Climate Change: Active Travel

Active travel could bring health benefits through increasing physical activity and reducing air pollution

Increased walking, cycling, and use of public transport can reduce our energy demand and GHG emissions, as well as making our urban environments healthier and more pleasant places to live. Active travel could bring health benefits through increasing physical activity and reducing air pollution.

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      string(328) "... toschool are more active during the rest of the day.Of course, health is just one part of the equation. Youngpeople are very aware of climate change. They havesomething massive at stake: their future. In a recent studyof 54,240 pre-university students, 78 per cent said climatechange will have ..."
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      string(5703) "65November 2007    Managing Schools TodaySchool travel plans   Healthy SchoolsTime to tacklethe school run!Britain’s fixation withdriving children to schoolis unhealthy, unsafe and anenvironmental disaster – sotake Alistair Goulding’s tipsand make a school travel planPhoto by: J Bewley/SustransThe school run is a hot topic, with constant mediacoverage of climate change, childhood obesity andever-growing congestion on our roads. At 8:50 everymorning, it accounts for about one in five cars on the road. Inthe afternoons, there are tales of parents parking in front ofschools an hour before home time just to get a ‘good spot’!Nearly one in three children are now driven to school.In the early 1990s the figure was just over one in five, andin the 1980s fewer still. Yet in Denmark only 12 per centof children are driven to school, and in Japan they cannotbe driven until they are 16. The Government’s recentForesight report highlights the UK’s tendency to drivechildren to school as one of the factors contributing to an“obesigenic” environment, and the effects are having seriousconsequences on the health of young people in particular.66Healthy Schools   School travel plansManaging Schools Today    November 2007Photo by: Rosie Brake/Sustrans, Burford School, Walking buswalking will become safer still. Where cycling has beenpromoted and catered for (as in London and York, forinstance), cycling levels have risen, with a correspondingdecline in accident rates and often a reduction in the totalnumber of accidents too.We have everything to gain by travelling as actively as wecan and just need to start breaking old habits and makingnew ones. If a school can positively promote active travel asan integral part of its ethos, the effects can be pronounced– on health, academic performance, absenteeism, safety,the environment, social exclusion, the local community, aswell as pupils’ self-esteem and well-being.Sustainable and safeThe best place to start is a school travel plan (STP). Theseset out how to make travel to and from school by pupils,parents, teachers and visitors more sustainable and safe.The plan is set out in a document that should be linkedto the overall school development or improvement plan– but it must be far more than a paper exercise. SuccessfulSTPs are created in consultation with the whole schoolcommunity and take account of current trends and thelocal situation. They are reviewed regularly to ensure theyare realistic, yet ambitious and inspiring.In England the Government wants every school to havea STP by 2010 and 14,000 are already in place. To helpimplement their STPs, schools have been able to takeadvantage of capital grants offered by the Department forChildren, Schools and Families.We generally eat fewer calories than we used to. The missingingredient in the ‘energy balance’, therefore, is physical activity– and the school run can play a crucial role.If a child walks just a mile to and from school, they will havenotched up approximately half their daily recommendedhour of moderate activity. Research shows that this will bemore physical activity than they will undertake during thetwo hours of PE they should receive each week. Furtherstudies have also shown that children who walk or cycle toschool are more active during the rest of the day.Of course, health is just one part of the equation. Youngpeople are very aware of climate change. They havesomething massive at stake: their future. In a recent studyof 54,240 pre-university students, 78 per cent said climatechange will have made their life worse in the next 25 years.Motoring fallaciesYet we continue to drive our children to school. Why? We areoften travelling further – in part a consequence of widenedparental choice between schools. Yet in town, for journeysof up to around three miles, it is often quicker to cycle.Safety is another oft-quoted reason for driving. Busyroads and fast-moving traffic are much more likely tobe cited as reasons not to go by foot or bike. This is aconsequence of a transport policy that has been gearedtowards car use for too long. It will take a while to redress,but with talk of more residential 20mph residential zones– Hull and Portsmouth are both pioneering far-reachingprogrammes with big cuts in accident rates – maybe weare getting there.Yet is it really that unsafe? In Dorset, morechildren were shown to be in accidents as carpassengers than as pedestrians. Air pollutionin slow-moving traffic is actually higher insidethe car than at the roadside. Tens of thousandsof people die every year in the UK as theconsequence of insufficient physical activity(the figure is closing in rapidly on the numberof those who die from smoking), yet only ahundred or so will do so on a bike. Indeed, thehealth benefits of cycling outweigh the risksof an accident by about 20 to one.It is also worth questioning how safe itis for a child to know their neighbourhoodfrom the back seat of a car. When they finallyhave to be out on their own, they’ll have toknow how to cross a street safely, recognisepotential dangers, and be able to choose thebest route home.If we can get more people out of their carsand onto their feet and bikes, cycling and 67November 2007    Managing Schools TodaySchool travel plans   Healthy SchoolsThe benefits of a good STP are far-reaching, but it can’tbe done overnight. It will usually be put together oversome months and requires commitment from a number ofpeople. Start with small steps and you’ll be surprised howmuch can be achieved as part of classroom work or otherexisting"
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Leadership

Time to tackle the school run!

