Moira Hart School Travel Plan Co-Ordinator: Tony Smith Governing Body Representative: Adrian Jackson-Robbins
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Roundwood Park School Travel plan November 2009 Headteacher: Nick Daymond Chair of Governors: Moira Hart School Travel Plan Co-ordinator: Tony Smith Governing Body Representative: Adrian Jackson-Robbins Roundwood Park School, Roundwood Park, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 3AE Phone: (01582) 765344 Fax: (01582) 461404 Office E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.roundwoodpark.herts.sch.uk DCSF Unique school reference number: 117520 Hertfordshire County Council number: 9194070 Signed: Date: Headteacher Nick Daymond Dec 09 Chair of Governors Moira Hart Jan 10 School Travel Plan Coordinator Tony Smith, Dec 09 School Business Manager Representative on Governing Adrian Jackson- Dec 09 Body Robbins HCC School Travel Plan Adviser Val Male 1 Contents Page: 1 Introduction 3 1.1 Vision 3 1.2 Responsibilities for the travel plan 3 2 Current situation 3 2.1 Details about the school 3 2.1.1 Type of school 3 2.1.2 Location 4 2.1.3 School population 4 2.1.4 Catchment area 4 2.1.5 Transport links 4 2.1.6 Parking for cars; other facilities on site 5 2.1.7 Opening times 5 2.2 Travel patterns 5 2.2.1 All students 5 2.2.2 Students walking to school 6 2.2.3 Students travelling by bus 6 2.2.4 Students cycling to school 6 2.2.5 Students brought in by car 7 2.2.6 Sixth form 7 2.2.7 Staff 7 2.3 Consultation and evidence 8 2.4 Travel issues, problems and opportunities 8 2.4.1 Congestion at school gate morning and afternoon 8 2.4.2 Disturbance and inconvenience at other times in the school day 8 2.4.3 Disturbance out of school hours 9 2.4.4 School buses 9 2.4.5 Proposed sports hall 9 3 Action plan 10 3.1 Reducing congestion at the school gate 10 3.1.1 Reducing the number of cars used to convey pupils 10 3.1.2 Improving the flow of traffic 12 3.2 Reducing disturbance in school day 13 3.3 Reducing disturbance out of school hours 13 3.4 Ensuring good behaviour on school buses 13 3.5 Travel forum 13 4 Implementation, monitoring and review 14 4.1 Responsibility 14 4.2 Progress monitoring 14 4.3 Review and updating 14 5 Publicity 14 Appendix 1 Location plan 15 Appendix 2 Distribution of student population; bus routes 16 Appendix 3 Current use of premises out of school hours 17 Appendix 4 Current expectations for letting sports hall 18 2 1 Introduction 1.1 Vision Roundwood Park School’s mission is to challenge minds, inspire success and prepare for life. Our vision for our students is that they should: Enjoy Learning – developing a passion for creativity and lifelong learning Show Integrity – demonstrating honesty and fairness Nurture Friendship – encouraging teamwork and mutual respect Strive for Excellence – achieving exemplary standards. This vision is supported by the school’s Travel Plan by which we seek to ensure that our students, with their families: Take responsibility for their own safety and that of their fellow students Respect the environment Develop healthy lifestyles Show consideration for those living in the neighbourhood of the school. Show consideration for other site users such as Primary School pupils and the resident caretaker. Specific objectives within this vision are set out in section 3 below. 1.2 Responsibilities for the travel plan Ultimate accountability for the school operating an effective Travel Plan lies with the Headteacher. Immediate responsibility for its monitoring, review and ongoing implementation is taken by Tony Smith as School Business Manager and Travel Plan Coordinator, in consultation with Adrian Jackson-Robbins, Governing Body Representative acting on behalf of the Students, Families and Community (SFC) Committee. 2 Current situation 2.1 Details about the school 2.1.1 Type of school Roundwood Park is a state comprehensive school with specialisms in Maths and Computing, and Languages. It is the designated ‘Access school’ for Harpenden and the surrounding villages from which students are drawn, catering for those with physical, visual or aural impairment. Currently we have 16 such students, of whom 10 come in on buses. None require the use of taxis. The only requirement for taxis is to bring in a ‘looked after’ child from a significant distance. It has achieved ‘Healthy School’ status, which includes encouraging students to adopt healthy eating habits and active lifestyles. Students are required to do three hours of activities a week, two hours of which are PE with one hour for various activities, for example archery. Walking and cycling to school can count towards this hour and are promoted to this end. 3 Roundwood Park is the hub school for two collaborative initiatives, the Schools Sports Partnership scheme and HarpendenPlus Extended Schools. Staff for each are based in the school. 