Greater Belfast, Ards and North Down
Transcription
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: [email protected] Website: www.sustrans.org.uk/ northern-ireland/what-we-do/ active-school-travel-northernireland Twitter: @SustransNI Facebook: www.facebook.com/ SustransNI Image description 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. Image description 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? [Article body (do not change font size or type)] Try to restrict to about 200 words This is a text box with the outline removed. Left click and it highlights the outline —then you can drag it and change its shape using the little dots at the corner or squares hallway along each side. Please don’t change font type or size, put your words in here instead of these ones and add your own picture! 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:
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