30 Dec 2007

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      string(387) "... working and studying within the school sector can begin to radically reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from schools and school related activity.KeywordsCarbon management, climate change, schools, emissions, strategySummarySchools have a special role to play in reducing emissions, a role that goes beyond their contribution to national emissions. Through ..."
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Leadership Briefing Issue 5.01 (49)"
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      string(5704) "ResourceCLIMATE CHANGE AND SCHOOLSOriginal DocumentClimate Change And Schools – A Carbon Management Strategy For The School Sector. Schools have a special role to play in reducing emissions, a role that goes beyond their contribution to national emissions. Through the curriculum and through their practices, they can set an example to today’s children and young people, who will be the vanguard of tomorrow’s green economy. This DCSF document seeks to provide a roadmap by which those working and studying within the school sector can begin to radically reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from schools and school related activity.KeywordsCarbon management, climate change, schools, emissions, strategySummarySchools have a special role to play in reducing emissions, a role that goes beyond their contribution to national emissions. Through the curriculum and through their practices, they can set an example to today’s children and young people, who will be the vanguard of tomorrow’s green economy. This DCSF document seeks to provide a roadmap by which those working and studying within the school sector can begin to radically reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from schools and school related activity.The strategy sets out proposals for what local authorities, schools and others can do to reduce emissions, reflecting the fact that action is required by all those working in the sector. This strategy has therefore been written for a wide audience, including headteachers, bursars, school business managers, local authority school finance officers and third and private sector organisations providing services to schools who can reduce schools energy consumption.Action for schools:· Current projections indicate that the impact of climate change will grow over the course of this century and it is they and their children, rather than present day adults, who will face the most significant impacts.· Case study evidence suggests that an average secondary school could save up to 20% off its energy bills through replacement of heating, lighting and cooling equipment, a saving of around £12,000 each and every year.· Reducing emissions by adopting active modes of travel (cycling, walking) has significant health and wellbeing benefits and helps reduce costs to both parents and local authorities.· Through acting on their emissions, schools can demonstrate to parents, the wider community, and Ofsted that the school has caring values and does not waste resources.Adopting the right approach:· Make a commitment to reduce carbon emissions, publishing this in the school ethos and policies and ensuring it is part of discussions with governors and amongst school leadership teams.· Understand the business case for carbon reduction, that is, the costs of different actions, the financial savings that might be realised by the school or by parents and the case for taking action.· Recognise the role that different school staff can play in reducing emissions. Even one person can make a difference – but the more people that can act in a co-ordinated fashion, the more effective the result, and the more likely that action will be sustained.· While the most effective approaches will involve more than one individual, it will be important to ensure that someone is responsible for leading and maintaining progress.· Head TeachersHead teachers need to visibly endorse action to reduce carbon emissions. They don’t need to do the work themselves, but without their support it is unlikely that sustainability will be embedded in the school.· Teachers· Teachers help drive and embed behaviour change through integrating learning about this area into teaching, both at a theoretical and practical level. They can also be role models in changing behaviour, for example, by cycling or walking to school.· PupilsPupils are both the most significant users of the building and the most enthusiastic about change. They can also drive change, communicating with fellow students, monitoring progress, celebrating successes and organising events, e.g. inter-class room competitions or whole school ‘lights off’ days.· Bursars/Business ManagersBursars/Business Managers oversee school budgets and expenditure and are likely to be concerned with energy bills. Along with the Head, they will liaise with Governors and may be the key contact for Local Authority Energy/Sustainability Managers.· GovernorsGovernors are an important influence on SLT priorities and budgets and will reinforce action if sustainability becomes a regular update at governors’ meetings.· Parents, families and the wider communityParents, families and the wider community can be inspired to take action themselves by the work of the school and, in turn, add energy and enthusiasm to the work the school is doing.· School Leadership TeamThe School Leadership Team needs to actively support sustainability, including reviewing progress as part of SLT meetings, and providing support and status to those running projects within the school.· Building Managers/Facilities Managers/Caretakers/ ICT TechniciansA highly important group of people, who need to be experts in managing heating, lighting and other systems, and training users of the building. These groups are often active in equipment specification and liaison with suppliers, and may be the key contact for Local Authority Energy/Sustainability Managers.· Catering and cleaning staffAnother vital group, whose decisions have a big impact on a school’s use of energy and management of waste, as well as making a difference"
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Leadership

