School Travel Plans
A school travel plan is a series of actions which aim to encourage more sustainable travel to and from school. Generally the focus is on promoting walking and cycling and trying to reduce the number of cars directly outside the school.
The benefits a school travel plan can deliver include;
- Increasing the health of children.
- Reducing congestion around the school gate and therefore improving children’s safety.
- Helping assessments for other initiatives such as Healthy Schools, Eco schools and contributing towards Ofsted inspections
- Giving children the opportunity to practice social and road safety skills.
- Providing topics for curriculum work.
Virtually all local authority schools in Bracknell Forest now have a School Travel Plan. They have helped reduce the percentage of children travelling to local authority schools by car. Figures collected as part of an annual census show car use falling from 31% in 2007 to 27% in 2009.
The challenge now is to sustain this momentum. School travel plans need to be reviewed and updated on an annual basis. A template which will aid this process is available to download.
Berkshire STEP awards scheme
Schools that have a school travel plan (STP) can participate in Berkshire STEP. This scheme recognizes schools that keep their STP up to date, and rewards them with gold, silver and bronze awards. For more details see the link on the right.
How we can help
If you need help reviewing your travel plan, or want to discuss ways you can reduce car congestion at your school, please contact us. There are lots of ideas to inspire you in our related areas section and you can read about what other schools have been up to in The Journey newsletter.
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