SCHOOL STREETS SUCCESS! SOUTH YORKSHIRE SCHOOLS MARK COP26 WITH SERIES OF TRIAL EVENTS

Published 10 November 2021 at 2:12pm

Schools across South Yorkshire hosted ‘School Streets’ events on Friday 5th November to mark COP26, enabling children to take up forms of active travel on their commute to and from school, whilst also reducing pollution and danger created by cars at the school gates.

With 1 in 4 vehicles on the road in a morning doing the school run, a School Streets event provides families with a safer and more attractive walking, scooting or cycling route instead, which not only reduces emissions, but creates a safer environment for children.

Active Travel Commissioner Dame Sarah Storey attended events at St John the Baptist Primary in Barnsley and Hawthorn Primary in Doncaster which saw both schools enjoy road closure around their entrances, giving parents and pupils a healthier start to the day and the option to continue making active choices as part of their daily routines. 

Hawthorn Primary School’s event in Doncaster saw pupils embark on a group walk from nearby Cantley Park before arriving at school and being presented with a Gold Standard award from Modeshift Stars, recognising the success of pupils, parents and staff in helping everyone arrive at school using active means.

St John the Baptists Primary School in Barnsley enjoyed their School Streets trial event with a ‘playing out’ session in the morning, circus skills workshops and active travel themed lessons throughout the day. 

Dame Sarah Storey, appointed by South Yorkshire Mayor, Dan Jarvis, to create and implement the region’s Active Travel Plan attended both events and was thrilled by the feedback.

“It has been so incredibly heartening to witness first hand the school streets trials that have been implemented across South Yorkshire. Everyone I spoke to, whether that was residents, parents, staff and of course children agree that the streets outside their school have too many vehicles, and that this is a danger to the health and well-being of everyone. 

“The success of the events I have attend show there is a growing demand to trial more school streets, and to progress many that have successfully trialled onto more permanent arrangements.”

The Mayoral Combined Authority was recently successful in securing a £570m fund to improve travel and transport in South Yorkshire, including building more than 600 miles of new cycle lanes across the region to encourage people to leave their cars at home for short journeys. 

This funding is a crucial step in delivering the Active Travel plan which sets out how, by 2040, a fully connected network of walking and cycling routes will link our region, transforming communities and ensuring that people have the means and the confidence to leave their cars at home, and choose to travel on foot or by bicycle.

To find out more about South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority’s Active Travel Plan please visit our Active Travel section