This autumn, 10 more schools joined up to the borough’s STARS programme, bringing the total of accredited schools up to 35.

The Transport for London (TfL) STARS scheme is a school travel accreditation scheme that helps London schools and nurseries produce a travel plan. The scheme has three levels of accreditation, Bronze, Silver and Gold and aims to inspire young Londoners to travel to school sustainably, actively, responsibly and safely by championing walking, scooting and cycling.

Ealing Council’s travel team offers a STARS reward programme in Ealing, consisting of small grants to schools that develop and maintain their STARS accreditation. This autumn the schools received between £50 and £500 to support active, safe and sustainable travel activities.

One of these schools was Mayfield Primary School, which has been STARS Gold accredited since 2016. The school continues with its longstanding commitment to active travel and road safety by encouraging children and parents to participate, ensuring sustainable travel is embedded into the culture of the school.

Alex Evans, the school’s finance officer, has been its travel champion for more than eight years and manages the school’s Junior Travel Ambassadors (JTA) team. She said: “We want everyone to understand that good choices around travelling to and from school can result in happy and healthier people and a better environment for all.”

Belinda Ewart, Mayfield Primary School’s headteacher, said: “We live in a world where lives are busy, we’re all rushing from place to place and usually that means travelling in a car or on a bus, adding to the pollution and congestion on our already busy roads.

“Mayfield is committed to protect the environment as well as children and the local community from pollutants. We host a number of events across the year to encourage our students and their parents to travel to school in more sustainable ways.”

The council’s school travel team works with local schools to help encourage pupils and their parents to participate in active and sustainable travel to school and avoid unnecessary car journeys. For more information visit School Travel Plans

For support available to schools in Ealing contact sta@ealing.gov.uk

To find out more on the TfL STARS scheme visit stars.tfl.gov.uk