New Funding Set to Build Safer Routes to Schools in 2014/15

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1 Safe Routes to schools Issue 23 Scotland New Funding Set to Build Safer Routes to Schools in 2014/15 Walking and cycling to and from school is about to get that little bit easier thanks to Sustrans Scotland s new Safer Routes to Schools Implementation Fund. leisure journeys made by children and their families. Five of the 13 projects receiving funding from the new SRTSIF will affect new school builds, providing fresh options for active travel and helping to develop healthy school travel habits as pupils move into their brand new buildings. Sustrans Over 1.6m will be invested across local authorities up and down the country, funding new Safer Routes projects. The fund, a one year programme from the Sustainable Transport Team in Transport Scotland, within Scottish Government, is designed to increase walking and cycling levels to and from schools via the implementation of new infrastructure. Match funding was sought from local authorities and projects range Registered Charity No (England and Wales) SCO39263 (Scotland) from an 800,000 development in Fife aimed at improving cycling and walking routes to a new school campus development, which will absorb two existing High Schools when they relocate in August 2016, down to a 7,500 scheme in Dundee, which will see vehicle activated signs installed to slow vehicle speed along roads next to the school. These projects come on the back of some 200 Sustrans Community Links Projects delivered between 2011 and 2014 which have been constructed within walking distance of Scottish schools, directly affecting school travel or other utility and These are in addition to Community Links projects such as one at Redwell Primary School in Clackmannanshire where a new crossing point, ramp and path were constructed to make access to the new school site easier by bike and by foot. This project was made particularly successful through communication with the local housing developer who was able to re-orientate the housing to overlook the new path and improve the visibility of the route. For more information on the fund and approved projects, simon.strain@sustrans.org.uk What s Inside Page 3 I Bike Partnership work in Edinburgh Pages 4 & 5 School Travel Planning Page 8 Pathhead Primary - Street Design Project

2 Introduction, Dates and Resources Welcome to the Safe Routes to Schools Newsletter. Leafing through the content of this Newsletter, I was struck by the sheer extent of partnership working that we are involved in right across Scotland. Whether its delivering the new Safer Routes to Schools Implementation Fund or working to extend the reach of our I Bike programme, our success is totally reliant on partnership working. I would therefore like to say a huge thank you to everybody that we work with the things that we achieve together are making a positive difference across Scotland. In this Newsletter you will find a wide variety of stories but I would like to draw your attention to our work around Pathhead Primary School, Kirkcaldy, in particular. By working with the school pupils and the wider community, ourselves and Fife Council have achieved fantastic results improved safety through distinctive dotty road crossings, an enhanced sense of place via colourful artwork in the school grounds and better facilities through new scooter racks. It really does just go to show what can be achieved when we all work together. I hope that you will enjoy reading this Newsletter and if you ever have an idea that you would like us to consider please do get in touch. We are always open to thinking innovatively and by working together we can make active travel even better than it is currently for our children and young people. Best wishes What s Coming Up 2-8 March 2015 Climate Week 2-20 March 2015 The Big Pedal (Sustrans) 13 March 2015 Red Nose Day (Comic Relief) May 2015 National Walking Month (Living Streets) May 2015 Walk to Work Week (Living Streets) May 2015 Walk to School Week (Living Streets) For more details on what s happening and when, subscribe online at to receive our e-bulletin. Make sure your contact details are up-to-date. andrew.adam@sustrans.org.uk with any changes. Free Resources Active Travel To School Guides Increasing Active Travel to School is a step-by-step guide written by Sustrans aimed at increasing walking, cycling and scooting on the school journey. Designed for teachers and parents, the guide contains a suggested programme and top tips for events, activities and lessons to enable more journeys on foot, bike or scooter. The programme is designed to be delivered over six weeks culminating in a celebratory week of action a perfect build up to the Big Shift challenge, a Bike to School Week, or even Sustrans annual Big Pedal event. The guide is free and details to request a copy are available on the Sustrans website. Become a superhero in 2015! Sustrans Superheroes is an individual award scheme recognising pupils skills and achievements in walking, scooting and cycling. Aimed at 7- to 11-year-olds, pupils gain points for activities they complete to become either a Sustrans Hero or Superhero. Based on a booklet of activities, the scheme provides the structure and inspiration for children to learn and practice the skills essential for fun, safe and sustained active travel to school and for other journeys. To find out more about the scheme and download matierials, visit the Sustrans website. John Lauder, National Director Sustrans Scotland Get going with Sustrans Sustrans has recently produced the first of a new series of Get Going resources. Each resource includes a short video and an accompanying PDF of information.the videos and accompanying pdfs are available to download at: change-your-travel 2

