Partnerships. Modeshift STARS Guidance for Schools. Working with others makes life easier! 3 easy steps:

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1 Modeshift STARS Guidance for Schools Partnerships Working with others makes life easier! For most successful STARS schools, partnership working is crucial to the success of their programme. All elements of the school community can be engaged in the creation of a successful STARS programme. Furthermore, there are a huge number of organisations whose objectives will overlap with those of your school s initiatives. Working in partnership will make your STARS programme easier to deliver and will increase the reach of your school s programme. There are many ways in which your partners may be able to support your school s activities: 3 easy steps: 1. Book a meeting with your local authority s school travel advisor or road safety officer 2. Primary schools can arrange a meeting with the STARS / travel plan champion at their local secondary school, and secondary schools can arrange a similar meeting with a feeder primary. Primary schools may also want to talk to feeder nurseries 3. Arrange a meeting with your local community policing team Access to additional funding- there are a number of organisations which offer access to grant funding in order to support the activities of schools and community groups relating to travel and transport issues. Support of specialist staff- many of the organisations which your school may partner with will have staff that will be able to dedicate a portion of their time to support your school s activities. Advice and guidance- organisations will often offer free advice and guidance, either through written resources (such as this toolkit) or through contact with specialist staff Shared initiatives and activities- many organisations will offer off-the shelf initiatives and activities which will support your STARS programme. These initiatives may include: 1. Educational resources- organisations will often offer educational resources, including lesson plans, presentations, images and other printed resources which will support STARS initiatives 2. Events your school s partners may also invite you to events which will support your initiatives Who can help? Other teachers (geography, PSHE and PE lend themselves well to linking with STARS and the promotion of active travel) School Council or JRSO / JTA coordinator Parents School Governors Police / PCSO s Healthy Schools officers Eco-schools officers Local councillors Public Health officials

2 Many of your school s stakeholders will be potential partners. Partners can be encouraged to take an active role in delivering initiatives and activities which support your schools STARS programme. This doesn t have to be a tall order- your partners objectives and targets will often overlap with your own- once you ve found this common ground, activating a partnership can be very straight forward. Good communication will be key to establishing and maintaining your school s partnerships. Face to face is usually the quickest and easiest way to get things off the ground. Subsequent regular updates can also be useful. The following are just some of the organisations whose objectives may support your STARS programme: Local Authorities Your local borough or county council have a number of statutory obligations which relate to STARS. These include offering road safety and sustainable travel education to schools and young people. In most cases, your local authority will be your first point of contact and will already play an active role in STARS initiatives. The majority of local authorities will have a road safety officer and sustainable travel advisor, although in some boroughs this could be the same person. If you re not already in contact with your school travel advisor or road safety officer already be sure to drop them a line in order to discover what s on offer from your local authority that can help your school address travel and health issues. Your local authority may also employ School Crossing Patrols and parking enforcement officers. These frontline staff work to ensure the safety of local communities and will often be keen to support your school s initiatives and activities. Local Police Your local police service will have a range of teams dedicated to aspects of community safety and road safety. Furthermore, the police will often have officers dedicated to liaising with schools. Your local police team will likely have a number of ways in which they will be able to work in partnership with your school. These will include offering staff for events and activities and delivering assemblies. Community policing teams aim to offer a visible presence and engage with the community in order reduce crime. These teams are often glad of the opportunity to engage with schools and will be happy to work in partnership to support STARS. Local Police Community Support Officers (PCSO s) will often provide a presence outside a school at drop off and pick up times to encourage more responsible parking and enforce no parking on the zigzags. They can also support school travel initiatives that relate to fear of crime, antisocial behaviour or transition of year 6 to secondary school. Many police services around the country will have teams with a specific focus on transport. Contact your nearest police station for more information if you have travel issues that relate to public transport. The range of services offered by the police are very wide: The school regularly has contact with the police. The PSCO came into school to talk to lower school students about road safety. We have also entered competitions run by the transport police specifically on behaviour on buses such as Busted... our students have had their art work and music talents rewarded. [...] We have organised the safer transport team to come into school and security mark cycles. -Lee Hanford, Cooper s Company & Coborn School, London Borough of Havering

