The JRSO's meet regularly throughout the school year to organise events such as Road Safety Week and Walk to School weeks. They also run competitions and share information about ways to participate in active travel.

If you have any suggestions for how to make active travel even more exciting at Cedars Manor, why not share your ideas with one of our JRSO's. 

CMS Travel Plan

Cedars Manor School Walking Zones

Use the schools walking zone map to help you keep active. If you must drive part of the way to school, then why not park a 5 or 10 minute walk away from the school?

The orange circle shows you where a 5 minute walk to school would be. The purple circle shows you a 10 minute walk. 

Why Is Active Travel and Sustainable Transport Important?

A blog by,

CMS Pupils

What is active travel?

Active travel is making journeys by walking, cycling or scooting. It is ensuring that part of your journey involves physical exercise. Active travel is important because it provides opportunities for people to improve their physical and mental health. Additionally, active travel helps to support the planet, by reducing air pollution and carbon emissions.

What are the benefits of active travel to your health?

Did you know that the school run alone is responsible for generating two million tonnes of CO2 per year in the UK?

Vehicles that are not electric – release pollution and carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas, which is very harmful to young people. This gas can prevent children’s lungs from forming and growing properly.

Furthermore, active travel, can improve your mental health, this can lead to improved attendance and academic success. By choosing to walk, cycle or scoot to school, you are Improving your physical health too, this helps everyone to achieve the recommended minimum of 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Active travel also promotes independence and improves your road safety awareness.

What are the benefits of active travel to the environment?

When cars drive to school, the engine burns fuel and produces a waste gas called carbon monoxide which comes out of the car exhaust.  This affects not only our health but the environment too. Global warming is a huge issue and emissions from vehicles are contributing to this. The polar ice caps are melting due to the climate becoming warmer and many animal habitats are being lost.

Active travel can prevent this from happening. It also improves the air quality around our school – what would you rather breathe? Clean fresh air or smoke and harmful gasses?

Travelling actively also reduces congestion on the roads and at the school gates, instead of sitting in traffic, you can walk and observe the beauty of nature all around you. Active travel also reduces noise within the community.

These satellite images show the nitrogen dioxide in May 2019 and May 2020. Due to the pandemic, there were fewer vehicles making journeys in 2020 and there was a significant reduction in the omissions of nitrogen dioxide into the environment. This shows us how important it is to use vehicles less and travel where possible, actively!

Why should I travel actively?

Travelling actively to school helps you get to know your local community, it can develop your friendships and improve road sense.

Why not plan your route to school (with your parents) in advance, finding quieter roads and cycle paths wherever possible. You could use the summer holidays to practise the journey, as the roads should be quieter. You could change the way you travel throughout the week.  Walk or cycle the route to school with your parents on different days. You could even walk, cycle or scoot to school with a friend.

How can Cedars Manor School pupils make positive changes to the way we travel?

By reducing the number of cars on the roads, there are less gasses and emissions being released into the air. You can support us on this mission by converting car journeys to walking, cycling, scooting or even skate-boarding. Together we can improve the air quality around our school for the community.

You can help us by doing the following;

• Walk more
• For a 5-minute journey, walk, cycle or scoot
• Park and stride if a part of car journey is essential
• Consider others, everyone’s health matters – do at least 60 minutes of physical exercise a day
• Car share where possible
• Use public transport

Even the slightest change you make, can protect our planet and improve our health.

So why not join us in becoming more active?