Greater Belfast, Ards and North Down

Greater Belfast, Ards & North Down
Sustrans Active School Travel Programme
Summer Term 2016 Newsletter
Message from Sustrans...
We are delighted to announce that the
Active School Travel Programme has
been extended until 2021 with funding
from the Department for Infrastructure
and the Public Health Agency.
The Active School Travel Programme
aims to increase physical activity in
children, reduce congestion around
schools, improve road safety
awareness and increase confidence,
all of which can contribute to
improved health and educational
achievement.
The programme began in 2013 and
since then 191 schools have enrolled
with more than 60,000 children taking
part. This has resulted in an increase
in cycling and walking for the school
commute and a reduction in car
congestion around participating
schools.
We will begin recruiting new schools
in August to join the programme
commencing in October 2016. Please
do keep an eye out for the application
pack in August!
We’d love to hear from you...
Please get in touch if you would
like more information on how the
Active School Travel Programme
works and how your school can
get involved.
Tel:
028 9043 4569
Email: schoolsNI@sustrans.org.uk
Website: www.sustrans.org.uk/
northern-ireland/what-we-do/
active-school-travel-northernireland
Twitter: @SustransNI
Facebook: www.facebook.com/
SustransNI
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Photo-Newtownards Chronicle
Andrews Memorial Gets the X-Factor
On 26 May, we were delighted to get a visit from Sustrans’ newly appointed
Chief Executive, Xavier Brice. Xavier wanted to visit Northern Ireland prior to
taking up his new role. In true Sustrans fashion, he took his rather nice folding
bicycle on the Liverpool – Belfast ferry and joined our NI Director, Gordon
Clarke for breakfast near the Lagan Towpath before dropping in to the Belfast
office.
Following brief introductions to the staff team and our programmes, Xavier
gave us a fascinating glimpse into his hopes and vision for the organisation. He
has a great interest in Active School Travel, being a parent of young children
himself, so he was interested to find out more about our work in schools.
A group of staff accompanied Xavier on an exploratory cycle from Belfast to
Comber. Following our journey through Titanic Quarter and East Belfast, we
cycled along the Comber Greenway, arriving at Andrews Memorial Primary
School. Principal Ralph Magee and a group of pupils greeted us for an informal
chat about their experience of the programme. Before long it was time for a
quick photo call prior to Xavier’s return ride to Belfast and back to the ferry. No
doubt he slept soundly on his return sailing after a very full day.
Many thanks to our Comber hosts and best wishes to Xavier in his new role.
Sustrans is the charity that’s enabling people to travel by foot, bike or
public transport for more of the journeys we make every day. It’s time we
all began making smarter travel choices. Make your move and support
Sustrans today. www.sustrans.org.uk
© Sustrans 2016. Registered Charity No. 326550 (England and Wales) SCO39263 (Scotland)
Coasting their Way to School
Natural (Bike) Ability
Ballywalter Primary School organised their second
Walking Bus of the year in June. On a beautiful Summer
morning, pupils, parents and teachers gathered by the
beach to step their way to school. As you can see in the
happy, smiley photograph, some participants managed to
get pushed all the way! On arrival at school everyone was
treated to a healthy morning snack before the children
went to their classes. Well done to everyone.
A Walking Bus is a fun way to start the school day. It’s a
great activity to involve the whole school community
(pupils, parents, staff) as well as being easy to organise. A
number of schools plan at least one Walking Bus each
year, with some holding one each term.
Research in 2012 suggests that walking (and cycling) to
school can increase pupils concentration levels for up to
four hours. Just another good reason to get on-board.
We all know that riding a bike is a great way for children to
travel and to keep themselves and the environment fit for
life, right? One great way for them to get even more out of
cycling is to get skilled up. Bikeability is a fun, structured,
safe and nationally recognised training programme,
aimed at improving pupils’ competence and confidence on
a bicycle.
This term, 5 schools as far apart as Belfast, Ballygowan,
Newtownards and Strangford participated in the three-day
Bikeability (National Standard) programme. As well as the
training, we offered free Dr Bike safety checks for all
participating schools (see above). The Dr Bike sessions
were delivered with support from the folks at the Bike
House, Bangor.
