Breaking the age barriers (From York Press)

Breaking the age barriers

10:44am Wednesday 16th April 2008 in

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Bridging the divide between youngsters and the elderly can be a tall order. But, as education reporter Haydn Lewis found out, at one York primary school they are pulling out all the stops to make sure they do just that.

TO children at Osbaldwick Primary School, age is only a number.

As if to prove the point, youngsters at the York school are inviting elderly people from the local community to come and join them for a day.

On Wednesday next week - St George's Day - senior citizens have been invited to have afternoon tea with youngsters.

As well as serving tea, the children will be singing songs, playing musical instruments, and showing a DVD they have made about life at the school.

Lesley Barringer, the school's head teacher, said: "A school is a centre of its community.

"It's nice that the older people can come in and see that a lot of the negative images of children are untrue and unfair and that it is only a minority of youngsters who behave badly.

"It's a chance for the children to show off their skills and to ensure that they value the contribution of the older people in return."

The event is aimed at breaking down barriers between older and younger people.

It is part of Operation Dawn, a wide-ranging police and community initiative which is running across a wide area of York next week.

Officers are launching Operation Dawn as a weeklong crime crackdown in a bid to make the north of York a safer place to live.

Safer neighbourhoods teams in the Heworth, Hull Road, Haxby, Strensall, Huntington, Clifton, Clifton Moor and rural east areas of the city are joining forces with City of York Council, local ward councillors, members of the community and other agencies to launch the high-profile operation.

PC Graeme Wright, of the safer neighbourhoods team for Hull Road and rural east, said: "North Yorkshire Police and our partner agencies, in particular City of York Council, will be tackling issues of crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour, with a particular focus on traffic problems, alcohol and drug misuse, environmental matters such as street cleanliness and issues concerning young people and housing."

The operation will be York's second focused "week of action".

It follows on from the success of Operation Caritas, which was run in the west of the city in December last year.

It will begin on Monday, and run until Saturday, April 26.