3 Fire Service As with local police, the fire service often seeks to engage with communities. A large proportion of the work of the fire service revolves around road traffic collisions- the fire service are therefore often keen to support with the delivery of road safety messaging. This may be particularly relevant in secondary schools, especially where there is a sixth form, as you may wish to address targeted road safety education to young drivers and pre-drivers. The fire service can be a valuable partner for this kind of work and will likely have a range of resources which they can offer to support you. For more information, contact your local fire service directly, alternatively, your local authority s road safety team may be able to put you in contact with relevant officers. Parents You should also consider your pupils parents they could have their own businesses or could work for a local business that they could influence to get involved with the school. We often miss the opportunities that exist right under our noses. Building relationships with your parents can be a great way to identify who has relevant skills, interests or resources, or connections to those that do. Neighbouring Schools We are holding a cross-school competition... Over the course of a week we will count the number of bikes that students ride to school and the winners will be given a cup- this is going to be an annual event. -Oaks Park High School, London Borough of Redbridge Some of the best partners for your school could be other schools that are already engaged in STARS. By working in partnership with your neighbouring schools, your STARS programme can help to create a wider impact within your community. Cycling and walking challenges, where pupils from different schools compete to record the most walking or cycling trips can be a great way of creating healthy competition and creating a buzz around your STARS programme. You may also find that some of the schools in your area have more established STARS programmes and can offer you advice on the initiatives which they have found most impactful. If you are a secondary school, your feeder primaries are often important partners. If you are a primary, the same will be true of your local secondary school: a joint approach to walking and cycling promotion will often create a greater impact as students make the transition between schools. Furthermore, students in primary schools will be interested to hear about the initiatives which have engaged older children. Residents and other neighbours Very often your local area will have residents associations or other groups which take an active interest in the community. Your schools efforts (or work) to address local transport and travel issues (whether it be to reduce congestion in local roads or improve pupils behaviour on PT) will often be of interest to local residents or residents groups who may be willing to offer support or advice.

4 Residents associations will often be interested in making improvements to local public spacesthese improvements very often have a positive impact on people s travel habits by making active travel to school more attractive to students and their families. Your local authority may also be interested and able to support projects which aim to make improvements to the public realm. Some schools have great relations with local neighbours- opening Dr Bike events up to the local community who come and have their bikes fixed, and in return local residents donate unwanted bikes to form part of the schools bike pool. Case study: Working with other schools and stakeholder New City Primary School, London Borough of Newham Highlights of the school s STARS programme include: Working with the police who have donated bikes so young people can come to the Saturday morning Cycle Club, learn how to repair them and have a bike to take home. The police attend the Saturday morning Family Club the club Working with the Road Safety Team and the Sure Start Team who have developed a good understanding of the school s travel aims and objectives Secured funding from Transport for London (TfL) and support from London Cycle Campaign Dr Bike sessions run by parents where pupils repair bikes Students joined forces with Brampton Manor Secondary to cycle 13 miles to attend a TfL conference at the Emirates Stadium A 20-mile sponsored ride of The Greenway, organised by the Rotary Club of Newham Adult cycle training for parents and carers Provision of cycle storage space for families that don t have space at home A health and exercise talk from the British Heart Foundation Secured funding from the Big Lottery Awards for All, which paid for play equipment in the junior playground and helps encourage pupils to walk or cycle to school and arrive early It has taken us beyond the school gate and out into the community in a practical way. We have been involved with groups from the local area and all over London. It has opened our eyes to a world beyond the immediate and raised our aspirations for our students. Our School Improvement Plan for 2009/10 centered on the bigger picture into which STPs fit perfectly. We want the children in our area to be inspired to branch out into the wider world and take their rightful place in it. This year, for the first time, we took a group of children on the Tube with their bikes and had a day out in Thames Chase Forest. We have also been out on more group rides than in any other year owing to the good weather in early summer. These activities were only made possible due to continuing parental and community support. Ninety-five children registered for Bike Club this September 2011 and five staff members and many parents help run the club. Some come early to get the bikes out and help children who have cycled to school to get their bikes out. Every day the younger children ask if it s bike club that day. I think I could run it seven days a week, they love it so much - New City Primary School, London Borough of Newham

