Pupils have their say on greener travel to high school

Added: 18/03/2008
Category: Norfolk County Council

When pupils move up to high school, how should they be travelling between school and home? Adults may have a view - but at St Clement's High School on Wednesday (March 19) it is some of the school's current and prospective pupils that will be having their say.

St Clement's, at Terrington St Clement in west Norfolk, is one of only two schools nationally chosen to host a 'Talkin' Transition event supported by the National Children's Bureau (NCB).

Year 7 pupils from the high school and Year 6 pupils from five feeder primary schools (Walpole Cross Keys, Terrington St Clement Community School, West Lynn, Tilney All Saints and Clenchwarton) have been invited to a day-long consultation workshop to look at the transition between primary and high school, and in particular the impact on travel.

The 'Talkin' Transition' event has been organised by St Clement's High with the support of the National Children's Bureau (NCB) and Norfolk County Council's school travel plan officers. The aim is to encourage pupils to think about sustainable and active ways of getting to and from school.

The Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts has funded this work which enables NCB to offer £1,500 between the participating schools to support new ideas for greener travel that the workshop may come up with.

Baljinder Heer, of the National Children's Bureau, explained the purpose of the day:

"The ultimate aim of the workshop is to establish what children think and how they feel about travel to school, and to make them aware of the importance of sustainable and active travel.

"We need to understand more about the children's experiences of their journey to school, including things they like and don't like, dangers or obstacles that may influence their choice of route and mode of transport, and changes that would encourage them to make more sustainable and active choices. The way children and young people travel to school has huge implications for their health, well-being and development of life skills, such as independence.

"These workshops will enable children's ideas and views to feed into the development and testing of new ways of promoting sustainable and active travel."

Parents views are not being ignored - they are being sounded out through a survey.

Travel Plan Officer Liz Walne said “Transition from primary to high school is a time when pupils and parents will be establishing new routines and patterns of travel. Hopping in the car may seem like the easiest option, but it is not always the best for the health and well-being of students or the environment. We hope that this workshop will address some of the issues that could be preventing children and parents making greener travel choices, and so support school travel planning.”

Andrew Hay, Headteacher at St Clement's High, added: “We were delighted to be selected as one of only two schools nationally to participate. This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to get together and make a real difference to their local environment. Since arriving in January I have been impressed by the interest that our students have shown in shaping and improving their futures and their desire to enhance the local environment. In working with our cluster of schools on this innovative project we have further strengthened links with our future students in a way which can only lead to improvements for the whole community.”