The increase in car use for school trips adds to peak hour congestion, local pollution and to road safety hazards near school entrances. It also contributes to a lack of fitness in children and, unfortunately, to their vulnerability to traffic accidents, since they gain less experience in using the roads safely. Studies have been completed or are under way at 13 schools and the programme will eventually cover all the schools in the borough.
Each study involves a partnership between the school itself and the Council's traffic engineering staff. Questionnaires are distributed to parents and children, for them to highlight hazards they encounter when walking or cycling or that deter them from doing so. The results are combined with traffic survey information to draw up a list of measures that could make walking or cycling easier and safer.
The Council receives funding from Transport for London (TfL) to implement traffic measures arising out of these studies. The funding is limited, so the Area Committee within which each school is situated decides the priority order of the measures suggested for that school. The funding available for the borough as a whole is then allocated according to those priorities, for all the schools studied.
Road safety - cycling and walking to school
The increase in car use for school trips adds to peak hour congestion, local pollution and to road safety hazards near school entrances. It also contributes to a lack of fitness in children and, unfortunately, to their vulnerability to traffic accidents, since they gain less experience in using the roads safely. Studies have been completed or are under way at 13 schools and the programme will eventually cover all the schools in the borough.
Each study involves a partnership between the school itself and the Council's traffic engineering staff. Questionnaires are distributed to parents and children, for them to highlight hazards they encounter when walking or cycling or that deter them from doing so. The results are combined with traffic survey information to draw up a list of measures that could make walking or cycling easier and safer.
The Council receives funding from Transport for London (TfL) to implement traffic measures arising out of these studies. The funding is limited, so the Area Committee within which each school is situated decides the priority order of the measures suggested for that school. The funding available for the borough as a whole is then allocated according to those priorities, for all the schools studied.
Cycling and walking to school
School Travel Plans
All you need to know about School Travel Plans
What is a School Travel Plan?
A school travel plan is a document written by schools identifying the problems associated with the school journey and proposed solutions to those problems. The plan should focus on safety, health and sustainability and should include proposals for ways to make improvements.
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Why have a School Travel Plan?
Over the past 20 years the proportion of children travelling to school by car has almost doubled, yet many live close enough to school to walk. The school run contributes to the sharp road traffic peak around nine each morning.
A school travel plan is where a school works out how it intends to make travel to and from the school by pupils, parents and teachers more sustainable, healthier and safe. With almost 50% of all children travelling to school by car in the London Borough of Havering, school travel plans are an important tool for changing this trend.
The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) have set a target that all schools have an approved school travel plan by 2009.
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The Benefits
A school travel plan has many benefits for both the school and the wider community such as:
- A one-off capital grant of £3750 plus £5 per pupil for primary schools or £5000 plus £5 per pupil for secondary and special needs schools. (Criteria dependant)
- Attracting funds for highway and engineering works on and off site
- Will help you achieve Healthy Schools status
- Access to curriculum resources to facilitate sustainable transport messages into lessons
- Access to funding for cycle infrastructure such as stands and lockers
- Improving the health of pupils by encouraging walking and cycling
- Improved alertness for school pupils
- Give children the opportunity to have a say in decisions affecting them
- Reducing traffic around the school
- Increased travel awareness and improved road and personal safety
- Make the area around the school safer and more enjoyable for everyone
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Funding
Your School Travel Plan Advisor can assist by providing supply cover funding to release a member of staff to work on the development of the school travel plan. There is also funding available to cover childcare costs to free up parent/governor time to work on the plan.
Once schools complete their School Travel Plan and it gets approved then the school will receive the one off grant from Department for Education and Skills. Primary schools receive £3750 plus £5 per pupil and secondary schools receive £5000 plus £5 per pupil.
For more information about the grant and what it can be spent on please download the information sheet "DfES STP grant information and eligible expenditure", found at the top right of this page.
A school travel plan is also an essential document to receive further funding from Transport for London (TfL) for engineering works and cycle infrastructure.
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What Should a School Travel Plan Contain?
For a detailed step by step guide to help write your School Travel Plan, please use the attached "What a School Travel Plan Should Contain" document found on the right of this page.
