Ten Herefordshire schools are to receive a cash boost after successfully completing new school travel plans to reduce traffic congestion.
Approved by Herefordshire Council, these schools will receive grant awards from the department for children, schools and families in the region of £4-5,000 for primary schools and £9-10,000 for secondary schools.
Pupils and teachers from the schools will be presented with certificates to mark the successful completion of their travel plans at a prestigious and entertaining award ceremony at the Town Hall on Wednesday July 2nd. The schools are:
Brampton Abbotts CE Primary
Broadlands Primary
Ewyas Harold Primary
St James' CE Kimbolton Primary
Longtown Primary
Marlbrook Primary
Whitbourne CE Primary
John Kyrle High School
Blackmarston School
The Priory Centre, Leominster
In addition, 17 schools who already have travel plans in place will be presented with school travel achievement awards for their efforts in cutting car use, dealing with traffic congestion and achieving their travel plan targets. Each school will receive a certificate and a cheque for £500 from Herefordshire Council to help them with future projects to improve the journey to school .
Schools receiving their first achievement awards are:
Bodenham St Michael's CE Primary
Colwall Primary
Credenhill St Mary's CE Primary
Kingsland CE Primary
Leominster Infants
Llangrove CE Primary
Kings Caple Primary
Much Birch CE Primary
St Paul's CE Primary
Stoke Prior Primary
Aylestone High School
The Aconbury Centre
The county's star schools who are receiving their second
achievement award for keeping travel issues at the top of their
agenda and are making a huge difference to the traffic situation
around their schools are:
Cradley CE Primary
Much Marcle CE Primary
Staunton-on-Wye Endowed Primary
Whitchurch CE Primary
John Masefield High School
Ray Hughes, the West Midlands regional school travel adviser and also government adviser on the Travelling to School Initiative, will be the guest speaker and pupils from some of the primary and secondary schools will give presentations on their travel plans. Ewyas Harold Primary School choir will sing their Walk to School song.
The ceremony will be hosted by Jamie Elliott, a student at Hereford Sixth Form College who was a member of the travel plan committee at his former High School, Weobley. Councillor Jenny Hyde, cabinet member for children's services will open the event with assistance from Spike the hedgehog.
School travel plans are prepared by schools to devise solutions to their travel and transport problems in order to encourage safe and sustainable travel to school and reduce congestion caused by the daily school run. The government target is for 100% of schools to have travel plans by 2010 and Herefordshire's total so far is 86%
Councillor Jenny Hyde, said: "This ceremony is a celebration of our schools' achievements. The county's children are very passionate about protecting their environment and have campaigned hard to reduce traffic congestion and encourage more children to walk to school.
"Of course some parents need to drive their children to school and schools have been incredibly creative by setting up walking buses and drop off points encouraging children to walk at least part way to school and relieving some of the traffic congestion around the school gate.
"The council is keen to provide safer routes to school for children and families, so I am delighted that a further ten schools have successfully completed travel plans this year and that so many are being given achievement awards for the work they have done to resolve traffic issues in their area."