In March 2022 Modeshift, in partnership with The Bikeability Trust, was awarded funding by the Active Travel England to deliver a pilot Active Travel Ambassadors programme across England as a means to increase walking and cycling levels and encourage more secondary schools to produce a Modeshift STARS accredited Travel Plan.
The scheme involves training, resourcing, and supporting students to deliver actions in the school, to their peers and teachers. This approach is welcomed by teachers, it contributes to student leadership skills and academic results. Over the course of a school year, with the support from designated staff, Active Travel Ambassador (ATA) teams research and develop behaviour change campaigns focussing on active travel, road safety improving passenger experience.
Across the country, our Active Travel Ambassadors have been busy preparing for the Regional Campaign Junction events which will see them pitch to industry experts to secure funding to launch their sustainable travel campaigns. It is a fantastic opportunity for the Ambassadors to network with other schools, share best practice and utilise the skills they learn through the ATA programme. The events have been a great success so far and we would like to thank our partners Bikeability, Living Streets, local authorities and many more for all their support!
‘(The Campaign Junction Event) was a good experience we can put onto our application for sixth form and exaggerates soft skills’ – Ambassador Year 9, Bishop Vesey School
‘Collaborating with specialists in the field was an educational and brilliant experience’ – Ambassador, Year 10, Arden School
|Astrea Academy School Case Study
Astrea Academy is the first secondary school in Sheffield to launch a School Street, all made possible through their involvement with ATA and Modeshift STARS. The school has engaged with ATA since September 2022 and the Ambassadors have worked hard to tackle pavement parking and reduce congestion. Despite the cold and early starts, the Ambassadors themselves supported the road closure at school opening times and have become incredible role models in their school community, promoting all things safe and sustainable travel. We wish the school every success in their journey to improve road safety around the school gates – keep up the great work!
‘Thank you to Modeshift for the support and guidance offered throughout this work. Chris our ambassador has been with us from start to finish to support and guide us to ensure that we can reach all corners of the community and secure the school street status. Thank you Chris! We would not have achieved this without you.’ – L. Yates, Trust Assistant Principle, Astrea Academy
Norton ATA in a Day
Jan Pettitt, Norton College and Jason McAleese Active Travel Ambassador, Modeshift
In January, the ATA team delivered ‘ATA in a Day’ to 144 Year 9 pupils at Norton College (North Yorkshire) during their Alternative Curriculum Day. The year group was split into 12 groups and were tasked with undertaking research to devise their own unique sustainable travel campaigns – and the pupils were not short of excellent ideas! From ‘Bike BBQ’ to ‘Better Bus Behaviour’, the pupils enjoyed learning about the importance of active travel and thinking of fun campaigns to get the whole school travelling more conscientiously and sustainably. The winning group has progressed to the next stage of the programme and will attend the York/ North Yorkshire Campaign Junction event where they will pitch their ideas to other schools in the area.
‘From my point of view (ATA in a Day) allowed students to engage in and practice and develop a range of employability skills whilst addressing issues relevant to the students. All students being able to engage in pitching helped again with employability soft skill development.’– J.Pettitt, Careers Lead, Norton College, North Yorkshire