Your school travel plan must meet minimum criteria in order to be approved. The full list of DfES criteria is contain in the "DfES criteria for STPs" document, again found on the top right of this page.
The best school travel plans are usually the ones developed in partnership with the whole school community including the parents, teachers and pupils. It is the best way to make sure everyone is involved and means the effort of developing the school travel plan can be shared.
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Curriculum Resources
Safer Routes to School Curriculum Resource Guide:
http://www.saferoutestoschools.org.uk/index.php?p=n89
DfT database full of lesson plans:
http://www.databases.dft.gov.uk/lessonplans/
Your School Travel Plan Advisor can advise how to link your plan to the curriculum.
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School Travel Plan Advisor's Role
The Council has a dedicated School Travel Plan Advisor to assist you developing your School Travel Plan, use the "Contact your School Travel Plan Advisor" section at the top of this page to find out how to contact us.
The School Travel Plan Advisor can assist by:
- Providing resources and prizes to promote walking and cycling
- Providing advice about how to write your School Travel Plan
- Assisting with the travel mode survey of pupils, parents and staff
- Attending public meetings such as parents meetings and assemblies
- Finding funding to implement your actions
- Work with other Council services (such as Road Safety and Healthy Schools) to promote sustainable transport to schools, more information can be found in the "Havering's School Travel Plan Strategy"
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Haverings School Travel Plan Strategy
The strategy is part of Havering's Transport Local Implementation Plan but is also designed to be a stand alone strategy for school travel plan development and implementation for Havering's 98 schools, including special and independent schools.
The strategy outlines the need for School Travel Plans and the national, regional, local policy drivers. It includes baseline data and targets for School Travel Plans, an overview of Havering's partnership arrangements concerning school travel initiatives and further details on how we intend to work with schools in the future along with examples of best practice in Havering.
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Towers Junior School joins in 'Record Breaking Walking Bus' Event organised by 'Brake'
The pictures show Jill Kingston (School Business Manager and School Travel Plan Co-ordinator) with some of Towers Junior School pupils, just before the walk commenced. A special request was made to Mrs Kingston, acting as the bus driver at this event, to wear the hat! The bus conductor was Deputy Head, Kate Sisman.
More than 80,000 pupils from 520 schools across the UK joined in hoping to set a new world record for a 'walking bus'. This record attempt is part of Brake's campaign to make road safety education and 20 mph speed limits near schools compulsory.
All members of the School Travel Team were involved with the event, which included measuring out the route on the school field to ensure that it met the necessary requirements.
This task was completed by Liz Dixon, Chair of Governors and Bill Milligan, Class Teacher and PHSE Co-ordinator. Other stipulations were that written statements were taken from independent witnesses, and on this occasion Andy Rickett from the Metropolitan Police and Ray Crane, from the London Borough of Havering Road Safety Unit, attended our Record Breaking Walking Bus Event to act as our witnesses.
The weather was hot and sunny, but the children had come to school prepared, wearing sun screen and bringing in an extra bottle of water. We were so relieved that it did not rain.
Everyone enjoyed themselves and although we have not received notification from 'Brake' yet, we are hoping that the record was broken.
This was a sponsored event, and the pupils raised £750 for 'Brake'.
We would like to thank everyone who participated, sponsored or was involved in any way with our attempt. We are very grateful to you all.
Liability insurance for the bus was sorted out by Mr Read (Headteacher) by a simple phone call to Havering Council who extended the existing insurance for the school, you will need to contact the Council before you start your bus.
So, in summary, it took a little while to get all the pieces in place but it has been well worth it. It benefits the children and parents alike, as the children get to walk to school with their friends and the parents know their children are going to have some exercise and get to school safely.
And at Towers Junior Jill Kingston writes
We had a number of volunteer parents and other parents who wanted their child to be included if we got a 'Walking Bus' up and running. Helen Jelly, who is on our School Travel Team is a Teaching Assistant at Towers Junior School.
Helen took on the task for us and we are now in a position to launch 'bus route number 1' at Towers Junior.
We thank her for her commitment and out of school hours that she has put into the 'Walking Bus'. Helen is very excited as we all are, about the launch of the 'bus'.
