All Saints’ has been accredited the Silver Level by STARS (Sustainable Travel: Active, Responsible, Safe), which is Transport for London’s (TfL) travel plan accreditation programme. This was awarded for our achievements and commitment to reducing car travel and encouraging walking, cycling and road safety.

The programme provides a framework and support for nurseries, schools, colleges and academies to help them put an accredited travel plan in place. It rewards educational establishments for their achievements and commitment to sustainable forms of travel.

See bottom of page for the plan.

 

School Travel Plans

Everybody knows how much easier it is to travel when the streets are clear during the school holidays. With more children being driven to school than ever before, blocked roads and congested school gates are a familiar sight. Most children live within walking or cycling distance of their school so it makes sense to give parents and children some school-run alternatives. The government have acknowledged that something needs to change and have set an objective to increase the proportion of 5 – 10-year-olds walking to school to 55% by 2025. 

School Travel Plans (STPs) are a key tool to support with this and are used to manage traffic and transport across the borough. A STP is a plan that sets out how a school intends to increase levels of walking, cycling and use of public transport for the journey to and from school.

It is developed through a partnership involving the school, the Council (in particular transport and education), the Police, the health authority and the community. It is based on consultation and engagement with teachers, parents, pupils, governors/boards and other local people.

Travel planning - the act of implementing travel plans - is the real focus. Some in schools in Merton are engaged in travel planning. The STP programme aims to encourage, promote and support in working towards a healthy, safe and lively whole school community. This links to our schools’ Christian Values of Koinonia and creation, as well as OFSTED’s recommendations for Personal Development.

 

So, what are the benefits?

A School Travel Plan is about much more than making sure children can get to school on time. A school travel plan promotes active, healthy, safe and sustainable travel to school. The main benefits of a school travel plan are to:

• Improve health through encouraging active travel and reducing harmful emissions.
• Improve the environment through reducing congestion, reducing pollution and CO2 emissions. Cycling and walking routes should improve, including safer places to cross the road.
• Improve safety through highways engineering measures and increasing road safety education. The aim is for less congestion around schools and in the local community.
• Improve access and opportunity by developing pupils' skills for safe and independent travel. It
• Improve local congestion by encouraging green travel for staff, pupils and parents.
• Improve bike and scooter storage through local grants and government funding.
• Improve road safety education by providing courses for children to learn to cycle and walk safely to and from school.
• Improve active travel with students becoming healthier, happier and more alert. Evidence suggest that …
• Improve footfall for local businesses. With Koinonia being a core value of our school, walking to school benefits our community as local businesses are supported when people pass by shops on their walks to school.

 

What our school does already?

At our school:

• We provide ample space for scooter and bike parking.
• Our Hanover Road is located on a School street (school safety zones) meaning it is pedestrianised during school drop-off and pick-up times.
• The distance between sites is walkable, using quiet, residential roads.
• There is a Pedestrian (Zebra) Crossing outside our Haydon’s Road site.
• We provide a Level 2 BikeAbility course for Upper KS2 children, involving bike handling skills on both the playground and the road.
• We have balance-bike training in EYFS.
• We have a safer walking to school session for Upper KS2 children to prepare them for the transition to Secondary School. 
• We work in partnership with TFL stars, transport for London and Merton Council.

 

The aims of All Saints’ School Travel Plan.

The implementation of All Saints’ School Travel Plan aims to encourage a healthy lifestyle and provide initiatives for our children to make a positive contribution.

This will work hand in hand with our school curriculum and other eco-friendly initiatives with the aim of providing a healthy and environmentally aware generation for the 21st century.

 

The school also share Eco-Schools and Healthy Schools aims:

To make every school in the country sustainable and to bring about behaviour change in young people and those connected to them, so that good habits learned in school are followed through into homes and communities.

We aim to:

• To help raise pupil achievement.
• To help raise social inclusion.
• To help raise health inequalities.