A focus on Hampshire schools

A focus on: St John the Baptist Primary School, Winchester

A case study outlining:  
🏆 How to be a My Journey competition winner!
⭐ How campaign and competition involvement provides evidence towards STARS accreditation.

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The history: 

St John the Baptist Primary School, Winchester, has been engaged with Hampshire County Council’s (HCC) Travel Planning Team and Modeshift STARS since 2017. The school’s work on active and sustainable travel started in response to concerns about dangerous and inconsiderate parking on Solomons Lane. The school began with a pupil-led campaign: The Parkwise Challenge. Key Stage 2 pupils were set the challenge of researching and creating effective ways of telling others about:

• the health and environmental benefits of active travel to/from school,
• the newly established Park and Stride from The Black Dog public house,
• where to/where not to park in the area around school (zigzags, double yellow lines, school car park, blocking driveways).

Pupils were given time in school to research the above and then create posters, maps, 3-D models, poems, animations, articles for the school newsletter/parish magazine, letters to parents/carers and so on.  An exhibition of the work followed in the school hall with parents/carers and local residents invited to view the work. This proved a great way of spreading the word!

Some of the fantastic creative work and one area of the exhibition.

Riding on the momentum, a Safer Travel Committee was created to help plan and deliver initiatives. The committee continues to be made up of Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSOs), school staff, parents/carers, Local Neighbourhood Police, Accredited Community Safety Officer, community residents and local groups with an interest in sustainability. 

There are regular pupil-led parking campaigns supported by local Neighbourhood Police, Accredited Community Safety Officer, the Travel Planning Team and Parking Services.

The school continually updates its STARS Travel Plan to demonstrate the work completed. The school has previously been the South East Regional STARS Primary School of the year!

The school annually engages in several campaigns promoted by the Travel Planning Team such as Spring Into Action, The Clean Air Challenge (below), Walk to School Week, Road Safety Week and Walktober.

The work continually reinforces the three important messages that were laid out at the start of the school’s journey. The ethos of active and sustainable travel is well embedded in the fabric of the school.

Being a competition winner is the icing on the cake!

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Winning The Clean Air Challenge!

The planning:

The school registered for The Clean Air Challenge. Participating schools were required to organise, promote and deliver an event or initiative during the challenge week in June that encouraged more active and sustainable journeys to reduce air pollution. Sharing information about the school’s actions formed the competition entry.  

• The JRSO team consulted the whole school to establish what event/initiative the majority wanted to be organised - of course it was an active travel breakfast!
• The committee met to organise the event and tasks were allocated.
• The JRSO team wrote to local businesses, politely requesting donations of breakfast items.
• Information about the event and need for helpers was well publicised via school and local community social media, school newsletter, using the resources provided by HCC – parent/carer information flyer, JRSOs launching the PowerPoint presentation in assembly and of course spreading the word in the playground!
• Banners and bunting were borrowed from the Travel Planning Team and the team mascot (Basil) booked to attend the event and meet and greet all the active travellers!

The Active Travel Breakfast:

• Breakfast items were generously donated from two local businesses (A.G Axtons and Sons and Ormiston Steel Services Ltd). Everyone who had travelled actively (either all the way or had used the Park and Stride) were rewarded with breakfast! Those pupils who had been dropped at breakfast club completed walking laps of the playground to get their daily exercise and qualify!
• Fantastic support to set up and run the event came from a range of helpers: school staff, the JRSOs, current and past parents/carers, the Travel Planning Team and representatives from local groups: Winchester Action on Climate Change (WinACC) and Sustainable Waltham Chase and Swanmore (SWaCS).
• Basil the mascot greeted and congratulated the families that had travelled actively and created a great buzz!
• During the event, the JRSO team spoke to lots of families and asked what was good about travelling actively/using the Park and Stride.

A collage of the Active Travel Breakfast!

The Outcome:

• There was a huge number of families that had travelled actively on the day either all of the way to school or, for those travelling further or with adults going on to work, using the Park and Stride.
• Because pupils were engaged and wanted to be involved in the event, they became the pester power to encourage their adults to travel actively!
• The road outside the school was virtually clear of vehicles!
• The feedback on what families liked about travelling actively was wonderful:

- supports the environment,
- mental and physical health benefits,
- offers a chance to chat with friends and,
- means arriving alert and ready to learn (a favourite with the teachers)!

• The event has been followed up with further messaging in the newsletter and social media to encourage this to be more than a one-off action, to encourage long-term behaviour change.
• A Hands Up Survey was undertaken a few weeks later to see if there has been any year-on-year travel mode shifts as a result of events such as this. The survey showed some positive trends such as an increase in walking, 36% in the 2024/25 academic year to 40% in the 2025/26 academic year.
• Winning! The school chose gardening equipment for their competition prize.

What the judging panel liked:

Despite really strong competition from other schools, the panel noted the following in their decision:

• The event was pupil-led: decision making, organisation and running the event.
• Connectivity with local businesses and community groups.
• The event was adapted to include those at breakfast club.
• Included quotes from families showing the benefits they notice from active travel.
• Clear outcomes and measures.
• Monitoring over time with the Hands Up Survey and traffic monitoring.
• Strive to ensure this is not just a one-off event but part of ongoing work for long-term behaviour change.
• Everyone had fun!

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The Modeshift codes the campaign participation enabled the school to complete:

Taking part in events such as The Clean Air Challenge supports settings and schools in providing evidence towards their Modeshift STARS Travel Plan. Listed below are the Modeshift codes that St Johns has been able to complete by full participation in the campaign and competition:

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Quote:

Miss Young, the school’s Travel Champion said: “Taking part in campaigns and competitions such as The Clean Air Challenge, helps us to progress our STARS Travel Plan and provides a great fun way of helping our pupils and families understand the health and environmental benefits of active travel. Winning a prize for the school is a great bonus!”

Top Tips from the school:

• Use the calendars and planners to choose which annual events you would like to take part in. You can see what campaigns link to events that are already planned for example using Transition Time resources to support new starter meetings.
• Definitely involve your local community – residents and businesses. They can do so much to support campaigns.
• Try to involve the whole school in decision making (using the JRSOs to consult). This means pupils are properly invested in active and safe travel.

Read about other 'Focus on' schools:

If you would like your school to be showcased, please email: travelplans@hants.gov.uk