2.1.2 Location The school is located in a quiet residential area of comparatively favourable socio-economic circumstances in the north west of Harpenden. The school site is shared with Roundwood Primary School. All of the playing field area is in the green belt. A location map is included as Appendix 1. 2.1.3 School population The school caters for school years 7 to 13, that is, for ages 11 to 18 years old. The Published Admissions Number (PAN) is 182. The number of full-time students at the beginning of the year 2009/10 was 1194 with a total of 1245 on roll including 52 students from other schools attending part-time under Consortium arrangements. A total of 180 staff are employed at the school including part-time. Numbers may vary slightly during the course of the year but at present are anticipated to be broadly stable year-on-year in the medium term. 2.1.4 Catchment area Just over half the current student population live in Harpenden with the majority of the remainder in the principal villages served by the school (Redbourn, Markyate, Wheathampstead, Kimpton, Flamstead and Breachwood Green). A significant number live in Luton and Dunstable, across the county border in Bedfordshire. The balance is accounted for by relatively small numbers from other outlying villages and neighbouring towns, with a few travelling in from a long distance. Details are given in Appendix 2. Of those living in Harpenden a significant majority (around 80%) live within a 20-minute walk from the school. 2.1.5 Transport links School buses are provided to bring students in from the village communities under contracts placed by the County. These run into a turning circle within the school campus. Public bus service 321 runs along the A1081 to/from Luton, through Harpenden and towards St Albans and Watford, together with service 636 between Luton and Harpenden. Service 202 provides a service to/from Dunstable via Slip End. Both stop near the bottom of Park Hill, about 7 or 8 minutes walk from the school. Details are given in Appendix 2. Other public services generally duplicate routes taken by the school buses and, less conveniently, operate via the town centre and not along the Luton Road as far as Park Hill. The ‘Nickey Line’ provides a cycle and pedestrian route between the east of Harpenden (the top end of Hollybush Lane) and Redbourn, passing the southern boundary of the school site. This provides pleasant walking in the warm dry days of summer when it is quite well used from the Hollybush Lane direction. However, it is frequently muddy and wet in winter and is unlit after dark. Even in summer some parents are reluctant to allow students to use it on their own because of the perceived risks. Harpenden station on the First Capital Connect ‘Thameslink’ route provides frequent services from Luton and St Albans. However it is 20 minutes walk from the school and the 321 bus provides a much more convenient mode of travel from both towns. 4 2.1.6 Parking for cars; other facilities on site Space is provided on the Roundwood Park Secondary School campus site for 109 cars. This is less than the number of staff who drive to school but their cars are not parked on the street. Space is found because part-timers work different hours, some very limited, and others double-park, moving their cars as necessary. A small number of spaces are reserved for visitors and informal use is also made of the turning circle between bus times. 48 bike shed spaces are provided and the students have use of 1152 lockers. 2.1.7 Opening times The school timetable covers the period 8.30am to 3.20pm. Buses are timetabled to arrive from 8.14am onwards but depending on traffic conditions can arrive from 8.00am. A few students are dropped earlier than that by parents on their way to work. The buses are timetabled to depart together at 3.30pm. A relatively small number of students usually remain on site after timetabled hours to participate in clubs or to complete after-school detentions. Timetabled hours for the Primary School are 8.40am to 3.00pm. The schools have co- operated to stagger their opening and closing times to reduce traffic at peak times. Users of the nursery at the Primary School access the site 8.30 to 11.00am and 1.00 to 3.00pm. Regular lettings take place on Monday to Thursday evenings up to 10.00pm and on Saturday and Sunday mornings; details are given in Appendix 3. Occasional lettings take place on Saturday evenings and during the day in school holidays. Under the Extended Schools initiative the school is required to provide Community Access and a number of regular activities take place on weekday evenings and other times; details are included in Appendix 3.