Harrogate's biggest-ever Walk to School Day hailed an 'overwhelming' success

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Last Friday's Harrogate District Walk to School Day saw 41 schools take part from across Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and, for the first time, Boroughbridge in an event sponsored by Your Harrogate and backed by Harrogate Borough Council and the Harrogate District Climate Change Coalition.

Sarah Bissett, Events Coordinator for Zero Carbon Harrogate, the volunteer-led charity that runs the initiative, said: “We have been positively overwhelmed by the level of support received from schools, families and children since the Harrogate District Walk to School Day initiative launched last summer.

"This first event of 2022 has demonstrated the continued enthusiasm towards positive transport choices both on the day and beyond; building habits which benefit our environment and the health of participants in both the short and long-term.

"Encouragingly, there has also been an increase in the geographical spread of schools taking part across the district."

The half-termly event is the first of its kind held exclusively for the Harrogate District, and has seen 55 schools take part over the current academic year.

Appreciating that some families cannot eliminate car usage completely, the event welcomes car-sharing and offers a ‘park and stride’ option - parking further from the school gate than usual and continuing the journey on foot.

There is also a competition to reward the school which has performed best in Walk to School Day.

Last week's event saw Kettlesing Felliscliffe Community Primary School judged to be the best primary school with with 100% of its pupils taking part.

Its interim head of School, Holly Whyte said: "At Kettlesing Felliscliffe Primary School we are committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing for our pupils.

"We were always going to compete for the top spot for Zero Carbon Harrogate – Walk to School Day and we were delighted to be informed that we were the winners and that all our children walked to school!

"Whilst many of our children are local to the village, some of our families made the extra effort to take public transport for part of their journey to school before walking the final kilometre into school.

"This ties in with our schools plans to reduce the carbon footprint in the area with our child-led eco-committee.”

Participating in the event for the first time was Kirby Hill Church of England Primary School in Boroughbridge.

A spokesperson for the school said: "We chose to take part in the Harrogate District Walk to School Day because we realise that if we play our part in reducing carbon emissions in our local community and other schools do the same, then together we can achieve great things.

"We had staff, children and parents who walked, cycled, and scooted their way to school on Friday, and some of our families and members of staff who travel from further afield from the likes of Ripon and Thirsk, opted to park and stride so that they could still take part.”

The Walk to School Day was also a resounding success for the children of St Robert's Catholic Primary School in Harrogate, where many pupils live a long way from school and usually arrive by car.

A school bus service organised by parents/carers of the school runs through the week.

On Friday it was made free for children participating in the event by walking to their nearest stop, and the number using the service increased from approximately ten children to 26 that day.

Mrs Amos, a parent who organises the bus believes the scheme has great benefits for the school both for increasing accessibility and reducing the school’s carbon footprint:

"Did you know that taking a local bus emits a little over half the greenhouse gases of a single occupancy car journey and helps to remove congestion from the roads?" said Mrs Amos,

"Better still, a full bus is significantly less polluting per passenger than a car - even a car full of passengers.

"We hope to encourage more parents to take up using the school bus which also provides a convenient service for busy working parents/carers."

As well as participating in Walk to School Day, Highfield Prep and Pre-School also supports Zero Carbon Harrogate’s weekly Car Free Fridays initiative, attempting to promote long-term change in commuting behaviour.

Parents receive a text message every Thursday reminding them to choose a sustainable travel method the following day.

Vicki van Zeller, Teacher and Eco Lead at Highfield Prep School said: “Our aim is to make small positive changes at Highfield and within the school community. We are not claiming to be perfect but small steps in the right direction is what we are striving for.

"It is lovely to hear the children talking about looking after the environment and ways they can do this at home and in school.”

Many participating schools registered the percentage of uptake amongst their pupils, hoping to take an eco-top spot on Zero Carbon Harrogate’s leaderboard.

The runners-up in Walk to School Day in the primary school category were Starbeck Primary Academy with 90% with Birstwith Church of England Primary School, Beckwithshaw Community Primary School, and Marton-cum-Grafton Church of England Primary School close behind, all with 89%.

Harrogate Grammar School was the Zero Hero secondary school winner, with 90% participation.

It was closely followed by Harrogate High School at 82%.

The most improved school for participation was Pannal Primary School, seeing an impressive 27% increase in uptake. Tockwith Church of England Primary School participation also improved by a commendable 26%.

For the full results table of Harrogate District Walk to School Day, visit www.zerocarbonharrogate.org.uk/school-leaderboard

Walk to School Day will return on Friday, March 25, 2022 to continue its mission of reducing the district’s carbon emissions, tackling congestion, and boosting school pupils’ physical and mental health.

Residents are also encouraged to avoid car journeys on a weekly basis by signing up to the Car Free Fridays at:

https://actionstorm.org/petitions/car-free-fridays

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