3 Edinburgh I Bike Community Partners Sustrans Scotland s I Bike project works with a number of partners, from Local Authorities to Active Schools to Social Enterprises, in order to support schools in promoting cycling. Two recent invaluable partners have been SoulCycles, an independent Edinburgh bike shop, and Brake the Cycle. SoulCycles have been partnering with I Bike for the past two years and over that time they have supported National Standard Bikeability cycle training in schools, provided free maintenance checks for pool bikes, and even provided brand new bikes at cut-price costs to schools. SoulCycles has become a trusted name to schools, teachers and pupils, and are planning on developing the cycle training side of their business. Brake the Cycle was established in May 2012 by City of Edinburgh Council, a programme through which offenders on Community Payback Orders are trained to repair bikes in workshops under the supervision of a criminal justice worker. Tynecastle Primary School pupils enjoy the view on the River Almond near Cramond, while out and about around Edinburgh with bicycles donated by partner Brake the Cycle. Sustrans I Bike Partnership in Edniburgh Brake the Cycle repair bikes which are left with them and then donate them to community organisations including I Bike schools. To date, Davidsons Mains Primary, Lorne Primary and Tynecastle High have all benefitted from these bike donations. For more information on working with I Bike in Edinburgh, contact: charlotte.gardiner@sustrans.org.uk STARS Project Continues in Edinburgh In 2013, the City of Edinburgh was selected to be one of nine partners in the European STARS (Sustainable Travel Accreditation and Recognition for Schools) project. The project aims to increase the amount of pupils cycling to and from school, who would otherwise have been taken by car. Other cities include Madrid, Milan and Krakow. Edinburgh will have helped contribute to the overall STARS outcomes including at least 180 primary schools across Europe participating and reaching accreditation, and to reduce CO 2 emissions by 3,000 to 10,000 tonnes per year. The project awards levels of accreditation to primary schools, from bronze up to gold, based on the work they are doing to promote cycling. Of the 10 schools that took part in the first year of the project in Edinburgh, four have already received accreditation for their work. The City of Edinburgh are working with secondary schools to create a network of Youth Travel Ambassador Schemes, encouraging and promoting the uptake of cycling and walking through peer-to-peer engagement activities. The Council has three years of funding, a small proportion of which is used to match fund Sustrans Scotland s I Bike project in Edinburgh. By the end of 2016, the City of Pupils receive accreditation for their school at the STARS awards, held at the City Chambers on 17 September To find out more about the STARS project in Edinburgh contact Lorna.Henderson@edinburgh.gov.uk City of Edinburgh Council 3

4 School Travel Planning School Travel Planning: What it means for your school School travel plans are helping schools around the country to promote more sustainable travel choices, but what can they do for your school at a local level? School travel plans are action plans written by a school that identifies the issues in the local area affecting the journey to school. They set out a strategy of agreed aims and a package of measures designed to increase active travel as a way to get to and from schools, for pupils, parents, staff and visitors. On a local level they can help to tackle congestion and improve air quality around the school gates by reducing unnecessary car travel, and they can also increase healthy travel choices. Developing and implementing a School Travel Plan can help pupils to become successful learners, responsible citizens, confident individuals and effective contributors. For more information on putting a school travel plan together, contact: cecilia.oram@sustrans.org.uk Here are our top tips to make your school travel planning that little bit easier East Dunbartonshir Sustrans has been working with Education Scotland t primary pupils using active travel. For pupils in East Dunbartonshire, this has meant that their classrooms have become far bigger recently. Pupils have been taken on led walks around their local community to help them 4 1. Use the Sustrans Healthier Routes films on school travel planning in action with the teacher pack and your pupils 2. Make sure pupils take the lead developing a school travel plan 3. Use Sustrans Big Street Survey as part of developing your school travel plan 4. Send your school travel plan to local decision makers 5. Refresh school travel plans on an annual basis To find out more about I Bike in East Dunbartonshire, contact: donald.macdonald@sustrans.org.uk Sustrans

