London’s ‘star’ schools rewarded

Schools from across London have been rewarded for their efforts to encourage safer travel and to increase levels of cycling and walking to and from school.

The achievements of more than 1,000 schools across London in promoting active and safer travel were celebrated at an event at City Hall, as part of Transport for London’s (TFL’s) Sustainable Travel: Active, Responsible, Safe (STARS) initiative.

Almost half of London schools are now accredited to TfL’s STARS programme, which launched in 2007 to encourage children, parents and teachers to adopt more sustainable and safe ways of travelling to school. This equates to 1,385 primary and secondary schools across the capital, an increase of 11% in the past 12 months. TfL says that since inception, STARS accredited schools have achieved an 8% reduction in car use as part of the school journey.

Schools are judged on the number of initiatives delivered and their success in changing travel behavior, and then awarded Bronze, Silver and Gold accreditation levels.

The highest performing schools attended the annual event at City Hall, where awards were presented for the best primary and secondary school in north, south, east and west London.

Leon Daniels, managing director of TfL surface transport, said: “The work being accomplished by STARS accredited schools, and particularly London’s Gold performing schools, are inspirational examples of what can be achieved to promote safer and active travel choices.

“We hope that by celebrating their achievements we will encourage all London children to travel safely, actively and responsibly to school.”