We would also like to thank our volunteer parents, Martin Day for his advice, and Ray Crane from London Borough of Havering, Road Safety Department. Ray had attended meetings with the volunteers and also completed a Risk Assessment on the route that 'bus number 1 ' will be using.
With our high visibility tabards for the participating pupils and volunteers, risk assessed route, bus timetable, designated 'bus stops', alarms for the volunteer parents, insurance checks, registers and reserve volunteers we are all set to go... all aboard!
'BUSBOY'
When I was eleven , in Year 7, I won the school talent show as 'Busboy', because I knew MOST of the bus routes in London. Just in case you don't believe me: Route 370 runs from Romford to Lakeside via Gidea Park, Hornchurch, Upminster and Ockendon. I have been interested in buses and bus maps since I was five years old and have built up a huge collection of models and maps which cover most of London and a few places beyond, such as Newquay in Cornwall.
One fact that may interest you is that the first environmentally friendly Double Decker was the 'Spirit Of London', followed closely by 'Ethel', the one and only Ethanol powered vehicle in the country. Something else you may not know is that once a vehicle is finished with in London it will be sent elsewhere, for example an ex 193 was sentto Truro.
The oldest bus route in London is the 24 (Pimlico to Hampstead Heath), which has been running since 1904, that's 103 years on the clock; the oldest route in the borough was the 87, with seventy years on the clock, which ran from February 1935 to 25 March 2005.
So if you want to be greener then go by bus: you can reduce your carbon footprint and meet your friends at the same time, all by going by bus!!!
Source of Information: My memory www.busesatwork.co.uk
Suttons Going Forward With Sustainability - in Cuba!
Suttons Primary School achieved their bronze level sustainable travel award ( see previous page) f rom Transport f or London in July and are now networking with other schools to add a global citizenship dimension.
Suttons, St. Peter's and St. Alban's are part of a global partnership funded by the British Council with Cuba. Each of the three schools are twinned with an equivalent primary school in Holguin, Cuba.
In June we welcomed a delegation of teachers from Cuba to Havering where initial introductions and visits to each other's schools were arranged. They also visited our link secondary schools of Sanders Draper, St. Edward's and Gaynes. In October, the three primary school headteachers are visiting Cuba and making further links focusing on sustainability.
Following the government's sustainable school self evaluation document,each primary school is taking three aspects of the ten identified. We are preparing our school's interpretation on inclusion, the school grounds and travel and traffic. We are preparing photos and power point presentations which represent our model of sustainable travel.
It will also represent our facilities for a healthier way of travelling to school e.g. our bike storage encourages cycling, less pollution by encouraging "Walk on Wednesdays" and less dangerous by closing the school gates at peak times.
At the same time we are also promoting our school grounds as a sustainable learning environment. The excitement for us is that in October we shall be researching the global dimension on all nine aspects by finding out whathappens in Cuba through personal investigation. What an exciting opportunity for the three primary schools in Havering!
As I write, our year 5 are travelling by public transport to the Thames Festival, and last term an artist came and recycled plastic bottles into a work of art collected from hundreds of bottles from other school children. This is now on display and we are off to enrich our curriculum.
How sustainable is that!
Ann Shepherd, Headteacher, Suttons Primary
Bike It in Havering
Pupils at Sutton's Primary and The Chafford School both took part in the 'Bike It' Tour de France Stage 1 Challenge in the run up to the actual Tour de France race back in July.
Pupils competed against eight other schools over a period of three weeks (the duration of the tour) in a virtual race that followed the actual Stage 1 route from London to Canterbury, a distance of 209km.
Pupils made progress along the route by recording cycle journeys made to school, on a large colourful wall chart. Parents and teachers could also help by cycling too.
Sutton's school did incredibly well completing the distance in week two of the challenge. This secured them 3rd place in the overall results and £250 to spend on cycling resources at the school. During this challenge Suttons pupils, parents and teachers generated 839 cycle trips to school, an average of 59 trips a day!!!
Benjamin Hayes, a yr6 pupil who rode in on a daily basis represented the school at the official Tour de France Peoples Village opening ceremony in Hyde Park. Here he and other pupils from competing schools formed part of the official proceedings and were personally and publicly congratulated by Mayor Ken Livingstone for their efforts; after which Benjamin and his parents went on to explore and enjoy the many cycling based activities on offer in the village. He was last seen riding a mini penny farthing.
