Walking and cycling can be a great way to get to school. Many children do not have the opportunity to get regular exercise or get to know their local area. Walking and cycling can help. It is also a great way for children to learn road safety skills and independence. They can also travel with friends.
Some of the ways that we support walking and cycling to school include:
You might also like to try our new bird spotting activity for a way to make walking to school fun. There are many other things that children can spot on the way to school.
We can help schools to identify safe routes to school that they can promote to parents and produce maps of their local area showing safe crossing points, etc.
Car Sharing
Car sharing can be a good way to reduce congestion outside schools and reduce carbon emissions. Speak to your school to see if they have a car share scheme.
Public Transport
Children who are old enough, especially secondary schoolchildren, are often able to travel to school on the bus. This is a great opportunity for children to travel with friends and to gain independence and confidence.
Berkshire School Travel Excellence Programme (Berkshire STEP)
Many schools in Wokingham now have school travel plans in order to address the health, safety and environmental effects of high car use on the journey to school. As a way of encouraging schools to keep their plans up-to-date, the local authorities in Berkshire have developed the STEP scheme.
Schools use a self-assessment system to gauge the success of their travel plan against a set of identified criteria such as curriculum activities, measures implemented, promotion and publicity and progress towards targets.
Based on the success of their travel plan, schools can earn a gold, silver or bronze award and a certificate presented to schools. Gaining one of these awards is a good way of demonstrating to the whole school community their commitment to healthy, safe and environmentally conscious travel choices.
In addition to the gold, silver and bronze certificates, there are also trophies to be won for:
- The Big STEP Award - for the school with the highest overall score
- Most innovative School Travel Plan project
- Pupil involvement
- Staff initiative
- Outstanding contribution - for the individual (teacher, pupil, Governor, PTA member, etc) who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the success of the travel plan.
Further information
If you would like any further information or would like to take part in any of these initiatives, please contact your school travel advisor, Heather Eley on 0118 908 8308 or email: heather.eley@wokingham.gov.uk
