Nurture, Cherish, Succeed

NCS Travel Plan

A Travel Plan is a declaration where schools/businesses set out a list of goals and changes which help to encourage more healthy, sustainable and safe travel options. Modeshift STARS is the national schools awards scheme that has been established to recognise schools that have demonstrated excellence in supporting cycling, walking, scooting and use of public transport.

The scheme encourages schools across the country to join in a major effort to increase levels of sustainable and active travel and in so doing, improve the health and well-being of children and young people.

A School Travel Plan must be set in place to plan out how the school aims to reach the goal of more sustainable and active travel. We have devised our School Travel Plan, and hope to receive our Bronze award soon and later advance to our Silver and Gold awards.

What do we want to achieve?

In order to receive our Bronze, Silver and Gold awards for sustainable and smart travel, we need to encourage more students and parents to walk, cycle or scoot to school instead of travelling by car. Our scheme also involves dispersing school traffic at the start and end of the day to create a safer environment for our students, parents and staff.

The construction and opening of our new on site Nursery may mean that more cars will be used for students to get to and from school. This ultimately will cause more disruption around our busiest times at the start and end of the day. To combat this we want to start introducing travel activities to encourage you and your child to take alternative and more sustainable transport to school.

Choosing a more sustainable way to get to and from school is not only environmentally friendly but also promotes good physical and mental health. It is encouraged by the NHS that children of primary school age should carry out around 60 minutes of moderately intensive activity a day, this can include walking, cycling and scooting. It is also proven that good physical health can often lead to good mental health.

Additionally walking, cycling or scooting can help children develop road safety skills which will keep them safe as they grow more independent.

Our Travel Activities

In our travel plan, we have put together a range of activities which will be carried out both in and out of school including:

Y5 and Y6 Bikeability - Learning practical skills from professional instructors and understanding how to cycle on today’s roads. For more information click here
EYFS Balanceability - Creates the opportunity for children to master the key aspects of static and dynamic balance to be able to ride a bike without stabilisers. For more information click here
Park and Stride - Involves parking at Littlemoor shops and walking down to school as an alternative to parking on the main road outside of school.
Walk to school days and weeks - A whole school initiative to walk, cycle or scoot to school on a certain day or throughout a certain week (see below for upcoming travel events).

Upcoming Travel Events 2024-2025

Travel Smart Week - Monday 21st - Friday 25th October 2024

Qualitas Wheels Day (Balance bike, Scooter and Bike training) - Tuesday 20th May and Thursday 22nd May 2025

What We Ask Of Parents

Please encourage your child(ren) to walk, scoot or cycle to school whenever possible
Ensure your child(ren) walk or ride sensibly and safely on the way to and from school, and to push bikes and scooters on school grounds
Ensure that bicycles and scooters are roadworthy and properly maintained. If in doubt consult a qualified mechanic
Provide your child(ren) with a cycle helmet
Ensure your child(ren) can be seen by fitting lights to their bike and by supplying them with high-visibility clothing
Make sure your child(ren) has a lock for their bike or scooter and that they know how to use it
Ensure you have appropriate insurance cover for your child(ren)’s bicycle or scooter as the school is not liable for any loss or damage to cycles or scooters on the premises or being used on the way to or from school
If you travel by bus, maybe consider getting off the bus at one or two stops early to walk the last part of the journey

We understand that sometimes there is no alternative to driving to school. Where a car must be used we ask parents to drive only part of the way, and drop their child(ren) off away from the school so that some of the journey can be walked or scooted. We ask parents not to park on Cranborne Road

We have a park & stride site at Littlemoor shoping area
If you do have to drive your child(ren) and stop in the near vicinity please do so legally, safely and with respect for our neighbours and local residents
It is not acceptable to park or wait on double yellow lines, on the school zigzags or across residential driveways for any period of time
If you must drive why not consider car sharing?
If your journey is too long to walk, cycle or scoot, try and take the bus rather than drive

Please note that the decision on whether a child is competent to cycle or scoot to school is for the parent(s) or carer(s) to make. The school has no liability for any consequences arising from this decision.

What We Ask Of Pupils

Ask your parent/carer if you can walk, scoot or cycle to school
Behave in a way that shows you and the school in the best light whether walking, scooting, cycling or using public transport
Ride or walk courteously, sensibly and safely on the way to and from school
When on school grounds, do not ride bikes or scooters, please get off and push them
Check that your bike or scooter is roadworthy and properly maintained
Always wear a cycle helmet if cycling to school and consider wearing one if scooting
Make sure you can be seen by using lights in the dark or bad weather and by wearing high-visibility clothing
Make sure you have a lock for your bike or scooter and that you use it as we can not be held responsible for any loss or damage of bikes or scooters, we will provide lockers for helmets and other equipment.

To view our school's travel policy, please click here

Below is a visual representation of our travel plan

Walk and wheel to School week!

During 'Walk and Wheel to School Week' and we challenged our children to walk, scoot or cycle to school 5 times to become a smart traveller and we are pleased to announce that 128 pupils completed this challenge which is roughly 64% of our school - a fantastic effort! Below we have compiled our favourite pictures of our children enjoying their journeys to school.