Andy Casson Bike It officer said" the Bike It Tour de France Challenge was a great success, it showed schools it is possible and achievable to generate regular cycling trips by children and parents"
During the 3 week challenge over 3000 cycle journeys were generated across the competing schools"
For more information about Bike it please contact Andy Casson on 0207 336 8203 or visit www.sustrans.org.uk
MAD (Mountain Bike Aerial Display) Team and Bikers Breakfast
Pupils at the Chafford School were treated to a biker's breakfast and a nail biting display of cycling skills when Bike It invited the MAD display team to visit the school at the end of term.
Riders Danny Butler (current European Champion) and Hugh Baker both wowed years 7 to 9 as well as teachers with their demonstration of cycle trials riding.
Before the MAD team demonstrations started pupils who rode to school were given a free breakfast at the canteen and entered into a prize draw to win a Tour de France T-shirt and goodies.
After registration three demonstrations were put on for each year group where pupils got to see skills such as bunny hopping a high jump along with numerous balancing and jumping tricks. A few teachers and pupils were even seen to cover their eyes as the riders rode, hopped, and then dropped from high and narrow platforms including the teams Landrover.
At the end both riders were happy to answer questions posed by pupils about their riding experiences and explained why their bikes had no saddles. Riders were also keen to point out the necessity to be safe and recommended wearing a helmet and gloves before getting on a bike.
Both riders began trials riding when they were school age and recommended that anyone thinking of trying trials should first learn basic bike handling skills before attempting anything more challenging; and if they are really keen then contact a local club.
Bike it officer Andy Casson said "This was an exciting way to show cycling can be fun and the extremes which can be achieved if you practice hard and develop your handling skills. I hope it will encourage students to riding safely and in a controlled way"
Havering Cycle Training
Bikeability is the all new award scheme for the 21st century, designed to give the next generation the skills and confidence to ride safely on our busy roads.
Bikeability is in three levels, Level 1 being designed to develop the controls skills of young riders in a safe off road, controlled environment. Level 2 is 'on road' training designed for school years 5 & 6 or older. These will be quiet roads at first, but as the skills of the youngsters improve they will experience the traffic levels they will need to be able to cope with riding to school or for leisure purposes.
Training is in small groups with two instructors always present to ensure their safety.
For Level 3, riders have to be able to negotiate their way across streams of traffic and deal with issues like filter lanes etc. This requires a higher level of judgement than can normally be expected of a ten year old, so we normally recommend Level 3 for school years 7 & 8 and for adults.
Bikeability courses are outcome based, that's to say each level must be achieved before moving on to the next one and of course we always start with a safety check of bikes, helmets, and clothing.
Cycle Training East (www. cycletrainingeast.org.uk) is a local Community Interest Company set up especially to deliver cycle training and encourage more people to cycle for utility sport and leisure purposes. We are running cycle training in Havering schools this autumn term and it's a unique opportunity for your child to receive training at no cost to you.
If you are offered Bikeability by your school, please remember we can only allow your child on the road if their bike is in order. Two good brakes and two good tyres are essential. If these requirements are not met, we have to refuse to take your child out and not only will they miss the training, but the funding will be wasted. The saddle should be set so that they can just touch the ground with the tips of their toes. The straps of helmets should be adjusted tight enough to prevent movement when the head is shaken. Those schools who have asked for Level 2 training through Martin Day, the STA for Havering, will be contacted by Cycle Training East to set up the training.
You can find out much more about us and Bikeability training by looking at our website.
Jeff Wade
CEO, Cycle Training East
Mayors Initiative - Free Cycle Storage for Schools - It really works
Earlier this year I wrote to all eligible schools (Primary / Junior / Secondary) that had approved travel plans at the time and that had clearly shown a commitment to either develop or expand cycling at their school through their travel plan.
In that correspondence I advised of the potential to obtain cycle storage at the school through the Mayor for London's initiative. The schools were then contacted by TfL recently and asked to complete an application form and return it to TfL.
If the school is selected then the approved contractor will visit the school, advise on positioning of the storage, the size and type etc; They will then return at a later date to install. All of which costs the school nothing.
