Active Travel

At Waterthorpe we encourage active travel and we encourage children and parents to travel to school by cycling, scooting and walking ( active travel) wherever possible. This page explains how we will be encouraging active travel to school. We discuss active travel with the pupils and re-visit it frequently and promote active travel events each year. For pupils unable to travel to school actively, we encourage use of public transport and, for those who drive to school, we encourage you to use our Park and Stride scheme.

Aims of Active Travel are to:

Encourage healthier lifestyles by walking, scooting and cycling
Improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, children on scooters and drivers
Reduce Congestion around the school
Reduce carbon emissions from vehicles around school
Reduce the environmental impact of the journey to school

Some of the benefits of active travel:

Being active on the way to school leads to more awake and alert pupils in the classroom;
Children need at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day. The journey to and from school is an ideal time for children to engage in physical activity;
Walking / scooting and cycling to school are great ways to help pupils become familiar with their local environment;
Walking, scooting and cycling helps improve air quality and the local environment around their schools by removing the number of cars around the school gate;
Reducing car use and congestion around the school gates increases pupil safety and reduces harmful toxic fumes.

For the well- being of our children, we would love parents and carers to:

Encourage their child to walk, cycle or scooter to school whenever possible
Encourage their child to take up opportunities to develop their competence and confidence in cycling or scooting
Provide their child with equipment such as high-visibility clothing, lights, a lock and essentially a cycle helmet as appropriate
Ensure that the bicycles and scooters ridden to school are roadworthy and regularly maintained

Modeshift STARS is a national award scheme which offers support and rewards to schools for taking steps to promote safer, greener, healthier travel.

Waterthorpe are an excellent award winning school