Schools
The challenge
To promote and encourage children and parents to travel sustainably to school whilst reducing the number of collisions and casualties involving young people.
What we do
- Bikeability training for children and adults.
- School Crossing Patrols helping children and parents cross the road
- Volunteer School Crossing Marshals
- School Streets – helping schools set up traffic free roads.
- Tips to deal with parking and congestion outside schools
- School Travel Plan -the first step for the school to set out their sustainable travel credentials.
- Walking Bus
- Signpost to road safety resources or advice – see the sections below.
- Members of Vision Zero South West. The ambition is to cut road deaths and serious injuries to zero by 2040 – and to reduce current numbers by 50% by 2030
- Responding to the climate emergency by reducing carbon emissions from transport. Watch this two-minute film:
What you can do
Devon County Council is changing. Government funding for many services has been severely reduced so we are keen to empower school communities to build on their own strengths and improve things for themselves.
Promote and encourage children, parents and staff to make more sustainable journeys and reduce car use wherever possible. For example:
- Host our free Bikeability courses.
- Free adult cycle confidence sessions to encourage staff to cycle.
- Teach children safe ways for children to cross a road – Green Cross Code or use Kerbcraft for more formal training.
- Set up a Park and Stride scheme
- Set up a Walking Bus.
- Recruit a Volunteer School Crossing Marshal.
- Set up a School Street – traffic free road outside you school.
- Walk to School Week.
- Tips to deal with parking and congestion outside schools
- Travel sustainably by car
- Deliver road safety lessons to your pupils. The Road Safety team cannot deliver presentations or workshops in schools. However, the next section has some recommended road safety resources and advice.
Free online road safety education resources & advice
- Share this Space including our new Road Safety films and images.
- Safe Cycling
- Highway Code rules for pedestrians.
- Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service Road Safety resources and visits to schools
- Road Safety presentation/film by Devon & Somerset Sire and Rescue Service
- Learn to Ride a Scooter – advice from Sustrans.
- Teach your child to ride a bike without stabilisers in nine steps – advice from Sustrans.
- Govt’s THINK Road Safety Education resources.
- Tools for Schools from Bikeability
- TWINKL – Road Safety Resources.
- Top 10 tips for cycling in traffic – advice from Cycling UK.
- How to cycle safely at road junctions – advice from Cycling UK.
Other useful links
- Assessment of Walked Routes to School.
- GOV.UK – Child car seats: the law
- Resources to support schools to promote safe active travel (Public Health England)
- Living Streets
- Sustrans – The School Run
- Devon County Council | Services and information for Devon residents
- Live traffic and roadworks near your school