A SCHOOL that lost a 10-year-old pupil in a tragic road accident will hold a road safety campaign next week after an increase in lorries and trucks close to the site.

Teachers at Stephen Freeman Primary School in Didcot are worried about the safety of their children because of building work next door to their school in Great Western Park.

It has prompted them to take urgent measures to ensure pupil safety and warn about the dangers of large trucks.

A Trucks and Child Safety (TACS) demonstration will be carried out at the school by courier company DHL over two days on January 10 and 11.

Children will be given the chance to examine at a 44-tonne lorry with their teacher.

During the demonstration, the pupils will learn about what drivers can and cannot see in their mirrors, how to walk safely around the vehicle, where to stand on the pavement and what to do if a football runs under a truck.

Lyn Moore, deputy head, said: “We live right on the doorstep of the new housing development and there are so many big lorries with rubble around every single day.

“We think it is really important for the children to be aware of this.”

Some 3,300 homes are to be built at Great Western Park by 2026.

The first residents moved in to the development in 2011, but work is ongoing to finish thousands more homes and facilities including shops as further phases of the building work continue.

This week’s event will run throughout the two days, with an earlier session for nursery pupils and an after-school session to involve parents in the safety demonstrations.

Concerns about pupil safety have been fresh in the minds of parents and teachers at Stephen Freeman following the death of ex-pupil Freddie Perry in September 2013.

The 10-year-old was hit by a car outside his house in Oxford Crescent after school, though the driver was cleared of blame.

At the time parents Lea and Judith Perry paid tribute to the youngster, saying their ‘lovely son’ had been ‘taken too early’. More than 450 school children are killed or injured in incidents involving trucks every year.

DHL is aiming to reach 100,000 pupils with its TAC demonstrations before the end of 2018.