The twelve schools who applied are:
- Bower Park
- Rainham Village Primary
- Abbs Cross Secondary
- Whybridge Junior
- Redden Court
- Parklands Junior
- Crownfield Junior
- Benhurst Primary
- Suttons Primary
- RJ Mitchell Primary
- Kings Wood Secondary
- Brady Primary
Latest news
At least six of these schools are now in the process of having their cycle storage installed by the contractor and will be able to utilise the storage to encourage more and more pupils and teachers to cycle to and from school.
National Standard Level 2 (On Road) Training Continues...
I have been allocated funding from TfL to deliver on road cycle training and it was offered to eligible schools over the summer period. The training will commence in October through to the New Year. 21 schools will receive the training having successfully applied.
Level 1 is what was commonly known as cycle proficiency training and takes place in the school playground, Level 2 is on road training (and includes Level 1 as part of the programme) and Level 3 is training for cycling on very busy roads (an advanced level if you like).
What we are offering under Level 2 is for Year 5 pupils and above and in groups of 24 maximum per school. The current provider, Cycle Training East will contact your school to arrange dates if you are on this list of schools :
- Crownfield Junior
- Brady Primary
- Clockhouse Junior
- RJ Mitchell
- Benhurst Primary
- Whybridge Junior
- Campion School
- Harold Wood Primary
- Langtons Junior
- St Edwards CE Primary
- Suttons Primary Newtons Primary
- Scargill Junior
- Pyrgo Priory
- Engayne Primary
- Dunningford Primary
- Nelmes Primary
- Hilldene Primary
- St Peters Primary
- Towers Junior
- Albany School
Level 1 training will continue to be provided to Year 6 by the Road Safety team headed by Ray Crane, as can be seen by their article on Page 15
So, in summary, both Level 1 and Level 2 can be delivered at your school, for Level 2 though you must have an approved School Travel Plan - that is the key difference.
I hope that's cleared up any confusion - if not please give me a call.
Martin Day
STA
Cycling at Langton's Junior School
We had our Level 1 test at Langton's, just before half term.
When you try Level 1 you will need to learn the Highway Code, because you will get tested on it. You will also need to know the basic manoeuvres which are: to look over your right shoulder and signal right, there is also the traffic light signal, which is to look over your right shoulder and signal left when the sign shows red, when it turns amber signal, look right and left and when it turns green look right and left again.
In training we learnt all those things and we also learnt other things like minor to major, which is to give way, look over your right shoulder and signal right, ride a little way then look over your right shoulder and signal right and move into the middle of the road. Then stop at the give way sign look right then left then right again, then move to the other side of the road look over your right shoulder and do the slow down signal which is put your arm out palm flat and signal three times.
We thought the test was quite hard overall. Our travel plan has recently been accepted and we are planning the placing of a bike shed so yr6 children who have passed the test, can cycle to school. Our thanks to Ray, Les and Sid for their time.
Written by Vicki, Rhiane, Edward (Class 6c Langton's Junior School)
Please Be Safe and Behave Well
Next time you're on a bus, what can you do to show the driver you're a nice person, cheer them up and show them that you're there to have a good journey'. This was one of the questions asked during a series of presentations to nearly all of the primary schools in the London Borough of Havering.
The presentations were made to children aged 10 to 11 years during special talks about safe and responsible travel, which are run by London Transport Museum and Transport for London's Safety and Citizenship team.
The participants were encouraged to think about how their behaviour can impact on their own journeys and also those made by other people. As part of the presentation the team encourage the children to think about how members of staff feel doing their job and what things can happen during a journey which might put people under a lot of pressure, resulting in a change of mood. Some of the more interesting answers given included the following words of young wisdom:
'Give the bus driver a tip'
'Do a song and a dance'
'Tell them a joke'
'Give them a present'
'Offer them your lunch'
The sessions took place between October 2006 and July 2007 and lasted approximately one hour. The total number of children seen last academic year was 2662 and 92.59% of primary schools were visited.
They formed part of a wider programme of activity by the Safety & Citizenship team which helps to prepare students for independent travel before they move to secondary school.
