School invests in cycling
Stockton Primary School has responded to a call from pupils and transformed an unused area of the playground into a new bike storage area to help them get to school more sustainably.
And on the day the new cycle storage opened this week at the school a quarter of pupils hopped on their bikes and cycled in.
The cycle storage became a reality after the School submitted its ‘School Travel Plan’ last year and received £4,250 grant funding to spend within the school grounds on a project to encourage more sustainable travel to school.
The school decided to invest its funding in encouraging cycling within the village after research found that 99 per cent of the pupils live in the village. Headteacher Lucie Buran recognised that Stockton has real opportunities in helping the local children to travel to school by their preferred means.
The ‘School Travel Plan’ was written to show how the school will be committed and endeavour to reduce car journeys to and from school.
Mrs Buran said: “It’s been great to see about a quarter of our pupils cycling to school today and hopefully we will keep this enthusiasm going. Even once a week would be a good start.
"With the summer holidays coming up it’s the perfect opportunity for children to practice cycling skills, and we’ll be doing our bit to remind them to wear helmets and reflective clothing, particularly on darker evenings.
“I’m very pleased with the work by GCG Construction, who have turned an usual area of our playground in to a fabulously designed state of the art ‘Cycle Centre’. Many thanks to Darren Chadwick for his wonderful ideas that really work in reality.”
The cycle storage was officially opened this week by Jas Jawanda, a School Travel Adviser with Warwickshire County Council, and she said: “It’s vitally important that the School Travel Plan is not just seen as an award to build a bike storage space or whatever other scheme the school may choose.
"The really important work starts after cycle rack is built. To get the community committed to sustainability is the real task in hand.”
The school will continue to work with the Sustainable Travel Team in making their dreams become a reality in Stockton.