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Road Safety and Sustainable Travel

School Travel Plans

 

What is a School Travel Plan?

A School Travel Plan is a document which is produced by the school in partnership with your local borough council. The aim is to get pupils travel to school sustainably, actively, responsibly and safely by championing walking, scooting and cycling. This is achieved by assessing how pupils travel to school, setting targets, identifying issues and putting initiatives in place. Schools can gain accreditation for their plans through TfL’s STARS scheme, being awarded bronze, silver or gold.

Why does your school need a Travel Plan?

The average journey to school is about a 10 minute walk. However, a lot of these journeys are made by car which results in congestion, pollution and unsafe roads. By encouraging active travel such as walking, cycling and scooting to school we can all enjoy the benefits.

So what are the benefits?

Active travel to and from school has numerous benefits for all of those involved, some of which include:

  • Initiatives that you complete as part of your School Travel Plan can count towards other awards such as Healthy Schools and Eco Schools.
  • Working with the council to complete your travel plan will give your school the opportunity to access to funding and take part in FREE training courses.
  • Better physical and mental health.
  • Active travel to school has been shown to improve the concentration of pupils in school by up to 4 hours!
  • Less cars on the road leading to a reduction in pollution, congestion and likelihood of road traffic accidents.
  • Just 15 minutes of exercise can improve a child’s mood.
  • Active travel can widen social networks and  develop children’s responsibility, decision making, and time and risk management skills.

STARS

We use TfL STARS accreditation scheme in Southwark, allowing schools access to many more resources, support and funding streams. More importantly, it allows schools to record issues surrounding the travel and safety at their school. Road Safety projects can be tailored to issues that schools raise on their school travel plans.

Each school will also receive a plaque and certificate to display and can use the logo on their website and letterheads.

Training to use TfL STARS is available for free and there's support to run exciting projects such as Youth Travel Ambassadors (YTA) for secondary schools and Junior Travel Ambassadors (JTA).

Any schools wishing to take part can email our highways team to arrange a visit to train or set up the JTA or YTA scheme.

You can register on the TfL STARS website. Once you've registered, you can complete the plan and upload your evidence to start your accreditation for your school travel plan.

Travel Plans are essential for the borough to find out how children are getting to and from school and record any issues surrounding each school. This will enable us to target road safety training and projects accordingly. We work together with the public health team to encourage healthier lifestyles as well as the Healthy Schools Programme.

How to get involved

If your school hasn’t already got a travel plan get in contact! Your borough can give you advice on how to get started and help you feel confident about how to get your school travelling actively, responsibly and safely. 

For more information contact: highways@southwark.gov.uk