Withycombe Raleigh C of E Primary School
Headteacher Mrs E Jones
Withycombe Village Road, Exmouth, Devon, EX8 3BA. Tel: (01395 263397)
Active and Safe Travel to School
We encourage active, safe travel to our school, whether that's walking, scooting or cycling. Active travel to school helps young people to develop road safety skills and become more confident and independent. Actively travelling to school can contribute towards the recommended one hour a day of physical activity.
The Longest Walk!
Our travel scheme for the 2023-24 academic year.
This school year our aim is to actively travel a distance equal to the world’s longest walkable route, from Magadan in Russia to Cape Town in South Africa, which would take 4,492 hours!
Active travel includes: cycling, scooting, walking, skateboarding – any way that means you can leave the car at home! Children are encouraged to log their active travel hours using an online form and we monitor our progress through the year, updating the map on our website and in the newsletter to see our collective progress. There are incentives including termly certificates and badges and there's the promise of a whole school event if we reach the target by the end of the year!
Please visit the dedicated page for this scheme here:
Encouraging children to walk, cycle and scoot will reduce congestion and pollution around the school gates. It will also help your child’s mental and physical health.
Last term Withycombe Raleigh Primary School launched a ‘Zig Zag poster competition’ across the whole school. We challenged the children to submit artwork for use on some new banners that we could display outside our school to remind drivers about the rules concerning double yellow and zig zag lines.
The winner of the poster competition was Elsie Osborne in Beech Class, Year 3, who drew a brilliant depiction of school at drop-off time. Her eye-catching artwork illustrates their mum taking her and her two sisters to school!
We asked Elsie what was the most important message that she would like everyone to know. She said “Not to park on the yellow lines near to school because it makes it not safe for people to cross the road. Even just to stop the car on the yellow zig zag lines makes it more dangerous because they block the view for us, so we can’t see if it’s safe or not.”
Mrs Jones said “The banners with Elsie’s artwork look fabulous and we’ll display them all through the school year. We launched the competition because drop off and pick-up times can be very busy and all too often we see drivers stopping on the yellow zig-zag lines by the school gates, or parking on double yellow lines. We even see cars parking on the pavements adjacent to double yellow lines, and we get very concerned about the children’s safety. The Highway Code clearly states that these areas should remain clear at all times and we hope Elsie’s artwork will act as a constant reminder.”
Teachers find that pupils who walk and cycle arrive at school more relaxed, alert and ready to start the day than those who travel by car.
Parents find that the time spent actively travelling with their children is great social time - they are more likely to chat about their day on a stroll home!
We help children to acquire the skills to cycle to school. We run 'Bike Ability' sessions in school each year to help children to be more confident on their bikes, and learn road safety skills. As children gain the skills they need to stay safe, they can develop independence, discovering strategies and solutions for getting about by themselves as they get older.
Of course an adult should accompany younger children and help older children get used to their route until they’re ready to go it alone! Top tips to get your child walking or cycling to school, especially for the first few days or if they are beginning to travel on their own:
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Plan your route together in advance, finding quieter roads and cycle paths wherever possible;
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Practise the journey at the weekend when the roads are likely to be quieter;
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Accompany your child for a few days. As they gain confidence, gradually reduce how far you go;
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Make sure they know how to deal with any busier junctions or roads;
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Encourage them to find a friend to walk or cycle with them;
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Encourage them to use school crossing patrols where possible
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Store your bike or scooter safely in our covered storage areas - we have invested in several around the school site. Make sure you clearly personalise/name anything you leave at school as other people may have the same sets of wheels and they can get in a muddle - that way we can reunite them with their rightful owners!
If your child uses a bike or scooter to get to school, please remind them to be considerate of others. This includes neighbours who live along school lane and who need access to their properties.
Children, including siblings, may not ride their bike or scooter on school premises including the main playground.
Bike Ability!
Each year our Year 5 children have the opportunity to develop their cycling skills with Bikeability training. Many of us will remember doing our Cycling Proficiency Test, and Bikeability - a Devon County Council scheme - is designed to give the next generation the skills and confidence to ride their bikes on today's roads. Sessions begin in the main playground, and progress onto safe local road practice once the children are confident with balance, maneuvers and hand signals.
