Over the last 12 months the Local Governing Committee(LGC) have, alongside school leaders, been looking at the issues surrounding Safer Routes to School. It is clearly recognised that there are concerns around the level of traffic on Darlington Road, with parents having raised safety concerns.
The school have set up a Safer Routes to School committee to represent the full range of views of parents and carers and to look at issues around sustainable and safe travel, parking and the wider environmental impact of how we choose to travel to school.
Please see the 5 minute walking map Walking Bubble Map Bathwick
Survey Results
Parents were surveyed to find out how families travel to school and why they choose that mode of transport. These are the main headlines from both the parent and pupil surveys:
- 72% of pupils/families walk to school.
- 6% of pupils usually cycle however 34% of pupils
said they would like to cycle to school. - 84% of parent responses said that they would like
to walk to school more often.
Comments about safety when travelling to school included wanting:
- Fewer cars on Darlington Road
- Better parking
- A pedestrian crossing on Warminster Road
28% of the parents who responded to the survey said they felt unsafe travelling to school. This is a concerning statistic and is something that the working party would like to work towards improving through ensuring greater awareness of safer travel in both pupils and parents.
If you would like to join the working party, then please do contact Mrs Elliott.
Walk to School Week
Our school is taking part in Walk to School Week (20th – 24th May). The nationwide event is organised by walking charity Living Streets and designed to help pupils experience firsthand the importance of walking to school. Children will be well on their way to reaching their recommended minimum 60 minutes of physical activity per day before even reaching the school gates! Not only will it set them up for a positive day in the classroom, but it will also help create healthy habits for life. This year’s challenge, The Magic of Walking, encourages children to travel actively to school every day of the week. Meeting various magical beings along the way, they’ll learn about the important reasons to walk and the difference it can make for individuals, communities and the planet! Each pupil will be chllenged to travel sustainably (walk, wheel, scoot, cycle or Park and Stride) to school for one week (or more) and to log their journeys.
As preparation for this week, we have organised for the Gloucestershire road safety team to be in school all day on 17th May to lead workshops on road safety with all classes. We would ask, if possible, to make arrangements so that your child/children can travel actively to school on the week commencing 20th May, helping our school reduce congestion and pollution around the school gates. Walking, wheeling, scooting and cycling all count!
If you need to drive or take public transport, you could always sign up for our ‘park and stride’ scheme which we are piloting this week, on the Monday 20th and Wednesday 22nd May. You will be able to drop your child off by the entrance to the Holburne museum and we will then all walk to school together. Please see more information in the May newsletter
Modeshift Stars
We are delighted to have achieved a Modeshift Stars Approved Plan certificate.
