Schools

Primary Schools | Secondary Schools | School travel initiatives | Green-Schools

Getting to school by walking, cycling or public transport is a real alternative for loads of us. Many parents will remember walking or cycling to school when they were kids.

The latest research shows that over half of schoolchildren live no more than a 20–30 minute walk (2kms) from school and almost 80% live within 5kms, again a reasonably short cycle for older schoolchildren. But less than 40% of schoolchildren now walk or cycle.

We all want our children to arrive safely at school and that’s the reason many parents give for taking their kids to school in a car. But car school runs are making the roads more unsafe, which in turn makes even more parents think about taking a car on the school run. Can we break this vicious circle?

The journey to school is an ideal way for children to take part in regular physical activity, to interact with their peers, and to develop the road sense that children need as pedestrians and cyclists. Alternative modes of transport also improve children’s alertness, with 90% of teachers surveyed across England & Wales saying that walking, cycling or using public transport increased pupils’7 concentration levels in class.

Schools will lessen their overall impact on the environment through reducing emissions and pollution, while promoting sustainable transport modes (walking, cycling, car pooling or public transport) will also improve pupils’ safety, health and fitness.

Primary Schools

Did you know that half of primary schoolchildren live within 1 kilometre of school and two out of every three live within 2km of school – this is the perfect distance to walk or cycle – at least sometimes!

Kellogg’s Cars in the Community Winners

A group of creative young school children have pictured a bright future for people throughout the Greater Dublin Area, but only if everyone reduces their reliance on cars to get around. Top prize in the Kellogg’s Cars in the Community Poster Art Competition was awarded to the boys from 5th and 6th class in Our Lady of Good Counsel Boys National School, Killiney, Co. Dublin.

Click on the pictures below to see the full size image.

John Henry CEO Dublin Transportation Office, with Stephen Twaddell, Managing Director Kellogg's Ireland and pupils from St. Patrick's National School, Enfield, Co. Kildare Vincent Hurley, Rachel Cribbin, Aoife Doran.

Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey TD, John Henry CEO Dublin Transportation Office, and Stephen Twaddell, Managing Director Kellogg's Ireland, with Holly Fagan, from Scoil Mhuire National School, Leixlip.

Pupils Andrew Hamilton, Nicholas Morgan, Colin White and Andrew Smith from Our Lady of Good Counsel Boys National School, Killiney, Co. Dublin.

Pupils from 6th Class Ratoath Senior National School (l-r): Toni O' Rourke, Zoe Brady, Ben Newe, Gytas Sikarskas and Daniel O' Sullivan, are pictured with with John Henry CEO Dublin Transportation Office, Claire Donnellan, Teacher and Stephen Twaddell, Managing Director Kellogg's Ireland.

John Henry CEO Dublin Transportation Office and Stephen Twaddell, Managing Director, Kellogg's Ireland, are pictured with pupils from Scoil Bhride Naofa, Kildare Town: Jade Coffey, Ciara Lynch, Amy Scanlon, Katie Molloy, and Sharon Martin.

John Henry CEO Dublin Transportation Office and Stephen Twaddell, Managing Director, Kellogg's Ireland, with pupils, from St. Joseph's School, Tallaght: Sarah Ryan, Gerry Wall, Darragh Smith, Dean O' Hagan, Rachel Clohessy.

Walking

We’re all pressed for time in the mornings, but if you live near the school you only need to set aside a small bit of extra time to walk to school with your kids every now and then. Walking is a great way of getting some exercise and fresh air before sitting in class all day. Walking to school with your children can be a real adventure. It helps them get to know your local community, get fit and make friends.

If you’re working, perhaps you could walk your kids up to school then get the bus into work from near the school. If you’re lucky you might know a neighbour or two with kids in the same school, and you could arrange to take turns to walk the kids to school. Depending on your circumstances, it might be more practical to walk back with the kids at the end of the school day instead.

Parking in front of schools in the morning frequently inconveniences others and can be downright unsafe, not least to children who walk to school. So even if you’re just too far from the school to walk, maybe park somewhere safer about a five minute walk away and walk the last bit of the journey. Schoolkids who walk and cycle and local residents will thank you for it. By avoiding parking too near the school, and “park and striding” you are immediately improving their environment and making it safer.

Cycling

If there’s a safe route to school, and somewhere to park or store the bike at school, cycling is a great way to get there. It is often a quicker and less stressful way of doing the school run especially for older primary schoolchildren. The kids really enjoy it as well.

Of course ensuring that your child is sufficiently proficient, confident and safe on a bike in advance is vital. And if you have primary schoolkids you will need to accompany them. Alternatively it might suit you to take younger schoolkids with you on your own bike.

