The mode of travel chosen for a child's journey to school is recognised as having an impact not only on their safety but their health and personal development and of course the environment in which they live.
The Government has empowered Local Authorities to assist schools in developing School Travel Plans and Safer Routes to School programmes (see Related Sections below). Together we can make a difference to the journey children make to get to and from school by making it safer, healthier, sustainable and more interesting.
Walking
If you live close enough, encourage your children to walk to school. It will help them keep fit, be alert and become more street-wise:
- Provide bright and reflective clothing, supportive shoes and a back pack.
- For younger children, either walk with your children (it's a good opportunity to have a chat), or get together with other parents and take it in turns to accompany other children (a "walking bus")
Walking Bus
A Walking Bus is an initiative to encourage more children, accompanied by adults, to walk to school and by doing so reduce traffic and congestion outside schools.
Walking as a group and using an agreed route the children are under the supervision of at least 2 responsible adults - a 'driver' and 'conductor' - who are known to the school. Any volunteers involved with a Walking Bus have to complete a police criminal background check.
Some walking buses operate every school day while others operate one or two days a week - this depends on the number of adult volunteers involved.
The Council's Road Safety staff will risk assess routes and provide necessary training for all volunteers. Children and adults involved in a Walking Bus must wear reflective tabards and we work with many local suppliers and special purchase schemes are available.
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Cycling
Encourage your children to cycle:
- Provide bright and reflective clothing, supportive shoes and a back pack.
- Buying a bike: It's better to buy the right size rather than get one which is too big that the child can "grow into". An oversized bike could be dangerous and is likely to put your child off cycling. It's advisable to choose a bike without a crossbar so that the child can fall through the bike and not off it.
- Provide bright, fluorescent and reflective clothing
- Buy a well fitting cycle helmet. You should only buy a helmet if it carries a CE mark and one of the normal safety standards eg. BS683:1989, AS.2063, ANSI, IZZ 90.4 SNELL, B90 or B95.
- Consider enrolling them on a cycling proficiency course to develop their cycling skills and help them to become more confident.
- See the Cycling to school page (Related Sections below) for information about cycle training.
Related Sections:
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