ENCOURAGING pupils to find energetic ways of getting to school has helped an Ystradgynlais school win an award.
Ysgol Bro Tawe received the Bronze School Mark Award on Thursday, January 18 in recognition of their efforts to encourage pupils to walk, cycle or ride a scooter to school in a bid to make them more active.
The award, the first to be presented to a school in Powys, was made with the help of Sustrans Cymru schools officer Roger Dutton. Sustrans Cymru provides an online tool which takes schools through the key steps required to increase and then sustain the number of pupils travelling to school in an active fashion.
Mr Dutton said: “I would like to congratulate Ysgol Bro Tawe for achieving the Sustrans Bronze School Mark. Staff and pupils alike have worked hard on the Active Journeys programme in 2017, running activities to encourage pupils to travel to school without their cars.
“In one activity pupils looked at what Powys County Council is proposing as part of their local infrastructure improvements and made comments and suggestions that were taken into consideration. This included new scooter storage at the school, which has been installed.
“The number of pupils travelling to school by car has reduced by 10%, and there has been a 50% increase in the amount of pupils using active ways to get to school. This will benefit the pupils’ health and wellbeing.”
Jemma Williams, acting deputy head, said: “Achieving the award is a fantastic achievement for our school community. We are now looking to get our school community even more active.”