It is the first dedicated city wide transport citizenship service of its type and covers the following topics:
- respect and responsibility
- maximising the benefits of child Oyster card
- effective use of the transport system
- improving awareness and personal safety
- linking messages with best road-safety practice
- river services and staying safe around water
Initiatives have included Transport Citizenship Weeks during which the team visited two boroughs in London and set up different scenes to create a life-like environment to enable the children to role-play various situations on different modes of travel - bus, Underground, road and river.
Commenting on the effectiveness of the scheme Julia Fielding, Head of Learning at London Transport Museum said 'Independent evaluation has shown that the initiative has had a clear impact on children's attitudes to safety, citizenship and public transport. By drawing attention to potential dangers, the children gained a heightened awareness of the consequences of personal behaviour.'
Information about the Safety & Citizenship scheme can be found at www.ltmuseum.co.ukThere is an interactive children's area on the site and downloadable resources for teachers preparing transport topic work.
For further information about our service or to book a presentation please contact Lindsey Whitehead at the Safety and Citizenship team at London's Transport Museum on 020 7565 7303 or email education@ltmuseum.co.uk
Junior Road Safety Officers
The event was held by Transport for London as a thank you to the JRSO's for all the work they do in promoting Road Safety in their schools.
The Junior Road Safety Officers scheme aims to encourage road safety awareness in school children.
The scheme is run by Transport for London and supported by Havering Road Safety Unit.
How does the scheme work?
In January, primary schools on the JRSO scheme choose Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSOs) from Year 5, for their school.
The chosen students:
- promote road safety to the rest of the school
- raise awareness of road safety to parents, teachers and the community
- raise awareness of local road safety issues
- provide a link between the council's road safety team and the students
The idea of the scheme is to enable the children themselves to highlight road safety issues that affect them.
The scheme allows children to let adults know what kind of road safety education they would like. And it helps Road Safety Officers promote topics that have been identified as a major issue.
How does having JRSOs help the school?
The school benefits because:
- pupils experience working as a team and making decisions
- pupils develop a sense of citizenship
- the scheme encourages a wide range of communication skills
- the scheme presents a positive image of the school as a safe and caring community
How do they do the job?
In January, we arrange an induction session for the new JRSOs. They get information about the job, resources, and a theme to get them started.
Each JRSO gets: • a road safety stationery kit
- JRSO badges (so that they can be identified easily by pupils, staff and parents)
- leaflets and posters for the school notice board and useful information for publicity campaigns
They are also fully supported by a member of Havering's Road Safety team, who visits the JRSOs regularly.
How long has the scheme been going?
The JRSO scheme has been in operation since 1990 in some authorities in England, and since approximately 1995 in Scotland. It was started last year in Havering and has proved to be very popular.
How can your school become involved?
If your school would like to join the JRSO scheme please contact the Road Safety Unit on 01708 432808 or email roadsafety@havering.gov.uk
In addition to promoting the JRSO scheme within schools the road safety unit also offer a variety of other road safety initiatives.
Throughout the summer term, nearly 500 Year 6 pupils received Level 1 cycle training, to help them become safer cyclists. It is hoped that this will continue again next year, alongside the on road cycle training being offered by Cycle Training East.
During the autumn term the Walking Forward Theatre Company will be performing their production "Cat Ninelives in Deepest Trubble" in 40 primary schools.
All year 11 pupils throughout the Borough will be attending the "Safe Drive Stay Alive" partnership initiative being held at the Queens Theatre during November. This multi-agency event is aimed at making young people aware of the importance of being both responsible drivers and passengers.
In addition to this the road safety unit are able to supply schools with resources and literature on various road safety topics, and are able to come into school to provide road safety education to junior and secondary school pupils.
For further information please contact the road safety unit on 01708 432808 or at roadsafety@havering.gov.uk
Lynne Turner
Senior Road Safety Officer
JRSO at Benhurst Primary
Being a Junior road Safety Officer is a privilege that most children would like to have. The things that we have to do are:
- Encourage people to be safe on the roads
- Persuade people that being safe can also be fun - hold competitions
- Introduce New ideas
Recently the Junior Road Safety Officers at Benhurst Primary School went on a trip to London to learn more about road safety. We learnt lots of important facts and had great fun at the same time.