5 Government schemes and other initiatives Healthy Schools Healthy Schools was formerly a national initiative to promote healthy eating and physical activity in an attempt to reduce childhood obesity and associated health risks. The programme still exists in greater London and a regularly updated website can be used to access ideas and materials Some local authorities have Healthy Schools officers and these are a great source of support where they exist. For schools in other local authorities the resources are archived and still available to download online. Google DfE Healthy Schools for more information. Sustainable schools Sustainable Schools is a national initiative which recognises schools aiming to integrate sustainability into their curriculum. The programme is run by the charity Sustainability and Environmental Education (SEEd). The Sustainable School Framework offers a range of tools and resources for improving the sustainability of the school and integrating education about sustainability and the environment into your school s practice. Travel and Transport is one of the focus areas of the framework (termed doorways ). Your school s STARS initiative will integrate closely with the objectives of the framework. You can obtain more information or register as a SEEd member here: Change4Life Change 4 Life is an NHS funded programme which seeks to promote healthier lifestyles. The programme offers a range of activities and resources to schools, and often runs campaigns with creative ideas and free resources that are easy to run in your school. Find out more here: Charities There are a range of charities which support sustainability initiatives as well as specific transport related activities. Living Streets Living Streets are a charity that work with organisations to make the streets that we all live, work, shop and play in safe, attractive, enjoyable spaces. Living Streets recognise that each of us is a pedestrian, and our streets are the one public space we all use daily. With their supporters, they work to create streets that really put people first. The Living Streets Walk to School campaign reaches over 13 million people, making it one of the UK s leading behaviour change campaigns for young people. They work directly with over 750,000 children in 2,000 schools and every year, thousands take part in the national schemes and events that they run including Walk once a week (WoW) and Walk to School Week. For more information visit

6 Sustrans Sustrans works with schools, colleges and universities throughout the UK to enable young people to travel by foot, bike or public transport for more of the journeys they make every day. Their officers work in over 2,500 educational establishments to give young people the skills and confidence to travel under their own steam, with far-reaching benefits for health, emotional wellbeing, independence and social development. Sustrans free information service provides a telephone and helpline, with educational materials, incentive schemes and guidance available on their website. This includes curriculum resources to promote and discuss active and sustainable journeys in the classroom. education@sustrans.org.uk The Round Table Your local Round Table maybe interested in supporting active travel activities, working in partnership with pupils to raise money for cycling equipment or outings this might be particularly so for SEN schools. Find your local Round Table at Your school may be able to find support and funding from a range of educational, community and environmental charities. Envision Envision is a national charity with bases in Birmingham, Bristol and London. The charity works to empower young people to engage in social action projects which aim to offer personal development while helping the community. Environmental charities If there are any environmental charities that operate in your local authority they might offer activities linked to air pollution and transport. For example, the peppered moth story is a really great way to engage children in thinking about biodiversity and pollution which can lead to consideration of how, just as the peppered moth adapted, we too can adapt our behaviour and our surroundings to address air pollution. Local Businesses Many local businesses will have a corporate social responsibility policy (CSR). In many cases they will have funding available to support worthy community projects. Building partnerships with local businesses can be a great way to elicit additional support for your school s STARS programme. Examples of support schools have received from local businesses include: Goods and services as prizes for competitions High-visibility gear to support walking bus schemes Access to parking Discounts for staff and students Grant funding for CSR projects

7 Case Study: School Parking Campaign St Cuthberts with St Matthias CE Primary School is located on the extremely busy thoroughfare of Warwick Road, just minutes from Earl s Court Underground station. Due to the school s busy location it only took a few drivers to park inconsiderately before a hazardous environment for pedestrians was created. The school was keen to tackle this problem and took part in one of the first pilots of our new style campaign. With joint support from parking enforcement officers, local police and the Royal Borough s Road Safety and Travel Plan Team, pupils and staff were able to confront drivers and create a lasting reduction in occurrences of double parking and other inconsiderate practices at their school gate -Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (website) Outline of the project: The school successfully tackled problems with dangerous and inconsiderate paring around the school through a partnership project between police, the local authority road safety team, parking enforcement and the school s community. Students were challenged to produce publicity materials which raised awareness of the road safety implications of inconsiderate parking The local authority reproduced winning designs to create a publicity leaflet aimed at car drivers in the local area These leaflets were distributed by JRSOs with support from the council s parking enforcement team and local police The local authority s parking enforcement team followed up targeted enforcement against persistent offenders