The TravelSmart team are starting a School Run Revolution!  To try to reduce congestion around your school, reduce pollution and encourage healthy lifestyles we are launching a Ten- Minute Walking Zone campaign.  Your school is already in the top 3 schools across the city for pupils walking, cycling and scooting to school which is excellent, but hopefully this pack will give you some ideas to keep you there.

The Ten-Minute Walking Zone campaign is aimed at those who live within a 10 minute walk but who choose to drive their children to school through necessity or habit.  The campaign is about trying to encourage parents to think about your short journeys and choose walking (or cycling and scooting) for the school run as much as you can. Together we can make the area around the school gate a more pleasant and safe place to be by reducing traffic and improving air quality, it will also encourage healthier lifestyles and you can make the journey fun.

 

Ten Minute Walking Zone Map

Do you live in the zone or close to the zone? If so are you and your children walking, cycling or scooting to school?

It’s easy to think that using the car is always the quickest choice. Have you ever thought about the time it actually takes to make sure the children are safely strapped in their car seats, pull off your drive or join a busy road, find a parking space by the school gates – get the toddler in the buggy, unstrap the children from their car seats and walk to the gate?  If you live within the Ten-Minute Walking Zone it is almost guaranteed to be quicker to walk!

Of course, ten minutes is just a guide ideally, children should be exercising for at least 60 mins a day – so a walk of 10-15 minutes twice a day will help them reach that target and will be good for you too.

If you do live within the Ten-Minute Zone you should really think about leaving your car at home for that short journey.  If you live further away could you think about parking on the edge of the Zone and walking the rest of the way? (More information on this is found further down)

Walking to school benefits pupils, parents, the school and the local community in a variety of ways:

  • It develops pedestrian and road safety skills
  • It reduces traffic congestion around the school gates – no more fighting for the last parking space
  • It makes the school gate a safer area to be in – less cars means more room for pedestrians
  • It saves time – it’s often quicker to walk (even a little bit) than to sit in school traffic
  • Pupils arrive at school more alert and on time
  • Less car emissions means improved air quality
  • It promotes moderate physical exercise.

It may be difficult to walk  your children to school every day, but could you look at active travel to school for one or two days a week? Maybe have a Walking Wednesday – or a Feet First Friday! Small changes can be a lot easier to stick to and making a small change to your school run will hopefully make you think about all your short journeys.

How are children travelling now?

The graph below shows the results of the TravelSmart 2020 survey of the pupils at your child school. It shows how pupils at Holden Lane Primary School travel compared to the pupils across the city.

Holden Lane Primary School is well above the city average so just keep up the good work and thank you.

Park & Stride

Are you worried about busy roads, the amount your child needs to carry to school, or getting to work on time after you have dropped the children off?

Parking a short walk from the school gates means you use your car for part of the journey but also actively travel that important ten minutes to the school gate.  TravelSmart can help any parent groups working with school staff to set up Park & Stride schemes just email travel.smart@stoke.gov.uk for more details.   We will work with you to identify places that can be used as pick up and drop off points near to your school and gain permission to use these sites – like public house car parks, supermarkets or council run facilities.

Your children are taught road safety at school, but there are some great sites to visit for more information if safety is one of your worries.

https://www.modeshiftstars.org/staysafegetactive/

https://www.sustrans.org.uk/our-blog/get-active/2019/everyday-walking-and-cycling/walking-safety-tips-for-children/

https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/walk-to-school/parents-and-carers

THINK! – Road safety

Is public transport an option for you? – it is a greener way to travel and if you jump off a stop before the school you can also get your 10 minutes exercise.

https://www.firstbus.co.uk/potteries

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook

@TravelSmartSoT

Become part of the #SchoolRunRevolution and#WalkCycleScoot