Devon school gets full marks for getting more pupils walking, cycling and scooting to school

Pupils, staff and teachers at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Newton Abbot received the Sustrans Bronze School Mark award at a special celebration event last week (Thursday 12 July).

The prestigious award is given to schools that have worked hard to bring about organisational, cultural and behavioural changes which help the school community choose to travel in more active and sustainable ways.

As part of the Devon Active Travel to Schools project which is delivered by Sustrans and funded by Devon County Council through the Access Fund, Sustrans has been working with staff, pupils, teachers and parents at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School for the past year to meet the criteria needed to achieve the award and to build on their successes in the future.

This included themed assemblies, Dr Bike days, playground bike and scooter skills sessions, active travel to school days, after school bike club and taking part in National events such as the Sustrans Big Pedal and inter-school challenges such as Leg it to Lapland. They were also part of a very successful street design road closure event held in March.

Helen Morse, the Sustrans Active Travel Officer for the school, said: “Both the staff and children at St Joseph’s have worked incredibly hard to achieve this award and they’ve also had a lot of fun along the way. They have been really committed to new and more active ways of travelling to and from school and recognising the positive benefits that walking, scooting and cycling brings to their school community."

Headteacher Kelly Dunne said: “It is wonderful to celebrate the success of St Joseph’s commitment to active travel. We have learnt so much through our work with Sustrans and have created a more sustainable model. We were delighted to welcome Andrei Burton to our school assembly, where we were presented with our Bronze Sustrans School Mark Award. We are very proud of the whole community but particularly our pupils who have worked hard to achieve this award. Our thanks go to Miss Hannaford, for leading this scheme in school. We are now closely looking at our next steps to silver!”

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member with responsibility for cycling, said: “Congratulations to everyone at St Joseph’s in achieving this award. It’s great to see pupils getting active to help improve their local environment and to stay healthy. The school has been really proactive in encouraging children and their parents to walk, cycle or scoot to school, so this recognition is very well deserved.”

To celebrate all the hard work, Andrei Burton, one of the UK’s most successful mountain bike trials riders, wowed the children with his incredible display of mountain bike skills.