Travel Plan

Under Government guidelines, Travel Plan’s were introduced to schools several years ago to try and reduce the reliance on driving to school and to encourage walking, cycling and scootering instead.

At St Michael’s we believe very strongly in this ethos and have an active Travel Plan committee who work extremely hard on a range of initiatives during the school year.

As well as educating our children on the health and environmental benefits, we carry out Footsteps training which teaches children how to become a safer and more thoughtful pedestrian / road user. Cycle training is also carried out at various times during the year.

As a result of our continuous focus in this area, St Michael’s has been awarded Gold status for maintaining such a high level Travel Plan. This entitles us to additional funding which enables us initiate new projects.

We partake in the national Big Pedal event (a national inter-school cycling competition) and for the second year running, St Michael’s was the winner of the South East area due to the fantastic support from our parents and children.

Within the school, we nominate Junior Road Safety Officers from year 6 who help to highlight the importance of the road safety issues to the younger children.

Updates from our Travel Plan committee will be posted regularly.

We appreciate that it is not always practicable for families to walk to school and for those who need to drive, we ask that they take note of the following recommendations. Whilst we cannot enforce them, we actively encourage you to embrace them as part of your responsibility to the Community:    

• No cars should drive into the school car park at any time UNLESS it is an emergency or for health reasons and has been agreed with the Office.

• The Zig Zag lines at the entrance to the school are NOT to be parked upon.  They are there to ensure maximum visibility and thus to protect your children.

• If you live in the village, please leave your car at home whenever possible and walk to school – not only does it help reduce YOUR carbon footprint, statistics prove it gives your child a better start to the day. Their concentration levels are better and hence productivity is higher.

• If you live outside of the village and drive to school, can we suggest you park at the Rec and walk the last 5 minutes, therefore giving your child the chance to have some fresh air and benefit from raised concentration levels like their counterparts.

• If you have to drive to school (which is sometimes a necessity due to other commitments) then please ensure you try to park outside of Chapel Square. The Village Hall welcomes parent parking so long as there is not an event taking place (a board will be put outside when this is the case) and The Swan Car Park is also available, so long as you are only dropping off / picking up  and not leaving your car.  At all times please park considerately.

• There have been a number of reported incidents of people driving whilst using their mobile phones – not only is this illegal but it is also extremely dangerous for the children in your car and the pedestrians. Research has shown this is more dangerous than driving whilst drunk! So please think.