Sharing car school runs

If you’re lucky you might know a neighbour or two with children in your school. If you’re not already doing it, why not arrange to share the school run – especially in the mornings when you could do with extra time it will give you?

Benefits of Walking:

• Walking is a great way to wake up and get ready for school - studies show that pupils who walk to school are more awake and find it easier to concentrate during classes.
• Walking gives children a chance to develop road and personal safety skills.
• Walking to school is a great way for kids to meet new friends, develop interpersonal skills and learn about your local environment and community. It’s also a fun way to learn about the weather, landscape, seasons and local ecosystems.
• Walking helps kids stay fit and enjoy physical activity in their daily routines.

Secondary Schools

Walking or cycling to school is a bit like a trip to the gym! It’s a great way to meet up with your friends. And you’re doing your bit for the environment as well.

Walking

Walking is one of the best forms of exercise you can take and can help you lose weight or just stay fit and healthy.

Walking also has proven benefits for general health including reducing the risk of heart disease, cutting stress, lowering cholesterol, and cutting the risk of osteoporosis by increasing bone density.

Health experts recommend that an average person should walk for between a quarter of an hour and an hour about five times a week. Doing just half of this will still have a very positive impact on your health.

You can also reduce your weight into the bargain. A fairly brisk 45-minute walk will burn off about 300 calories. Two shorter walks of equal intensity will have the same effect – walking there and back.

Cycling

If there’s a safe route to school, and somewhere to park or store the bike at school, cycling is a great way to get there. It is often a quicker and less stressful way getting to school as well. Of course ensuring that you are sufficiently proficient, confident and safe on a bike in advance is vital.

Why not ask your school about running bicycle maintenance classes after school? It’s a great way to learn a bit about bikes and caring for them.

If you don’t want to walk or cycle ever day, why not mix it up and have one or two days when you walk or cycle. It could be a Wednesday or Friday!

Click here for more info on walking and cycling.

Try public transport as well if it’s an option for you. It’s also a good way of socialising with your friends on the way to and from school.

School travel initiatives you might want to try

Park & Stride

Park & Stride works the same as Park & Ride schemes work with public transport. The idea is that parents who usually drive their children to school park a few minutes walk away from the school gate and the children walk with their parents for the last part of the journey. It frees up space used by parked cars in front of the school and makes the front of the school safer for everyone. Local residents will thank you too.

WOW – Walk on Wednesday, Walk Once A Week or Walk Whenever!

Why not try out a Walk on Wednesday or Walk Once a Week? WOW is a scheme which aims to promote walking to school on a regular basis.

The scheme is a great way to encourage children to walk and in turn it creates a walking culture within a school.

If schools can't promote walking to school once a week they can hold a Walk Whenever day to increase awareness of walking in the school. To find out more about WOW check out – http://www.walktoschool.org.uk/

Many Irish schools have been running WOW days very successfully as part of their Green Schools programme.

Photo: Ally Menary, An Taisce

Walking Bus

The walking bus is a safe, fun and healthy way for younger children to walk to and from school. Each walking bus has a parent volunteer ‘driver’ at the front and a parent volunteer ‘conductor’ at the back. The children walk to school in a group along a set route picking up additional ‘passengers’ at specific virtual ‘bus-stops’ along the way.

The walking bus has a number of advantages: it helps children to exercise in a fun setting; it is a safe way to walk to school; it reduces traffic congestion; it saves parents time and money; and it helps children to learn about road safety.

Your school could organise for the Road Safety Officer from your local authority to come in to talk to the parents organising the Walking Bus about choosing the best route, volunteer training, insurance and provision of visi-vests for participants.

Walking buses do require a fair bit of ongoing parental commitment. More informal arrangements may work better for you, where neighbours walk each other’s children in small groups.

Green-Schools

At the beginning of the 2008/09 school year, over 45,000 students were surveyed about their travel habits to school. Following a year implementing the Green-Schools programme these students were surveyed again. Results showed a dramatic 22% reduction in car use to school and consequently a large increase in sustainable modes of travel to school.

As part of their Action Plan, participating schools set their own travel targets, with the ultimate aim of increasing the number of pupils walking, cycling or using public transport. This will ease congestion by reducing the number of private cars arriving at the school gates.

Learn what other Green-Schools are doing as part of their travel programmes »

The following report outlines the progress of the programme over the past school year.

Green-Schools Travel Progress Report 2009 »
Executive Summary »

Smarter Travel Workplaces would like to thank An Taisce’s Green-Schools Programme for the provision of advice and material.