The School Travel Plan

A strategy to improve the journey to school

TRAVEL ISSUES

SCHOOL POLICY

School Travel Plan

Reportprogress

HCC SchoolTravel Plan

Co-ordinator

SchoolCouncil

PTA

Senior Management Team

LocalAuthority

Parents,pupils,

teachers

TravelForum

(develop plan)

A dynamic package of initiatives that aim tomaximise safety and reduce the detrimentaleffects of school journeys on the environment

Current situation and problem identification

Objectives & Targets

Action Plan- Practical initiatives- Educational input- Transport infrastructure changes

Publicity

Monitoring arrangements

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School Travel Plan GuidelinesAround 20% of the morning peak traffic is concernedwith journeys to school. Every year less children walkand cycle to school and more travel by car. Thismeans children have fewer opportunities to establishtravel habits benefiting their health andindependence. Meanwhile road dangers, congestionand pollution flourish through the sheer number ofvehicles concentrated around schools.

Contents

What is a School Travel Plan

Getting Started What is your overall aimWho develops and maintains the plan

The Current Situation

Objectives and Targets

The Action PlanWho can helpWhat are the optionsThe Action Plan

Publicity

Monitoring arrangements

Report Progress

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What is a School Travel Plan?What is a School Travel Plan?Developing a planned approach to the hundreds of school journeys made each day canlead to real benefits for pupils and your school, while having a dramatic effect on thelocal environment.

ASchool Travel Plan sets out apackage of measures,incorporated into your school’s

Development Plan, that aim to improvechildren’s health, safety and the localenvironment around the school.

It is possible that you already carry outactivities that contribute to improvingschool travel patterns such as walkingbuses, parking permits for sixth formers,or road safety within the curriculum.

A School Travel Plan simply shows howthis is knitted together effectively andmay highlight opportunities where otherscould work with you for the benefit ofboth the school and the wider localcommunity.

The Plan can be as simple or ascomprehensive as you wish - Schoolshave differing needs and will developactivities that address their own travelissues. Some may need to produce adetailed and comprehensive range ofactions, others could develop theirpackage of initiatives over time.However, you plan will include clearlystated objectives with measurable targetsthat reduce school journeys by car infavour of walking, cycling and the use ofpassenger transport withoutcompromising safety.

These guidelines set out a series ofpractical steps to develop an effectiveplan organised under the followingheadings:

•Aim

• Current situation

• Objectives and targets

• Action plan

• Publicity

• Monitoring arrangements

Useful support material is provided in theCD ROM which accompanies this guide.

Our school council had somereally good ideas to encouragewalking and cycling, some of

them have been included in theschool’s Travel Plan

Getting StartedGetting Started

What is your overallaim?

This will sum up what you want toachieve for the school and the localenvironment, in relation to travel issues.

It is likely that your Travel Plan willsupport the school’s vision statement andthus provides the link between travelissues and the school’s Development Plan.It may be worth returning to this whenyour first plan is nearing completion.

Linking the School Travel Plan to schoolpolicy and existing processes can be thebest way to ensure its value andeffectiveness in the long term.

Who develops andmaintains a SchoolTravel Plan?

A school’s Travel Plan reflects yourschool’s unique situation. This is why itsdevelopment must involve children, staff,parents, governors and the local authorityif it is to be effective.

In practical terms many schools havefound the best approach is to set up aTravel Forum to develop the Plan. Thismaximises the opportunities to includeinnovative ideas while ensuring that thePlan’s development is not a burden on anyone individual. The group should be ledby a chairperson who keeps the groupfocussed on each stage of the plan underconstruction. This means it is relativelystraightforward to write your plan as you

go along. Some schools nominate a‘scribe’ to do this. The enclosed CDROM includes a sample Plan that youcould adapt for your Plan document.

The Travel Forum would usually include:

• Head Teacher or Senior Teacher

• Governors

• Local authority School Travel Plan Co-ordinator

•Teacher representatives

• Parent representatives

• Pupil representatives

A broader range of staff, pupils, parentsand partners outside the school could beincluded to ‘brainstorm’ and developspecific actions and initiatives tocreate an ‘Action Plan’ thatsupports your objectives.

