Walk To School

The school journey today has changed - more traffic, longer journeys, more to carry and more pressure of time.  One in five cars on the road, in urban areas at the morning peak of 8.50 am are taking children to school.

Since 1990 dramatic changes have occurred and although many children still walk to school the number has declined over the last 20 years, whilst the number who are driven has doubled from 16% to 32%.

At Primary school level fewer and fewer children now walk to and from school, even though most Infant and Primary schools (5 - 11years) in towns are close enough to the child's home to walk.   One of the main reasons why parents will not allow their children to walk is concern for their safety because of the large number of cars on the roads!

It has now been calculated that only one in eleven Primary pupils goes to school unaccompanied and the average length of the journey to school has gone up by a third, especially at Secondary school level.

Walk To School was developed due to these great changes in the way children travel to school and was aimed at encouraging parents to walk their children to school. The first Walk To School event was held in 1994.

It enables Councils to develop programmes looking at child health, road safety, the environment and traffic congestion and is run in conjunction with Travelwise and the Pedestrians Association

The message Walk To School Week is aiming to get across is clear - travel to and from school by any mode of transport other than the car. Even if the journey is too far to walk all the way, the message is to drive part way and walk the rest - keeping the school gate clear of traffic

Walking also helps to reduce congestion, pollution and danger outside schools.  If more families could walk to and from school occasionally then the community would experience the environmental and health benefits.

You can find out more about Walk to School at the Walk to School website.

It is hoped Walk To School will benefit Primary school children directly with programmes and initiatives already available. It is also hoped that the needs of children and other vulnerable pedestrians will be addressed, through the implementation of different initiatives and programmes, especially at Secondary school level where Walk To School is not appropriate in it's current context.