How to develop a School Travel Plan - Primary Schools
Contents
School Travel Plan Checklist
School Travel Plan Agreement
School Travel Plan Action Template
The vicious circle
STP Working Group
Why does my school need a School Travel Plan?
- The number of children being driven to and from school has risen significantly over the past 20 years. A recent survey of over 160 Leicestershire schools showed that 45% of primary school children arrived by car.
- School gate congestion is a threat to pedestrian safety and significantly increases traffic noise and pollution.
- Children who arrive by car have little opportunity to learn pedestrian road safety skills that are essential for their continuing development.
- Parents’/Guardians’ fears for their children's safety from traffic, whilst walking to school, has in turn led to those children being driven to school, thus exacerbating the problem.
- Schools frequently receive complaints from parents/guardians and local residents about aggressive drivers who park dangerously outside schools, drive on the pavement and have little consideration for others.
- Research shows that children are not as healthy as they used to be. One of the main causes is that they spend more time travelling by car rather than on foot or by bike.
- If the school is looking to extend its building then it may be required to develop a School Travel Plan as part of the planning permission.
- Capital grants, in the region of £5,000, are currently available to primary schools that develop a School Travel Plan.
What is a School Travel Plan?
It is a working document, written by pupils, parents/guardians, teachers, governors and local residents. Its aim is to identify safe, healthy and sustainable journeys to school and make these options an attractive alternative to travelling by car. This means finding ways to encourage walking, cycling, use of public transport and car sharing.
For the school:
- Improved safety on the school journey
- Reduced congestion and pollution outside the school gates
- Improve community relationships, with the school seen as a ‘good neighbour’
- Contribute to the school’s environmental policy or gain recognition for the school eg, Healthy School and/or Eco-School status
- The journey to school provides an opportunity for learning eg, citizenship, geography
- The opportunity to access funding to improve sustainable travel to school.
For the pupils:
- Improved health and fitness by increasing levels of walking and cycling
- Improved road and personal safety skills and travel awareness
- Improved knowledge of community surroundings and the local environment
- The opportunity to make a difference by engaging their interest and enthusiasm to find solutions for problems related to the school run.
For the parents/guardians:
- Increased parent and child contact
- Reduced driving stress and improved journey quality
- Improved community awareness by working together.
What will the school have to do?
Schools will be expected to:
- Form and maintain a working group that could include representation from parents/guardians, pupils, governors, parish/town council, local residents, police or other members of the school community
- Appoint a STP champion who is responsible for its ongoing development
- Consult within the school and the community about current travel patterns and the potential for increased walking/cycling to school
- Liaise with nearby schools, if appropriate, and other organisations that can help push the School Travel Plan forward
- Develop skills to ‘sell’ sustainable transport alternatives to parents/guardians, pupils and members of staff.
It is your plan, with problems that are unique to your school. The problems are identified by you and solved by you, but the County Council’s Travel Plan Team will advise and support you and help progress the initiatives you identify.
The first step in producing a School Travel Plan is to undertake a survey of current travel patterns and practices. Surveys should include; how pupils travel to school, how they would like to travel and what, if anything, stops them from walking, cycling, using public transport or car sharing.
- The County Council can provide survey templates and sufficient questionnaires for the school population.
- When the pupil survey forms have been completed the School Travel Plan Team at County Hall will collate the information and return the results to the school.
- It is also recommended that parents/guardians are asked to complete a travel survey. These questionnaires collect data on wider issues, ie, where parents/guardians go after dropping off their children at school. Examples of these surveys can be provided.
With this information a school is able to identify initiatives that have the potential to improve the quality of children's lives, the environment immediately around school and that have a beneficial effect on the community in general.
What can be included in the School Travel Plan?
Each school is unique, with its particular environment, catchment area and aims. The measures identified in a School Travel Plan are specific to that school and may not be appropriate at a different campus. Listed below are some of the measures that can be incorporated into a School Travel Plan.
Travel awareness
- Advise new pupils and parents/guardians on school travel policies and arrangements
- Include a safer routes map, school travel policies and arrangements in the prospectus/website
- Include school journey details in arrival packs sent to new parents/guardians
- Curriculum based projects on sustainable transport/healthy choices
- Poster competitions for pupils. Designs to encourage parents/guardians to show consideration when parking near schools and promote walking to school or car sharing
Walking and cycling
- Hold regular walk to school events, co-ordinated with health promotion eg, ‘Walking Wednesdays’
- Offer practical pedestrian training eg, ‘First Steps Pedestrian Training’
- Set up a Walking Bus
- Create car-free pedestrian/cycle entrances
- Give priority to pedestrians, cyclists and buses at the school entrance and within the campus
- Create new footpaths in the school grounds and resurface existing paths
- Provide shelters for parents/guardians waiting to collect children
- Review visibility of school uniform
- Review homework timetable and check how much children carry home
- Provide adequate storage for school books, cycling gear and outdoor clothing
- Provide cycle parking facilities for staff and pupils
- Offer on-road cycle training
- Advise on cycling safety and arrange regular cycle maintenance checks
- Set up a cycle permit scheme
Public transport
Provide public transport information at school
- Explore options for new services, better routes and low fare promotions
- Introduce a code of behaviour for school bus users
Sharing the ride
- Set up a car sharing scheme for parents and staff
- Introduce a parent/guardian driver code of conduct
- Set up a ‘Park and Stride’ scheme
The aim of the Routes to School programme, funded by Leicestershire County Council, is to build a safer and more accessible highway network for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. Some measures identified by your school may come within the Routes to School programme, such as pedestrian crossing facilities or 20 mph zones. The County Council will investigate whether or not such measures are appropriate or feasible and will seek to implement them where schools can demonstrate that:
- they have adopted a School Travel Plan
- they are willing to introduce curricular activities based on the School Travel Plan
- they appoint a champion who will be responsible for helping to develop and monitor the School Travel Plan
- they have implemented some of the other measures identified in the School Travel Plan eg, established a walking bus or installed secure cycle facilities
For further information contact:
Road Safety Education and Travel Awareness Team
Department of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management
Leicestershire County Council
Glenfield
Leicestershire
LE3 8RJ
School Crossing Patrol Enquiries
Phone 0116 305 6515
Email education@leics.gov.uk
Text Description of Images
Text description of the vicious circle image
The vicious circle has 6 text items placed at its edge. The text items are as follows:
- Parents/Guardians think that roads are too dangerous
- Parents/Guardians drive children to school
- Traffic increases
- Parents/Guardians think that roads are too dangerous
- Fewer children walk and cycle to school
- Traffic increases
Text description of STP Working Group image
The STP Working Group is represented as a circle surrounded by 7 text items. Starting at the top of the circle and moving clockwise, the text items are as follows:
- Parents/Guardians
- Local Residents
- Pupils
- Teachers/Staff
- Parish/Town Council
- Leicestershire County Council
- School Governors
Any of the above can be members of the STP Working Group
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