Monitoring, evaluationand review will beundertaken by theschool. You need toidentify in the Plan whowill carry out this roleand report progressto the school’sseniormanagementteam, schoolcouncil, PTAand the localauthority.

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Russell Ball,Headmaster,The BarclaySchool,Stevenage

When our school wasbuilt most children

walked to school. Wehope that our Plan willencourage a return to

walking and cycling

The Current SituationThe Current SituationA clear and comprehensive introduction to the school, its environment and travelpatterns provides an overview that contributes to the development of better school travelchoices. It highlights problem areas and may suggest potential for improvement whileproviding the essential background information that those outside the school will need ifthey are to work with you.

What issues orproblems are you aware of?

For many schools this could include:

• Parking or congestion problems

• Safety issues

• Complaints from neighbouringresidents

• Bus and coach issues

• Evening and weekend events

Travel Audit:

School:A plan of the school site will be usefuland should be included together withinformation which shows:

• Where it is

• Description of catchment area

• Which schools pupils come from ormove on to

• Numbers of pupils and staff

• Start and finish times

• Where do pupils enter the school

• Where pupils wait before school starts

• Breakfast, homework or after schoolclubs

• Relevant out-of-school activities orlettings

• Curriculum opportunities related toanalysing and exploring school journeys

• Is the school looking to expand, or arepupil numbers increasing?

Surveying journeys to school:Questions to ask could be:

• Where do parents, pupils and stafftravel from?

• How do they travel?

• How would pupils like to travel toschool?

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Walking to school provides animportant opportunity for us to get

some exercise! I help with our school’sPedestrian Skills Training, I enjoy itand believe I am helping the children

learn how to use the road safely

Marion Fuller,Kingshill Infants School

Walking:Questions to ask could be:

• Do you have a school crossing patrol?

• What aspects of the school journey dopedestrians identify as difficult?

• What factors discourage walking?

Cycling:Questions to ask could be:

• Are there facilities for cycle access andstorage?

• Are there any cycling to school rules?

• Which parts of the school journey docyclists identify as difficult?

• What factors discourage cycling?

Passenger Transport:Questions to ask could be:

• Are there school buses – where dothey drop off/collect?

• Are current arrangements working?

• Do pupils travel to school by train?

Cars:Questions to ask could be:

• Where do members of staff park?

• Should parents enter site to drop off orpark?

• Are there school policies addressingstudents driving to school?

• Are there special parking requirementsfor visitors?

Special needs:Questions to ask could be:

• Have you considered accessarrangements for those with restrictedmobility?

• Are there any special needs transportissues?

Although some information will bereadily available, a survey may need tobe carried out – sample questionairesare provided in the enclosed CDROM. Curriculum opportunities toanalyse and explore school journeys mayenable pupils to be involved in this stageof the Plan’s development and futuremonitoring.

If you are looking to develop newbuildings on the site, you may need toprovide more detailed information.‘Developing a Green Travel Plan – AGuidance Note’ is available from theSchool Travel Plan Co-ordinator atHertfordshire County Council and setsout the detail Planning Authoritieswould expect to support aplanning application. ASchool Travel Plan canprovide a positivecontribution to thePlanning Authority’sconsideration of anapplication for planningpermission as itdemonstrates yourcommitment to minimisethe impact of car journeysto school.

A school can be the focus of hundreds

of car journeys each day,increasing risk to road

safety and inconvenienceto local residents.

Developing a Travel Plancan improve safety and

reduce congestion

“Full involvement in the development of our School Travel Plan has given ourpupils real citizenship experience and an insight into the work of those

involved in improving the road environment.”Jan Pugh,The Barclay School, Stevenage

Pc Steve Chappell,Road PolicingDepartment,HertfordshirePolice

Objectives and TargetsObjectives and Targets

The information collected at thebeginning of your Plan will put youin a better position to understandand resolve problems and exploitopportunities to improve journeys toand from school.

Clear objectives addressing yourschool travel issues will lead tobenefits for pupils, staff, parentsand the school community as awhole, so it is worth beingimaginative and spending some timeconsidering what you are hoping toachieve!

