Introduction to the A*STARS Programme

What is the A*STARS Programme The A*STARS – Active Sustainable Travel And Road Safety Programme is a series of walking, cycling, road safety initiatives, training and support given to schools to help them to develop and promote safer, healthier lifestyle choices – tailored around individual school’s requirements 1. Road Safety- accident. Collisions, speed, seatbelts, car seats, pedestrian awareness, transition, safe cycling, training, Safe Routes- lack of safe routes, no storage facilities 2. Supporting weight management through increased opportunities for physical activity outside of PE - walking/cycling combat physical inactivity, obesity, diabetes 3. Congestion- inconsiderate parking on footpaths, junctions, keep clears, residents driveways Lack of enforcement- no lines or signs/ logistics of wardens attending daily Health- pollution, asthma, etc (3)

Objectives of the programme Increase the number of pupils using all forms of safer, sustainable travel on the journey to and from schools Increase knowledge and understanding of healthy lifestyles, road safety and sustainable travel by providing education, training and encouragement Provide a safer, cleaner environment in the vicinity of schools to benefit everyone by reducing congestion and promoting sustainable travel Enable schools to take ownership of the programme and promote its key messages to parents and the wider community Key Objectives include

Programme Coverage 4 Pathways to cover from birth – further education Programme supports parents and children through transition stages at each point and offers key intervention Current programme has focused on primaries but will include Nurseries/Sure Starts and Secondary's within the next 12 months

School page for Parents & Visitors Programme Delivery Co-ordinator & Deputy School Staff Sheriff Co-ordinator/deputy Each school will have a designated co-ordinator and possibly also a deputy. The co-ordinator for your school is xxxxxxxxxx and the deputy is xxxx. Their main responsibility is to work with the school staff and arrange for all the interventions to be delivered. They are also responsible for producing and updating the school action plan which sets out the ASTARS plan for the year. School Staff School staff will have their own login which will allow them access to the lesson plans and all associated materials such as parent letters and workbooks. It is the staffs responsibility (once a date for the initiative has been agreed with the co-ordinator) that they utilise the website for all the relevant teaching materials. They will also need to complete online a hands up travel survey once a year in the autumn term. Sheriffs- Sheriffs are key as they represent the voice of ASTARS to the children in the school. They will set up a notice board for ASTARS, deliver assemblies with key themes and run road safety and sustainable travel competitions. They also have their own mini action plan to help them keep a record of their activities. School page for Parents & Visitors

Website www.astarswalsall.co.uk School Username: School Password: FILL IN THE LOG IN DETAILS AND ADVISE ALL Mention how teachers need to complete the travel surveys and can access all lesson plans and associated materials via this log in.

A*STARS Achievements Over 70% Primary school participating 7% higher than average walking figures for the last 4 years 6% lower car usage than the national average for the last 4 years Increased levels of parental engagement Trained over 3000 children & staff Various types of schools are engaged, special, faith , independent and academies. The programme has shown higher walking figures and lower car usage on the journey to school compared to national figures for the last 4 years of A*STARS Engineering measures outside the school are available

Levels Schools gain points across 4 areas throughout the school year to determine what level they have achieved: Active travel data - points awarded according to how many children walk, cycle or park & stride to school (taken from your hands up travel survey) Points for completing the ‘Core’ section of the programme, this area is compulsory and needs to be fully completed to achieve the 30 points Points awarded for each ‘healthy lifestyle’ initiative you complete Points for the A*STARS Sheriff’s completing their tasks (5 points)

Core Elements Key initiatives: Reception Walk- Children must have a parent/carer on the walk which will be delivered by Walsall Council Road Safety tutors. Letter on the website for parents but staff must book parents/carers for the sessions Yr 2 Scooterbility- Delivered by school staff to whole year group and children bring in scooters for the 45min training session Yr 3- Pedestrian training delivered to whole year group, 6 classroom lessons and 7th session is roadside training delivered by Road safety Tutors Yr 4- Cycle maintenance session- delivered by Road Safety Tutor, children can bring on own bikes Yr5/6- Bikeability/cycle training, 2 full days with children aged 10 and over. Delivered by Road Safety Tutor to 12 children per course Yr6- Transition Training- Delivered by school staff to whole year group, looking at how children will travel to secondary school and keep safe Also a KS1 AND KS2 Road safety and sustainable travel quiz to be held in the summer delivered by school staff

Healthy Lifestyles We as a school have selected the following: Wheeling: Walking: Road Safety: Healthy Lifestyles are broken down into 3 key areas, Wheeling, walking and road safety. Schools need to select one from each of these areas and any one other to have a minimum of 4 initiatives they deliver. Specifically discuss which initiatives you have selected ( look at the brief on the how to guides.

Examples of other Safer Routes to School projects; Before After A Safer Route Scheme (SRS) is a range of safety improvements near a school/educational establishment to make the highway safer, more accessible and encourage sustainable travel such as walking, cycling and scooting. The schemes also look to reduce traffic, congestion and improve air quality in and around the community. As an A*STARS school Mention Cycle paths Pedestrian links / refuges Parking restrictions Cycle / scooter storage Pool Hayes Primary Little Bloxwich Barr Beacon

This shows just some of the initiatives we have as part of the programme: Cycle rides ASTARS annual quiz- this has been running for 8 years with schools competing to become the winners. The mayor of Walsall attends to hand out prizes to the winning school Bikeability /Cycle training Campaigns for Bike week Walk to school events where parents are involved on a predetermined walk to school Looking at supporting schools with cycle storage where applicable

Thank you If you have any further questions you can contact the A*STARS Team on ASTARS@Walsall.gov.uk