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Portaferry Glides to the Top
Just before the end of term we presented some scooters
to Portaferry Integrated Primary School. The presentation was to mark their success in the Big Pedal 2016. The
60 approx. pupils cycled and scooted their way to the top
place in Greater Belfast, Ards & North Down with a daily
average of 51% of the school cycling and scooting. This
achievement placed them 174th in the overall UK positions
(out of over 1,300 schools).
Credit goes not just to the children, but to Mums, Dads,
Grandparents and especially to Mrs McKeating and the
staff at the school. Turn to page 4 for more Big Pedal
news.
Over the three days, our Cycle Training Instructors teach
and assess such skills as starting and finishing a journey,
keeping a bike under control, sharing space with other
walkers/cyclists, positioning on the road, etc. We are
delighted to say that all schools pedalled to great success
and were awarded their Level 1 & 2 certificates.
Congratulations and safe cycling.
St Mary’s Scoops Title (Again)
For the third year running, St Mary’s Christian Brothers’
Grammar School, Belfast came in as the top local Post
Primary School in the Big Pedal. We have been working
with boys in Years 8 and 9. With great support from
School Champion Paul Gormley, the boys have not just
successfully taken part in Big Pedal; but this year they
took part in a very exciting bike build project.
Following discussion with Mr Gormley, we wanted to
organise a practical challenge for a group of pupils which
would not only help them understand the workings of the
bicycle, but also provide some higher purpose to the activity. Over a 5 session period, a group of boys assembled
and tested two new bicycles, which were then put up for
raffle. The funds raised in the draw were then donated to
Project Zambia, the school’s charity in Africa. A group of
older pupils travelled to Zambia at the end of June and
presented the funds during their visit.
The pictures below show some of the boys giving a bike
the final “once over” prior to putting it up for grabs. We
also see Mr Gormley and some of the boys who took part
in the Big Pedal 2016 getting their award.
Clockwise from above: St Mary’s bike builders, Ditch the
Stabilisers, NI Post Primary Big Pedal Winners 2016.
Independence Day
Learning how to ride a bicycle is one of those watershed
moments in a person’s life. For most, this happens in
childhood and is a rite of passage for a child which opens
the door to independent travel. It is also a skill which once
learned, is never forgotten and opens up exciting new
opportunities for exploring their world.
One of Sustrans’ most popular activities in schools this
year has been Ditch the Stabilisers. This is a fun activity
where parents get involved in helping their children to
make those first, amazing pedal strokes. Often this is
achieved in under the hour, and both parents and children
take this new skill away with them to build upon it in their
own time. We hope that for all children, this new discovery
will be the start of a lifelong relationship with the bicycle
and many hours of happy journeys both with their families
and independently on their way to school, to see their
friends or on holidays. As singer Edwyn Collins said, “The
possibilities are endless.”
Research shows children play
outside half as much as parents
did
Big Pedal 2016
Children spend less time playing outdoors and more time
using technology than their parents did as youngsters,
according to our survey released during Bike Week (11-19
June).
On average children spend 1 hour and 20 minutes playing
sport and playing outside after school, whilst their parents
reported spending 2 hours and 15 minutes doing similar
activities.
Indeed over a third (33%) of children do not play outside
after school at all, compared with 20% of their parents.
The Big Pedal 2016 was the highlight of the summer term
for thousands of schools across the UK. More than 1,300
schools recorded nearly 1.2 million journeys in just two
weeks in April.
Positioned after the Easter weekend to take advantage of
the longer days and (generally) better weather, the event
was one of our most successful yet. Over the two weeks
of the challenge the average number of scooter and bike
trips on each day was 68,295. 10,000 more than 2015!
Huge congratulations to our UK wide category winners!
Schools that finished in the top 3 in each of our categories
received a handmade Big Pedal trophy to display in their
school.
How often do your children play outside?
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Carryduff PS shows its support for Gran Fondo 2016
Hype that site: sustrans.org.uk/teachers
We have revamped our Teachers page (and added things),
so take a moment to have a look. Everything is still there,
but it may have moved around! If you can’t see what you
want in one of the nine ‘tiles’, please check the right-hand
navigation pane.
Sustrans is grateful for the continued support of our schools work in Northern Ireland from the following: