Sheffield children surprised by Olympian after breaking into national top ten for walking to school
The primary school's headteacher said she was proud of “how well the whole school community has taken to the approach”
Pupils from a Sheffield primary school are celebrating being crowned one of the most active schools in country.
During the spring term Marlcliffe Community Primary School in Hillsborough broke into Living Streets’ top-ten schools in the country for pupils who walk, wheel, cycle or scoot to school.
On Tuesday pupils received a surprise visit from Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Ed Clancy, who was there to celebrate their achievement in his role as active travel commissioner for South Yorkshire.
Pupils took part in the WOW Top Ten challenge which asked them to walk to school as many times as possible. Those who live too far away or are not able to walk the whole way were encouraged to “park and stride” by asking their parents or carers to park at least ten minutes away from the school and walk or wheel the rest of the way.
Marlcliffe signed up to the scheme in November and, after breaking into the top ten in February, this term remain in the country’s the top 20. Headteacher Clare Hayes says the scheme is already having a positive impact.
“Parents had raised concerns about parking and congestion around the school and I had seen this scheme have great success in my previous school,” Hayes said, “so it seemed an ideal solution to address that while getting our children and families more active.
“Our engagement is quite high – we’ve been doing well both in Sheffield and nationally. The children are really keen to collect the badges, which motivates them to keep healthy and help our environment.
“We’re working really hard to keep up the momentum and our success so far is an indicator of how well the whole school community has taken to the approach.”
In England, 41 per cent of five- to ten-year-olds are normally driven to school. During February, just nine per cent of the journeys logged by pupils at Marlcliffe were car trips all the way to school. The other 91 per cent of journeys were active, including 67 per cent walking or wheeling all the way.
Three-time Olympic gold medallist Clancy visited a year one class and watched them fill in their travel trackers, where they earn badges for making active travel choices.
Clancy then took part in an assembly where he told pupils that he first started cycling as a way of getting to school and loved it so much he made it his career.
“We know that if we embed healthy habits early on, children tend to stick to those habits throughout life,” Clancy said. “Children are healthier, happier and more confident when they are active.
“Active travel reduces pollution around schools because cars aren’t idling outside the gates. It also reduces danger – there are 290 kids in South Yorkshire killed or seriously injured every year by cars and a lot of that will be around schools.
“There are also health benefits. If you can get people doing 40 minutes of exercise a day there’s a huge benefit to be gained, so making those journeys to school on foot, scooter or bike will make a big difference.”
Councillor Ben Miskell, chair of the transport, regeneration and climate policy committee at Sheffield City Council, also attended the celebration. He said: “We’ve got to be able to encourage people to shift their behaviour and want to walk and cycle, and we’ve got to create the conditions on the ground to do that too.
“We’ve used £1m of revenue from the most polluting vehicles in the clean air zone and used it to improve air quality for the most vulnerable children.
“We also want to roll out more school streets so it’s safer and cleaner outside the schools and young people are encouraged to make more sustainable choices about how they travel.”
Stephen Edwards, chief executive of Living Streets, said: “We’re very happy to reward pupils from Marlcliffe Community Primary School as part of the WOW Top Ten. Walking to school is a simple way for children to meet the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day needed to stay fit, healthy and happy. It can also reduce congestion, air pollution and road danger outside the school gates.”