33• Improvement in pupil health and safety

• Greater awareness of transport issues and the impa

• Improved relationships with the local community

• A valuable contribution to the development and ind

• Reduced congestion around the school gate

• Opportunities for pupils to be involved in improvemenhancing the curriculum

• Speeding up and supporting future planning decisioaccount of your commitment to sustainable transposchool on the highways infrastructure

• Improvements to the roads serving the school may are supported and made more effective by the schotravel patterns

• Favourable OFSTED report – A School Travel Plan glocal community

Possible objectives may be:

• A reduction in car related school journeys

• Promotion of walking, cycling or travellingby bus to school

• Raise pupil’s awareness of safety andenvironmental issues associated with travel

• Development of a school policy for safeand environmental friendly travel to school

I call for my friendeach morning. Wechat as we walk toschool together.

Benefits:

Objectives

Benefits need to be harnessed intomeasurable, travel related objectives thatform the starting point for a dynamic plan ofaction, and a means to measure your Plan’seffectiveness. This allows a range ofindividual actions to be developed andimplemented by the appropriate people, whileensuring that the Plan as a whole stays ‘ontrack’.

Of course, every school is different, butexperience has shown these objectives arewidely relevant – they may be right for you,or could be a starting point for more specificneeds.

act of traffic on the environment

dependence of pupils

ments to their own environment,

ons – Planning Authorities will takeort as it minimises the impact of the

be feasible if engineering measuresool’s commitment to improve local

gives evidence of commitment to the

Targets relate directly to your objectives.They must be specific, measurable,achievable, realistic and have time scales, forexample:

• Less than 10% of initial intake of pupils to travelto school by car by next September

• 50% of pupils to walk to school by the summerterm

• Travel choice issues incorporated into themathematics and geography curriculum for Years5 and 8

• School Travel Plan to be in place by Spring Term

We encourage everyonetravelling here to be aware ofthe needs of those living nearthe school and to use modes of

transport which areenvironmentally friendly

and safe.

Targets

“Walking to school helps young people develop independence and roadsafety skills that they miss if they are taxied everywhere by car.”

Judy Dunne, Kingshill Infants School

Justine Smith, Governor,Kingshill Infants School,Ware

The Action PlanThe Action Plan

You have now described your currentsituation, identified objectives and settargets to measure improvement.These headings could describe thecontent of the first half of your SchoolTravel Plan – your plan is wellunderway!

Getting the draft plan written to thispoint provides a clear focus that willfacilitate the development of an ‘ActionPlan’.

44To take the Plan forward you will want toinvolve the wider school community, andperhaps others from outside, to help youidentify and develop actions that address theobjectives you have identified.

Consideration of each transport mode inturn (walking, cycling, passenger transport,cars) can suggest actions associated with thatmode that could help to meet yourobjectives.

Don’t shy away from ‘big ideas’ although youmay find for planning purposes that you needto split them into short, medium or longterm actions. Some initiatives will be easilyintroduced, with little or no cost, others maybe costly and beyond the school’s resources.Development of a Travel Plan facilitatesconsideration of your school’s needs by thosewho may be able to fund or supportinitiatives that support your objectives.

Who can help you?

The School Travel Plan Co-ordinator will helpput you in touch with people who could helpyou such as the Road Safety and PassengerTransport Units, police and highwaysengineers.

You may know of local contacts who couldhelp – parent groups, councillors and localbusinesses.

There are also websites you may find useful:www.saferroutestoschool.comwww.local-transport.dtlr.gov.uk/schooltravel

Jenny Gordon,Teacher,Kingshill Infants School

As part of our geographycurriculum we explore journeys

to school by investigatingtravel choices and mapping our

safest routes.

What are the options?

There are many initiatives that have beentried in the past, although you may comeup with new ideas, these include:

Education initiatives:

• Curriculum input

• P.S.H.E and citizenship

• Theatre in Education

Practical activities:

• Walking bus

• Cycle training

• Pedestrian skills

• Young driver training

• Car sharing

• School travel notice board

Transport Infrastructure improvements:

• Changes to the road environment

• Bus service changes

The Action Plan

The Action Plan sets out partners, timescales, costs, monitoring and reviewarrangements as well as who is taking leadresponsibility for each action associatedwith your objectives. This allows relevantpeople to start work on individual actionswithin the School Travel Plan.

You may have so many ideas thatyou need to prioritise which onesto develop first!

