We were nominated for The National Modeshift School of 2023. This was due to our success in achieving Modeshift STARS accreditation for the work that we had done to promote walking, cycling and other forms of sustainable travel for the journey to school.  Of the 3,500 schools that are signed up to Modeshift STARS, we were one of just 117 schools across the country that have been nominated for the 2023 National Awards. 

SOUTH GLOS

TALES OF THE ROAD FOR YOUNG USERS (YEAR 5 AND 6)

The highway code forms a vital part in reminding young road users of key Road Safety messages and their responsibilities when out near the road. Tales of the Road is an updated interactive highway code for young people and can be accessed through the link below.

Think Campaign: Tales of the Road link:

 WR_7535_DfT_TotR_Web_ENG_am2_201222_v3-FINAL.pdf (think.gov.uk)

This interactive activity book can be accessed and completed online or downloaded, allowing progress to be saved and continued another day.

The booklet is perfect for both years 5 & 6 as learners and parents begin to consider:

• Independent Journeys
• Transition to secondary school 
• New travelling routes or sustainable modes of transport

Schools across South Gloucestershire have received top accolades for promoting and encouraging pupils to walk, scoot or cycle to school through Modeshift STARS (Sustainable Travel Accreditation and Recognition for Schools) accreditation and will receive additional council funding for active travel facilities.

In addition to the 13 local schools from the area already involved, nine more have recently signed up to the free national accreditation scheme that recognises schools and other educational settings that have shown excellence in supporting cycling, walking and other forms of sustainable and active travel. Those taking part develop a live school travel plan using an online portal and find ways to encourage more of their students and staff to use sustainable methods of transport to get to school each day.

Each school attaining accreditation this year will also receive additional funding from the council to help build active travel infrastructure such as cycle and scooter storage, lockers, seating, or parent waiting shelters. Schools that achieve bronze receive £1,000, those achieving silver receive £3,000 and gold and platinum schools receive £5,000.

In the most recent round of accreditation, a number of participating schools have been recognised for their efforts with the highest grades available. Barley Close Community Primary School in Mangotsfield is the first South Gloucestershire school to reach the highest level – platinum, and is one of just 51 schools across England to reach this achievement. The Ridge Junior School in Yate is the first in the area to gain gold, one of just 66 schools across England. The Castle School in Thornbury is the first secondary in South Gloucestershire to achieve silver, and the first nursery to receive silver in the area is Natural Choice Nursery in Alveston. Five more schools also gained bronze – Little Stoke Primary, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary, Old Sodbury CofE Primary, The Meadows Primary and Yate Academy.

The schools have held special awards ceremonies with Councillor Erica Williams, cabinet member responsible for schools at South Gloucestershire Council, where they were presented with a banner to celebrate their achievements.

Councillor Williams said: “I want to congratulate all schools across the area that have signed up for this initiative and there has been a fantastic effort by all involved to encourage safe and sustainable travel options to families. I am delighted that this effort has been recognised with these high-ranking accolades.
“Improving school standards is the council’s number one priority and this stems all the way to how we are helping children to adopt healthier and more sustainable ways of getting to school.
“We know that small changes like walking and cycling to school or work instead of using cars and other vehicles can have a big impact on congestion, pollution and improve air quality. Becoming more active also provides significant health benefits and I’m sure more schools across South Gloucestershire will be inspired by the success achieved here.”

Barley Close Community Primary School, Mangotsfield – is the first school in South Gloucestershire to gain platinum, the Outstanding Travel Plan award. Over the past four years Barley Close has been working hard on promoting active and sustainable travel to school seeing a reduction of car use from 50 per cent in 2016/17 to 17.5 per cent in 2021/22 and an increase of active travel (walking, cycling, scooting and Park & Stride) from 50 per cent in 2016/17 up to 80.5 per cent in 2021/22, that’s a 61 per cent increase. Jo Williams, Headteacher at Barley Close, said: “We are so proud to be awarded platinum in recognition for all our work on sustainable travel, educating our pupils on being active travellers and the impact on them, and their environment. The whole school community is involved in the project and over the last few years it has been great to work together and build on our success year on year.

“We have increased the number of children actively travelling to school and been able to provide more storage for bikes and scooters. We have also been able to continue our partnership with South Gloucestershire Council’s Road Safety and Sustainable Travel team to provide training and opportunities for our children on road safety, Bikeability and sustainable travel which is important to our children’s future and the school ethos.”

Walking to school or being an active traveller is a great way to start the school day. South Glos Road Safety have put together a short video to highlight the importance and benefit of active travel.

Active travel to school - South Gloucestershire Council - YouTube

Parking safely and legally when collecting and dropping off children, both at the start and end of the school day, is important for the safety of all our children.

There are clear signs and zig-zag lines along the road, which state NO STOPPING. This includes even for a few moments as you drop off your child. We hope that all our parents will be supportive, creating a good example to our children as well as helping to create a safer environment for everyone when arriving and leaving the school.

the school has achieved a reduction of car use on the journey to school,

Has got the whole school involved in actively travelling to school by creating a working group dedicated to active travel and has delivered  a total of 41 initiatives and supporting initiatives including;

Working with living streets and South Glos via the Access fund ,all children are recording their daily journey to school via travel tracker and receiving badges for actively travelling.

Has a 5 minute walking bubble around the school where parents need to park outside of to park and stride to school.

Has created a whole page on their website dedicated to Active travel including a 5-10 walk to school map and other active travel information.

Active travel is on the prospectus for new parents.

Has received numerous workshops and activities from the road safety team and Bikeability to encourage safe and active travel.

Has carried out a total of 7 consultations of the whole school community informing parents, neighbours ,teachers, pupils and Governors of what progress has been made regarding sustainability around the school.

Barley Close first to achieve Bronze Modeshift Accreditation!

Barley Close is the first school in South Gloucestershire to achieve Bronze accreditation from Modeshift STARS (Sustainable Travel Accreditation and Recognition for Schools) for encouraging more of their children and staff to use sustainable methods of transport to get to school each day.

Road Safety Officers from South Gloucestershire Council and Living Streets attended the school recently to present the children, staff and governors with the award.  Jo Williams, Head Teacher at Barley Close Community Primary School said:

“We are delighted to be the first school in South Gloucestershire to attain the Bronze award and we have already started working towards our Silver!  As we are part of the Walk to School Access project we could easily demonstrate we had meet the criteria to gain Bronze and Andy and Catherine helped explain how to do this. 

Barley Close is the first school in South Gloucestershire to achieve Bronze accreditation from Modeshift STARS (Sustainable Travel Accreditation and Recognition for Schools) for encouraging more of their children and staff to use sustainable methods of transport to get to school each day.

Road Safety Officers from South Gloucestershire Council and Living Streets attended the school recently to present the children, staff and governors with the award.  Jo Williams, Head Teacher at Barley Close Community Primary School said:

“We are delighted to be the first school in South Gloucestershire to attain the Bronze award and we have already started working towards our Silver!  As we are part of the Walk to School Access project we could easily demonstrate we had meet the criteria to gain Bronze and Andy and Catherine helped explain how to do this.