements she had collected. Thanks to the new Pride Place Neighbourhood Watch group the police now had enough information to arrest the two boys. The following week the headline on the front page of the local paper read;

Watch Out! Community Heroes About!

Have Pride in your Place!

Reading this the children and their new Neighbourhood Watch friends were surprised, but very proud to be recognised as “Community Heroes”.

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Later on that day there was a special assembly. The head teacher Mr Green introduced PCSO’s Dave and Claire. “As you will probably know by now, the lead from our school roof has been stolen, causing it to leak. This has badly damaged our school hall floor. This is very upsetting and inconvenient for us all. We will do everything we can to ensure the annual school play goes ahead. I know how hard you have all worked, and how frustrated you all must feel. We want to take this opportunity to reassure you and keep you safe. There are things we can do to prevent this happening again and PCSO’s Dave and Claire will talk to you now.

PCSO Claire started by talking about what anti-social behaviour is. The children learnt that it included things like; graffiti, littering, noisy neighbours and of course stealing the lead off the school roof. This was anti-social behaviour because it was crime that affected other people. Claire asked the children to keep a look out for anyone doing these kinds of things. They made it quite clear not to approach anyone. The best thing to do would be to report to an adult they could trust such as; a parent, a teacher or a local PCSO.

Chris arrived home on his bike and told his step-dad what had happened. “You could ring our PCSOs Dave and Claire and let them know,” suggested Chris to his step-dad. Chris’s step-dad spoke to PCSO Claire and told her about the incident at the park and what had happened to Bert. Claire was really pleased that they had reported this information and said she would pop round later to speak to Chris. She said it would be really useful if Chris could invite any of his friends and other witnesses, such as Bert and Ada to meet her there too, so she could get as much information as possible. Chris’s step-dad agreed this would be a good idea.

Later that afternoon, Chris, his friends, Bert and Ada met at his house and were able to tell PCSO Claire in more detail what happened and what the boys looked like. She informed them that a few other children had also rung to say there had been similar incidents around the area over the weekend. She praised the children and said that their information was really important, and it helped to build a bigger picture. “Hey this is just like having our own Neighbourhood Watch meeting!” said Chantelle excitedly.

Bert nodded in agreement. “Let’s set one up then,” he suggested.

“What a good idea, I could dig out my old type writer and keep the minutes,” Ada proposed.

“You can borrow our laptop,” offered Chris’s step-dad.

“Fantastic!” exclaimed PCSO Claire, “I’ll even bring some biscuits!”

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They could even ring Crimestoppers which was anonymous. One of the children asked what that meant. Claire said that was a good question. She explained that you could report a crime, or give information about anti-social behaviour without needing to give your name. That meant it kept it private. Someone asked about ringing the emergency services and telling the police. PCSO Dave told them that the emergency services were to only be used for actual emergencies, if a crime is taking place or if someone’s life or health was in danger. He continued to explain that for all other enquiries and non-emergencies 101 was the best number to use.

Chantelle whispered to Chris, “I didn’t know that. Crimestoppers sounds good, I would rather tell someone privately.” Chris agreed with her. PCSO Claire then told the children about a local scheme called Neighbourhood Watch. She told the children that this involved members of the community working together with professionals, such as PCSO Dave and herself. They had regular meetings to share and discuss ideas on how to keep their homes and local community safe.

“They were definitely the boys from the park that tried to get our bikes and now they have stolen Tara’s bike!” said Toby horrified.

“Remember what PCSO Claire and Dave told us in assembly last week. We need to tell an adult we can trust immediately. Let’s hurry home and report what we have just seen,” said Eloise as she jumped back on her bike. Bert thanked the children for helping him up and they all rushed home.

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The following weekend the rain had stopped and the sun was out. So were the four friends, Chris, Toby, Eloise and Chantelle. They were playing on their bikes. They had been cycling around Pride Place and had ended up back at the park. They noticed two older boys also in the park that they hadn’t seen before. Chantelle and Eloise abandoned their bikes and went to play on the swings.

The two older boys went over to Toby and Chris. “Like your bikes mate,” said one of them to Chris.

“Thanks” Chris replied nervously, not sure what else to say.

“Well we should have a look,” Bert said as he cautiously walked towards the side entry. “What on earth is going on?” shouted Bert. Just then the two boys came rushing back towards Bert. One was on a bike that was too small for him and the other was running beside him. They knocked Bert to the ground as they bolted away. “Get out the way granddad!” shouted one of the boys. The other boy laughed loudly as he watched Bert fall to the ground along with all his shopping. They raced off down the street and round the corner, out of sight.

At that same moment Chris, Toby, Chantelle and Eloise were on their way home from the park and came across the elderly couple. They had seen what had just happened to Bert. They helped him get up, collected his shopping and checked Bert was okay. “Hang on a minute, weren’t those the same boys at the park?” asked Chantelle.

“Yes, I recognise them from what they were wearing. That must have been Tara Naidoo’s bike. I bet they’ve stolen it!” Chris exclaimed.

“Yeah, maybe it’s the same people who stole the lead from the school roof,” said Chantelle remembering last week’s incident. Tara was a good friend of the children and they knew she would be devastated her bike was gone. Chris took a look down the side of the Naidoo’s house. “They must have stolen the bike from the shed. But the shed doesn’t look damaged,” Chris announced. “I wonder if they forgot to lock the door?” Bert replied.

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“Yeah, fancy letting us have a go?” said the older boy. Toby and Chris looked at each other, they didn’t recognise them and weren’t sure if they could be trusted. “Might be able to give you a few quid for it, if it rides alright,” the older boy said, as he looked the bike over.

“No thanks, it was a present and I like it,” said Chris more confidently than he actually felt.

“Yeah well, we will be around if you change your mind. Got to go, got other things to do now,” he said. Toby and Chris hurried across the park with their bikes. The girls jumped off the swings and seeing that the boys looked worried, asked what was going on. ”Let’s head home now, we’ll tell you later,” said Toby nervously. They all mounted their bikes and cycled towards home.

Ada and Bert, two of Pride Place’s elderly residents, were just coming back from doing their shopping.They were talking about the local fair that was coming to Pride Place. As they continued down the street, Bert noticed two boys go up the side entry of the Naidoo’s house. Ada knew that the Naidoo family was on holiday, so she wondered what the boys were up to.

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