5 The infographic (left) is a snapshot of School Travel Plan (STP) development or roll out of STP activities across all schools in Scotland. It is updated and changes annually with the majority of Scottish schools doing very well. Early in 2015 Sustrans will be launching a series of 11 short videos called Healthier Routes that guide schools through the travel planning process with lots of examples from schools around Scotland. These videos come with a Teacher Guide and allow pupils to take the lead in School Travel Plan development. The films will be hosted on a number of video-sharing sites. I Bike Volunteering in Scotland Sustrans Scotland s I Bike project currently runs in five local authorities in Scotland: Dumfries and Galloway, City of Edinburgh, East Dunbartonshire, Fife, and Perth and Kinross, and encourages children to cycle, walk and scoot to school. I Bike and Volunteering e gets balancing o create the best possible learning experiences for understand the way people experienced life in both Roman and Victorian times, and during both World Wars. The children have been to air raid shelters, abandoned mining villages and even apparently ordinary front gardens, but all the locations have a story to tell. When not delving into history, I Bike officer Donald Macdonald has been donning the distinctive white lab coat of Sustrans Professor Balance who, since undertaking his PHD in Balanceology at the University of Idleberg, has been bringing the message to schools that cycling is really about balancing. Since the start of the academic year, the Professor has taught over 60 Primary 1 pupils how to cycle. Starting with an assessment of balance using scooters, the pupils then move onto riding a bicycle. This year, parents have been involved too, learning how to teach their children to cycle and avoiding having their hair turn white like Professor Balance! As part of the project, Sustrans have been recruiting volunteers to help expand the capacity of the I Bike work in schools, to lead on activites such as cycle skills, smoothie bike sessions and much more. Volunteers across Scotland have been trained as Cycle Trainer Assistants and have been helping to deliver Bikeability, while others have taken part in Cycling Scotland Cycle Ride Leader training and have been helping our schools out with led cycle rides. I Bike Officer Katie said: Volunteering for I Bike projects provides a great experience in working with primary and secondary school pupils in a variety of sessions, from classroom to practical activities. Volunteers are also essential to the success of the I Bike project. Their support is invaluable in aiding delivery of fun and engaging sessions to suit all abilities. It is a unique and rewarding experience for all involved. To find out more about I Bike Volunteering, contact lisa.morton@sustrans.org.uk 5

6 Raising Air Quality Standards North Lanarkshire are raising local air quality standards Rolled out earlier this year, North Lanarkshire Council has created an Air Quality Teaching Package, designed to raise awareness in schools across the local authority area. North Lanarkshire Council Excellence and has had more than 11,000 hits since launching and recently won a Council award. Designed as part of the councils Air Quality Action Plan, school pupils and staff can learn about what causes air pollution, how poor air quality affects their health and what they can do to help improve air quality in their local area, particularly through their travel choices. The Air Quality Learning Package has been enthusiastically received and is now being taken forward by North Lanarkshire Council, in conjunction with the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) as part of the SEPA s Citizen Science initiative. The Air Quality Learning package is now being adapted to be suitable for use in Primary Schools throughout Scotland. As well as this the package is being expanded to be suitable for S1,2 and 3 Secondary school stage with lessons being developed in both science and geography. These lessons will also include practical activities which the pupils will then be able to contribute to SEPA s Citizen Science Programme. Funded by the Scottish Government, the project was initially launched in three pilot schools, and has now been rolled out to all 125 North Lanarkshire schools, with the potential to reach 10,000 pupils. Aimed at pupils in Primary 5-7, the web-based learning module (pictured above) meets a number of experiences and outcomes in the Curriculum for To find out more about the project and how to get your school involved, contact Fiona Maguire at maguiref@northlan.gov.uk at North Lanarkshire Council. Visit the website at Midlothian pupils experience the Magic of Road Safety Midlothian Council successfully rolled out 15 performances of the show for 30 schools, which combines magic to promote road safety messages in a fun and engaging way, with funding from from the Community Safety Partnership. 6 Schools pupils were encouraged to walk to their neighbouring school to experience the Magic of Road Safety shows. To find out more about bringing the Magic of Road Safety to your school, contact allan@allansmagic.com Magic of Road Safety show. Midlothian Council

