Setting off in the right direction

Of the 8.3 million children who make their way to school each day, just half travel by foot and a staggering two million are driven. Walking and cycling to school have to become the preferred options and there is now a greater impetus for change than perhaps there ever has been before.

Getting children hooked on sustainable modes of transport is not just about freeing up the roads or reducing pollution. Although both of these goals are priorities, increasing the amount of exercise that young people get is of equal, if not higher, importance. Childhood obesity now affects 15 per cent of 15-year-olds and 8.5 per cent of 6-year-olds. We know that this can lead to obesity in adulthood which in turn leads to an increased risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes among other illnesses. Unless the amount of daily exercise taken by children increases rapidly, the health of the nation's children will continue to decline.

What needs to be done?

It's clearly not just a matter of encouraging parents to avoid using their cars when it comes to getting their children to school. Thought needs to go into aspects such as these:

• Whether the common routes that children take can be made more pedestrian— or cycle-friendly
• Whether cycle paths can be created or enhanced
• How children can best carry their school books (communal bike trailers are frequently used in bike trains)
• How bikes, micro-scooters and roller blades are stored in schools
• Where suitable 'drop and go' points might be, from which pupils can finish their journey to school on foot

Perhaps most significantly, traditional approaches to certain aspects of school life such as uniform may have to change. As Travelling to School: A Good Practice Guide  states:

Schools should consider carefully how any of their policies affect walking and cycling. For instance, DfES will revise the guidance on school uniform, so that it asks schools to consider the practicality of any uniform policy for those children who may wish to walk or cycle. Schools should recognise that items such as backpacks, trainers or fashionable cycling wear can support a healthy lifestyle and are sound additions to a good uniform policy.

With pedesrian casualty rates particularly high among 11-12-year-old boys, it's clear that children generally could usefully be taught 'street skills' and road-safety skills. Opportunities to do this can be built into the curriculum, in particular via the framework for PSHE.

By taking a holistic approach to the issue of travel to and from school, the single focus of reducing car use has the greatest chance of benefiting the highest number of people. A school's travel plan will gather together the package of measures that have been worked on to reduce car use and improve safety on routes to and from school. It outlines partnerships with other agencies in the community such as the health service, the police, the LEA, etc. It will necessarily draw on consultation with pupils, parents, governors, teachers, and local residents, among others.

Ideas that may work in your school

The following suggestions are all working successfully in schools around the UK. They may work in your school too:

• Devising a school travel plan setting out what each stakeholder will do to support journeys to and from school
• Ensuring that sustainable travel to and from school is part of your institution's ethos, promoted actively through policies and through the curriculum
• Setting up school-run bike trains and walking buses
• Allowing children to use roller blades and micro-scooters to get to school
• School— or LEA-run minibuses to ferry children to and from school
• 'Drop and go' or 'park and stride' sites about half a mile from school that allow children to be driven part of the way but to walk the remaining distance
• Reward systems offering, for example, free swimming sessions, etc. for children who participate in reducing their reliance on cars to get them to school
• Promoting positive behaviour by children on public transport through rewards and sanctions as appropriate
• Providing secure storage for bikes and helmets during the school day as well as adequate cloakroom facilities (lockers, showers and changing facilities, etc.)
• Involving the school council in promoting sustainable travel policies and solutions to other children
• Discussing with public-transport providers how they can support the extended school day
• Providing shelters for parents who walk to school to collect young children
• Making sure that uniform policies support sustainable travel to school — if uniforms aren't also practical for walking and cycling, pupils and parents will receive mixed messages about the priority sustainable travel to school has in your school
• Improving the access that your pupils have to cycle training — according to the National Cycling Strategy Board's recent survey, only 29 per cent of children currently receive any form of cycle training before leaving primary school
• Encouraging car-sharing among those parents who have no viable alternative to driving their children to school   

Help and advice

There is an extensive amount of information available to schools to assist them in promoting sustainable travel to school. The information below is a starting point:

• A new programme of site-specific advice to assist schools in developing their travel plans is now available. This is managed under the Government's Energy Efficiency Best Practice Programme. Schools that apply and are accepted onto the programme receive up to five days of an advisor's time free of charge on a range of issues. For further information contact the Environment and Energy Helpline: 0845 602 1425.
• Support for school travel surveys can be found on the Young People's Transport Network (Youngtransnet) and Department for Transport websites.
• Sustrans Information Service on Safe routes to school:  phone 0117 929 0888 or email schools@sustrans.org.uk.
• The Department for Transport's website has guidance for teachers and LEAs about teaching road safety across the curriculum.
• The Suzy Lamplugh Trust has produced the video and audio cassette, 'Home Safe', offering practical ways for children to ensure personal security when walking home alone.
• The International Walk to School Week website has resources including a Walk to School Initiatives booklet, and checklists on assessing the walkability (or bikability) of your area.