Gold Travel Award

9th September 2021
We are so proud to have been awarded a Gold School Travel Award, for our success in promoting sustainable school travel.

Over the last three years, Westgate has worked hard to raise the profile of sustainable travel with children, staff and parents. School has taken a holistic approach and has been pro-active in taking opportunities to develop their practice further. This has included:

  • Taking advantage of local funding to participate in the Living Streets Travel Tracker in Summer 2019.
  • Successfully consulting the local community and securing School Street status for the surrounding roads in Summer 2020.
  • Seeking funding from local bodies (Otley Town Council and Otley Lions) to install additional cycle and scooter storage.

By regular promotion of our actions and aims, over time the whole school community has become more committed to sustainable school travel, which can be seen in the changes in travel behaviour. Families see that we support them to adopt more sustainable travel, for example through annual pedestrian, scooter and bikeability training for children right across school, providing cycle and scooter storage, and initiatives such as Dr Bike and Bike Register days.

Children are motivated to make sustainable choices because they are rewarded through the Travel Tracker, because sustainable travel is celebrated on a weekly basis in assembly, and because they understand the impact that their collective choices have on the planet. They enjoy taking part in a wide range of national annual initiatives, such as The Big Pedal, Walk to School Week and Scoot to School week and are proud of their school when they achieve well in relation to other schools, locally and nationally. Because of the daily Travel Tracker, weekly class rewards and monthly badges, sustainable travel has a high profile amongst staff and pupils.

In addition, families that live close to school have been able to see the positive impact that initiatives such as School Streets and our Park & Stride arrangement with a local supermarket are having on our local area. Children are proud of the way their choices are having a positive impact on their health and environment and talk to their parents about their travel choices.

Westgate is a school that is committed to reducing our impact on the environment and sustainable school travel is a key part of that commitment.

Since 2018-19, travel behaviour has changed as follows:

 

2018-2019

2020-2021

Car

25.94%

7.46%

Park & Stride

0%

17.54%

Walk

72.18%

65.79%

Cycle

1.26%

5.26%

Scooter

0%

3.95%

Walk + Cycle + Scooter

73.44%

75%

This demonstrates the impact we have had on travel behaviour, in particular on families who need their car for onward journeys. It also demonstrates that our provision of additional scooter and cycle storage has encouraged more children to travel to school in this way.

You can read more about this achievement here.