Wokingham

Safe and sustainable Wokingham journeys to school will be top of the agenda when teachers, governors, pupils and parents from across the Wokingham Borough gather in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead tomorrow (Wednesday October 17) for the launch of the Berkshire School Travel Excellence Programme (STEP).

Over recent years, many schools within Wokingham borough have developed school travel plans in order to address health, safety and environmental problems associated with high car use for school travel. Other schools are in the process of developing their travel plans or are yet to start.

STEP is an exciting new initiative for state and independent schools which aims to reduce the use of cars and promote walking and cycling to school. It will recognise and reward participating schools for the hard work they have put into school travel plans and encourage, advise and support others to develop theirs.

Wokingham Borough Council and the five other Berkshire local authorities – Windsor and Maidehead, West Berkshire, Bracknell Forest, Reading and Slough Borough Councils – are working together on this initiative. It is being offically launched at a conference taking place at the town hall in Maidenhead on October 17.

On the agenda for the conference are up-to-date guidance and best-practice case studies based on issues relevant to Berkshire schools. There will be talks on school travel plans, walking buses, walk to school initiatives and how STEP can help schools set these up. A new award scheme will also be launched to recognise those schools effectively tackling travel issues and promoting safe and sustainable travel.

Wokingham Borough Council’s healthy school advisor Rosie Webb will also be giving a presentation about links between the healthy schools programme and school travel plans. Rosie said: “By developing a travel plan a school is showing its commitment toward the health and well-being of its pupils and staff. Travel plans are recognised within the national healthy schools programme and many of our schools have achieved or are working towards healthy schools status.”

Cllr Keith Baker, executive member for Wokingham highways and transport, said: “The council is committed to reducing the number of car journeys to and from schools. As a result, many of our schools have been working hard to develop effective school travel plans. For those schools that do not have travel plans in place, I very much hope they will enlist the help of STEP.”

Eddie Dolan, transport planning and school travel plan advisor, said: “As school travel plans have been developed we have seen a number of initiatives and improvements at schools including walking buses and cycle shelters encouraging more children to walk and cycle to school.”

A competition is also being held for schoolchildren to design a STEP logo and the winner will be announced at the conference. They will also be presented with a mountain bike kindly donated by Caversham-based A W Cycles.
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Wokingham Borough Council