William Gilbert Endowed C of E Primary School and Nursery in Duffield, part of Derby Diocesan Academy Trust, welcomed a visit from Mid Derbyshire MP Jonathan Davies along with Nick Butler, CEO of Modeshift.
Jonathan and Nick came to the school to see for themselves how years of active travel campaigning by children and head teacher Helen Britten have cut car journeys to the school gate by more than 90 per cent.
They chatted to the school’s enthusiastic Junior Travel Ambassadors to find out more about how they have achieved such remarkable results.
Award-winning Derbyshire primary is setting a benchmark for rural schools
Nick said: ‘We often hear that it’s more difficult to promote active travel in rural schools but William Gilbert has shown that it’s possible. All the hard work and passion that the head teacher has shown for everything they are trying to do is enhancing everyday journeys.
The school’s work is making the everyday journey to school nicer and more workable so everyone has a better experience.’
Derbyshire’s only car-free School Street
Last year the 247-pupil school launched Derbyshire’s only car-free School Street – a traffic order prohibiting vehicles at drop off and pick up times.
William Gilbert has conducted numerous campaigns which have seen the number of pupils being driven to school reduce from 37 per cent to three per cent, with around a fifth of pupils now cycling or scooting to class – up from zero in 2022.
MP Jonathan Davies said he was very impressed with the work of the school having been present at the launch of the School Street initiative in April 2025.
He said: ‘The school has made huge progress to support walking and coming to school by bike or scooter. I know this will be having a positive impact on children’s physical health and mental wellbeing, and it also supports road safety and reducing poor air quality. I commend everybody who’s contributed to this, and I was particularly impressed with the Junior Travel Ambassadors and the enthusiasm shown by these young people.
Every time I visit William Gilbert, the energy is infectious. The children are really motivated and that’s a testament to the school’s leadership.’
The hard work at William Gilbert has recently seen them one of only 75 schools in the country to be given an ‘Outstanding’ rating by Modeshift for their active travel. Around 1700 schools are signed up to the Modeshift STARS scheme which empowers organisations to create environments encouraging active travel and measure their impact.
Mode Shift Month Awards
The Mode Shift Month Awards recognise organisations that have excelled in raising awareness of sustainable transport options and delivering activities during Mode Shift Month and World Car Free Day.
The school joined organisations such as Luton airport, Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Derbyshire County Council in winning a national Mode Shift Month award.
Its ‘standout’ entry impressed judges with campaigns including a month-long cycling challenge, scooter smart workshops, an active travel art project and an active travel trail. Parents were also encouraged to sign up to a ‘parking pledge’.
Partnership working
In addition, the school has been working with ‘Living Streets’ to promote Park & Stride locations – places where parents, if they do not live locally, can safely park and walk their children to school.
Nick Butler said the relaxed atmosphere outside William Gilbert Primary at drop off time – with not a running engine in sight – was great to experience.
He said: ‘A lot of the time outside schools in the morning there’s lots of traffic outside and there are lots of people trying to cross the road, but outside William Gilbert in the morning is such a nice, calm, relaxed environment and a brilliant start to the school day.’
Head teacher Helen Britten said:
‘We were really happy to welcome representatives from Modeshift and our MP Jonathan Davies to school to chat to pupils about all we do to promote active travel. It’s great to know that we could be an inspiration to other rural areas as to what can be done to promote good air quality, healthy habits and a relaxed start to the school day by walking, cycling or scooting to school as opposed to getting in the car.’
Dr Sarah Clark, chief executive officer of Derby Diocesan Academy Trust, said:
‘The comments from Modeshift and our MP about the work being done to transform school travel at William Gilbert are very welcome and a testament to all the hard work that has been done by leaders and children to get everyone making more active choices about getting to school.’
Links
Mode Shift Month Awards 2025: William Gilbert Endowed C of E Primary School and Nursery – Modeshift