The progress of your initiativescan then be regularly reviewed bythe Travel Forum as the Plan develops. Inthe early stages monitoring the progress ofinitiatives is likely to be fairly frequent but,once they are established, could be simplya matter of an annual review carried outwith the evaluation of the Plan as a whole.

The Road Safety Unitcan provide curriculumsupport and can helpyou set up a walkingbus, pedestrian skills

and cycle training.

“Sometimes improvements to the road layout can make walking and cyclingsafer and more attractive. Traffic calming can slow down vehicles.”

George Hillier, Highways Inspector and Stuart McLeod,Asst Engineer, Hertfordshire County Council

Road Safety Officer,Anna Twilley

PublicityPublicity

Change won’t happen unless thosewho visit your school know about youraims, new travel initiatives and whythe current situation must beimproved. Some people may havebeen involved in working on theactions that form part of your plan,but you cannot assume everyone hasthe interest to seek out information.

Think about:

• Including a summary of theplan in the schoolprospectus

• Sending a summary of theTravel Plan to new pupils and theirparents

• Launching new initiatives imaginatively

• Updates as part of regular schoolnewsletters

• Providing a school travel notice board

• Input into Governors’ meetings

• Writing annual reports

• Informing PTA meetings

• Providing information at open evenings

The enclosed CD ROM includes samplepress release, parents letters and otheruseful material.

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We have set up a ‘WalkingBus’, my children enjoy

walking with their friends.I help on Tuesdays and

Fridays – which will give mesome free time on theother three mornings!

“As our school numbers increase, it is crucial that we managethe journeys to school. Regular monitoring and evaluation of

our Plan helps us see how we are doing.”Andrew Yates, Facilities Manager,The Barclay School, Stevenage

Monitoring, Evaluation Monitoring, Evaluation and Reviewand Review

Include in your plan, how, when and bywhom it will be monitored.

A developing plan and its actions will needfairly frequent progress checks whichwould be carried out as part of thedevelopment process by the Travel Forum.

An established Plan would probably onlyrequire an annual evaluation of theprogress made towards your targets,together with a general review and updateof the Plan as a whole.

Questionnaires are one of the easiestways of monitoring measurable change.You may decide to repeat the originalsurveys used when you were assessing thetravel situation. However, even simple‘hands up’ surveys carried out at regularperiods are worthwhile. Remember, youneed to compare like with like – a surveycarried out on a sunny summer day islikely to show a different picture to onetaken on a wet, cold day in February!

Some schools find monitoring travelpatterns and measuring progresstowards the Plan’s objectivesprovides an opportunity for pupilsto gain practical experience ofdata collection and analysis.

Any indications of changingattitudes towards transport andenvironmental issues are worthnoting. New problems withmuddy floors, more space requiredto hang coats and store cycle helmets

may suggest new challenges but alsoindicate success!

Cycling and walking can improve thehealth of pupils – some schools havereported a reduction in sickness andabsences.

If you are proud of your results – let the localpress know!

66The Plan will need to be reviewed regularly to take account of successes, failures andchanges in local circumstances.

We have promoted environmentally friendly journeys to school for about 5years. We firmly believe that pupils who

walk to school are more alert in theclassroom and learn valuable skills for

everyday life. Monitoring and promotion isimportant if your initiatives are to be kept

alive and benefits for pupils and the school are to be maintained

Carol Laws, Head Teacher,Wheatfields JM school

Reporting ProgressReporting Progress

If your School Travel Plan was required as part of a planning application youshould report progress to the planning authority. The County Council’s SchoolTravel Plan Co-ordinator will also need a copy of your Plan to facilitate access tothose who could support or fund your long term aspirations.

Report results of your monitoring to your School Council, PTA and the localauthority School Travel Plan Co-ordinator. Their comments, together with theresults of your monitoring, should be reported to the school’s senior managementteam who will consider the Plan’s effectiveness.

Your contact at Hertfordshire County Council is Lynda Clarke, School Travel PlanCo-Ordinator, Environment Dept, County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford SG13 8DN.Tel: 01992 556125. email: lynda_clarke@hertscc.gov.uk

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If there weren’t somany cars parked

around the school inthe morning it wouldbe easier to cross

the road.