7 School Cycle and Scooter Parking Autumn 2014 saw the installation of new cycle and scooter parking at a number of East Lothian schools. Pupils at ten schools returning from their October break were delighted and surprised to see the bright cycle and scooter parking in their playground in school colours. With funding from Sustrans Scotland s Cycle & Scooter Parking Fund, cycle and scooter pods of various sizes were installed across a number of schools. Iain Reid, East Lothian Council s School Travel Coordinator, managed the project and noted the ease with which the pods can be installed, saving costs and time. What made this project so different was that it was logistically easier than traditional storage facilities with the installation process taking as little as 20 minutes for a scooter pod and about an hour for the Minipod with minimal or no ground works and associated disruption. By the time all projects for the financial year are completed, Sustrans expects to have contributed 166,000 towards the installation of 1,215 cycle parking spaces, 1,288 scooter parking spaces, and 36 new cycle shelters. These installations mean that in the four years that the fund has been running, 4,893 cycle spaces and 2,879 scooter parking spaces have been supplied to 446 schools across (Clockwise from top) Scooter pods installed at Prestonpans Infant School, Windygoul Primary School and Dunbar Primary School. Scotland, supporting active travel across 30 local authorities. To find out more about Sustrans Cycle & Scooter Parking Fund, contact andrew.adam@sustrans.org.uk East Lothian Council Cycle Parking and Healthy Feet Helping happy and healthy feet to walk to school Schools across Scotland have been taking part in Living Streets flagship walking programme WoW (Walk Once a Week) during the Autumn term. Journeys to school were recorded by pupils using the innovative Travel Tracker. Pupils who reached a set number of walking or active journeys to school each month were rewarded with collectable pin badges. Living Streets recently ran a UK-wide design a shoe competition in conjunction with Start-rite, to celebrate a successful year of partnership. The competition was won by Dunbar Primary School pupil Katie, 11 (pictured), who will have her colourful design made into a real pair of shoes for her to wear and enjoy, courtesy of Start-rite. A range of fantastic designs were received from all across the UK, with five runners up receiving a pair of Start-rite shoes of their choice to start the new school term, and all six winners have won a share of 800 towards school resources of their choice and a selection of Walk to School materials. Living Streets/Start-rite For more information on how your school can get involved in Living Streets walk to school programme, contact scotland@livingstreets.org.uk Katie, from Dunbar Primary School, was Living Streets competition winner. 7

8 Pathhead Primary School Partnership Pathhead Primary School gets designing for safer streets Residents and pupils around Pathhead Primary School in Kirkcaldy are working with Sustrans Scotland to make their streets more sociable, colourful and safer areas. The Street Design project, which began in October 2012, is a partnership between Fife Council and Sustrans Scotland, as part of the Make your move Kirkcaldy town wide project. Extensive community engagement from the start of the project with residents and pupils made it possible for both groups to have a direct input into the design proposals for their neighbourhood. Three sessions were held with Primary 6 pupils to map out issues in the local area, such as barriers to walking and cycling. This was followed by a further three sessions to develop the themes of adding more nature and colour into the area. The artwork within the school grounds is a literal adaption of artwork produced by the pupils working alongside an established artist. The artwork has been incorporated into the structure of parts of the building that survived a fire in the 1990 s. Nicola Atkinson (NADFLY), the artist said: By incorporating the artwork into the old tiled walls of the waiting shelters it appears as if the colour and images are discovered as a kind of archaeological discovery. Other improvements in the area also include: Three new formal crossings around Pathhead school to make the journey to and from school feel safer Artwork within the school grounds designed by pupils 27 new scooter racks to encourage more scooting Distinctive white dots patterned crossings to make drivers more aware of pedestrians crossings Final monitoring of walking and cycling levels, traffic speed and volume levels and the perception of safety has just been completed. Early results are very positive and show significant improvements in active travel levels. The full results will be published in March To find out more about the project and Sustrans Street Design work, contact paul.ruffles@sustrans.org.uk Top: One of the dotted crossings around the school. Middle: The tiled walls. Bottom: A selection of the new scooter racks. Sustrans Sustrans Sustrans Safe Routes to School Scotland Newsletter is aimed at transport, health, education and environmental professionals and is published bi-annually as a free resource. To subscribe, please contact the Sustrans Scotland School Travel Team by phone or . The newsletter can also be downloaded from To submit ideas, news, images and stories please schools-scotland@sustrans.org.uk The School Travel project in Scotland is coordinated by Sustrans and supported by Transport Scotland, Charitable Trusts and Sustrans Supporters. Sustrans is the charity that s enabling people to travel by foot, bike or public transports for more of the journeys we make every day. It s time we all began making smarter travel choices. Make your move and support Sustrans today. Sustrans Scotland Rosebery House 9 Haymarket Terrace Edinburgh EH12 5EZ