National STARS School Travel Awards 2021/22: South East Region Winners Announced.

We’re delighted to announce that Thorp House School (Buckinghamshire), Brighton Waldorf School Early Years (Brighton & Hove) and Sholing Junior School (Southampton) have been named as the STARS South East Schools of the Region for 2021/22.

Thorp House School, Buckinghamshire County Council, STARS South East Secondary School of the Region 2021/22

This is one of few schools in Buckinghamshire that have pupils from age 4 to 16, the school does its best to include everyone of all ages in their STP. The fact that as a school they keep locals up to date and included in the work they are doing on their STP shows they think about not just the pupils, parents and staff. As a school they cover all aspects of what a School Travel Plan should be, from road safety to the environment and linking this all with the health of their pupils.

Brighton Waldorf School Early Years, Brighton and Hove Council, STARS South East Early Years Establishment of the Region 2021/22

The school has been involved with Modeshift STARS for several years, and over this time, with the support of the LA, they have seen a change in how children travel to school. They support the school families to make that change to modes of sustainable travel by including events in their newsletter, creating a realistic Travel Plan, talking to the children, and introducing walk, scoot, cycle or park and stride Fridays. In order to support the staff in changing the way they travel to school, they have included Modeshift STARS on their Early Years weekly agenda. Both parent and staff initiatives have been supported by the leadership and management of Brighton Waldorf School, and through this we they also seen staff change to a more sustainable form of travel. They have embedded the use of sustainable transport, the importance of movement in the outside environment and the ecological gain of both within the ethos of the school and the experience of the children in the kindergartens. They hope to continue this into the future, and are already making plans for the next academic year, and hope that this focus on walking will give the children in their care the best foundation for lifelong health.

Sholing Junior School, Southampton City Council, STARS South East Primary School of the Region 2021/22

Sholing Junior School recently gained their Platinum accreditation from Modeshift STARS, becoming the first school in Southampton to scoop the top award for active travel. This achievement has not stopped their enthusiasm to continue promoting active travel, pressing onwards with planning new and exciting initiatives! The school have continued to participate in every travel initiative offered by the Local Authority, including Sustrans’ Big Pedal, the Inter-School Scooter Challenge, Walk to School Week; No Idling sessions, Travel Tracker monitoring – to name but a few. The Senior Management Team are extremely supportive of all the active travel initiatives and the School Governors are kept well informed and engaged. Sholing Junior School’s drive and determination to change the behaviour and attitude of pupils and families is outstanding. They are continuously thinking outside of the box when promoting initiatives and getting their message out to the local community.!

Here’s a full list of the South East Region awards winners:

STARS Local Authority Secondary Schools of the Year 2021/22