We were amazed at the amount of JRSO's that were there. We watched a show that involved solving problems about things that were wrong with the roads. We also met the streetwise kids. They were Jasmine, Su-li, Ollie and Reggie. As well as the show being funny and interesting, it was educational as well because it gave us lots of ideas.
Being a Junior Road Safety Officer is a good experience. Not only because you learn about road safety, you get to have fun as well!
Elizabeth Fisher, Shantelle Knight, Rhiannon Akhurst, Ayobami Ayegbe, Lewis Starling and Jessie Butler (JRSO's at Benhurst Primary School).
Broadford Pupils Take Action
Our project is all about Road Safety because we have not had a lollipop person since December 2006*. We think it has been unsafe for children to cross the road at this school. We would like to do something about this by educating other children at our school (and other schools) and to make the parents more aware of road safety, and maybe even lobby to get a new school crossing patrol officer if we can.
*(Since going to press the school now has a crossing patrol person!)
We are hoping to become Junior Road Safety Officers for our school and do a play on how to cross the road safely for children and parents at our school in October 2007. We are very excited about this.
Some of the things we have done so far are:
- We did a power point presentation and we presented it to other schools in different boroughs.
- We have been up to London in a posh office and we talked about our project.
- We had a meeting with Mr. Ray Crane (Road Safety Officer) in Havering who gave us some advice on what to do.
- We were filmed by some children at Engayne school, they wanted to know about our project.
We are hoping that all our work will make Broadford School a safer place.
By Janet Adebiyi-Ojo, Jazz Johnson, Lauren Smith, Joshua Stevens, Mariah Stone and Jack Suters- Broadford Primary.
Quizzical
So what do you have to do next
We have chosen five schools in the Borough that have been named after different people, all you have to do is let us know what these people were famous for or what they represent. Once you've done that (and have answered the tie breaker question) simply submit your entry.
- James Oglethorpe
- RJ Mitchell
- Frances Bardsley
- St Ursula
- Sanders Draper
How to enter
You can enter by post to:
Nikki Gould, Environmental Strategy Unit, 9th Floor Mercury House, Mercury Gardens, Romford RM1 3SLAlternatively you can email your response to: nikki.gould@havering.gov.uk
All entries must be in by the Friday 23rd November 2007 and must include your name, the name of your school, and which class you are in. The winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries.
Tie Breaker Question:
In which year was Romford Market founded?
Articles of the Issue
As we did in Issue 1 we have awarded a prize for article of the issue. Prizes will continue to be offered in all issues of Taking Steps so please carry on sending in your articles.
On this occasion we could not split the two sent in by Jonathan Neale (aka Bus Boy) of St Edwards Secondary school (see page 8) or the piece on sustainable transport from Christopher Shipway of Emerson Park school on page 14, so we have given them both the prize!
Congratulations to both Jonathan and Christopher and their respective schools.
Both will receive £100 in national book vouchers for themselves and their school!
Sustainable Transport
Cars run on oil, a fossil fuel. Oil needs to be used economically because it is thought in the next 20 years, the oil reserves will run out.
When we do use them they produce carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming (greenhouse effect). This is an unsustainable method as it is not environmentally friendly and will not last for the future.
We need a sustainable method of getting to school for the needs of today, tomorrow and the future not to contribute to environmental problems, like global warming. The obvious answer is walking, but it depends on how far away from a destination you are. Bikes do not contribute to CO2 emissions, but you may need to buy one, be able to ride it and most schools don't have many bike racks yet.
Getting a bus is good, because its free for under 16 years olds and it's quick but some people do not like getting on a bus. Furthermore, although their emissions are less than cars, they do still have some CO2 emissions.
The answer to finding a method of sustainable transport is different for everyone. Walking and cycling are the best ideas. If everybody tried to travel to school by not using the car the planet would be a better place environmentally.
The effects of increased emissions are melting off the ice caps in the North Pole and Antarctica, the sea levels will rise which will cause low lands to disappear. The weather will become more extreme with flooding heat waves and hurricanes. This can lead to the extinction of species, decreasing biodiversity.
Do we really want this to happen? All you have to do is go to school each day without the use of a car. It would make a huge difference.
Christopher Shipway
Emerson Park School
Class 11.2