Byers Green Primary School walking bus

Background and location

Parents, pupils and teaching staff care passionately about respecting the countryside around Byers Green Primary School and developed their school travel plan to coincide with the opening of their new school.

Rurally located, close to Spennymoor, the school is situated at one end of the village and new housing developments have increased the number of pupils on the school roll.

Main aims and objectives of the travel plan

The main aims of the travel plan for the new school are twofold:

• To welcome through its doors a new generation of children who are more aware of sustainable travel choices.
• To encourage pupils to make much more informed travel choices for their journey to and from school.

Walking bus

The school has a wide catchment area, with children from other villages travelling by school bus. However, it was determined by the working group that, many children living within the village were being driven the short distance to school by car.

The working group decided that to solve this issue, the village green was an appropriate place from which to operate a walking bus

The walking bus runs every morning and every afternoon, with over 40 pupils and 8 adults regularly using the service. Setting off from the Village Green, the bus picks up more children along the route before arriving at school.

Success of the initiative

The school are delighted with how successful the scheme has been. On the walking route to and from school, older pupils partner younger children and they walk in pairs to school with parents interspersed along the length of the bus. A difference in attitude has been noticed whilst travelling the route as children have the opportunity to chat quietly to one another -the journey to school is now more of a social event for them. Best of all, the road outside of their new school is completely clear of parked cars!

The initiative has been beneficial for the whole local community as residents living near to the school no longer have to contend with inconsiderate parking and parents think it is a fantastic idea that children are physically active every day. One parent comments, "It's great that my sons are collected at our front gate as the walking bus passes our house. It is so easy for them to join up with friends and enjoy the fresh air and greenery on their way to school. ''

Deputy Headteacher and School Travel Plan Coordinator at the school said, "Care has been taken to ensure that our new school building will accommodate those parents and pupils who choose to travel to school on foot or by bicycle. We aim to encourage all parents, especially those who live locally within our village and within walking distance, to leave their car at home and choose walking or cycling as their preferred means of getting to and from our school. By making more informed choices about how we travel to our school, we are seeing a significant reduction in the number of cars accessing our new school site."