Climate Change And Schools

7 May 2010

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      string(315) "... feel the words and how they work together.Top tip – what’s your passion?Find out what your class is passionate about. Whether this is climate change, animals, space travel or technology, you can bring these topics to life in the classroom. Ask children to write a few words or ..."
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      string(5635) "children to slow down, stop, and allow their thoughts to develop and materialise. Though not impossible, this is much harder for children to do using a tablet or laptop, where writing happens significantly faster, offering less time to think and meditate on the words being chosen.This slowness is also valuable as it can help with problem solving. Research published by the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Washington in the United States (Berninger et al., 2006) found that using multiple strokes instead of singular key presses on a laptop or tablet, which requires someone to spend more time on each letter and word, gives the brain more time and space to process and think about what it is producing, leading to more creative writing.This again highlights that while creativity is, of course, subjective, handwriting is a mechanism that we can use to facilitate children’s creativity, providing them with a tool that lets their natural creativity flow as best as possible.Self-expression – handwriting helpsThe benefits of handwriting go beyond allowing for more creative writing. There is also a lot to be said for its ability to act as a release, encouraging self-expression in children. Simply, handwriting isn’t about neatness or which pupil can write the prettiest cursive letters. It is fundamentally about expressing oneself. And those benefits are far reaching.As mentioned previously, we are seeing a push-back from teachers and parents against attempts to introduce overly prescriptive assessment criteria and marking guidelines on primary school children. There is in this a definitive call for self-expression to be encouraged and valued in the classroom, and it is therefore incredibly important that we prioritise things, like handwriting, that will help children to engage in these key areas of self-development.So how can we put this into practice?My experience with the Write Your Future campaign, working with children in schools to encourage handwriting skills has taught me that it is essential to come up with activities that encourage their active engagement with learning. Often, lessons that teach handwriting to children are dull and demotivating – hardly inspiring creativity.But there are plenty of ways that we can teach handwriting to children of all ages, making it accessible and fun, and encouraging creative thinking even during the learning process (See Teacher Tips – Write Your Future, 2018).Top tip – sand drawingGet your pupils to use a stick to write out letters in a sandboxThis activity is perfect for younger children who are just starting out on their handwriting journey. The activity combines a familiar play activity with learning for children who haven’t had much exposure to writing, engaging their sense of touch whilst teaching them basic handwriting skills.Top tip – celebrate handwritingOffer children the chance to write their favorite poems (or quotations) out for a displayGive children a selection of poems to choose from and encourage them to read them aloud to each other, choose particularly interesting combinations of lines and then write out poems, or quotations. It is important to give children the chance to say, discuss and feel the words and how they work together.Top tip – what’s your passion?Find out what your class is passionate about. Whether this is climate change, animals, space travel or technology, you can bring these topics to life in the classroom. Ask children to write a few words or a letter about a cause they are interested in. For example, they could create a poster for a wildlife centre or suggest a new spaceship design to NASA.There’s no better way to encourage children to write creatively than to get them talking (and writing) about something they care about. Finding out their passions is a sure-fire way to combine handwriting practice with creative thinking and writing. Parents can take this further by encouraging their children to write down their imaginative thoughts. Children are full of natural imagination, and getting them to write their creative thoughts down on paper can make a big impact on their handwriting development and on their ability to develop their creative thinking.Top tip – sometimes looks matterGet colourful pens and pencils to encourage children to be creativeThis may seem elementary, but many teachers may have seen that giving their pupils new and colourful stationary can make the world of difference in how they engage with the tasks set for them. Especially with handwriting, giving children eye-catching resources can motivate them to get stuck into creative writing.ConclusionHandwriting is one of the most important, yet often overlooked elements of a child’s education. In today’s digital age, when this basic skill is encountering unprecedented challenge, it is more important than ever to be aware of its far-reaching benefits.Not only does it have important physical benefits to children’s development, handwriting allows children the time and space to grow their fertile imaginations, giving them the opportunity to articulate their thoughts and to express themselves in an increasingly digitalised world.We are already seeing steps being taken to formalise the understanding that creativity is valuable in children’s education, so now more than ever, it is important to highlight the benefits that solid handwriting skills can have on fostering the creative process and enabling children to express themselves.Dr Jane Medwell is the Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Education at"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Valuing the Art of Handwriting

10 Oct 2018

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      string(5635) "children to slow down, stop, and allow their thoughts to develop and materialise. Though not impossible, this is much harder for children to do using a tablet or laptop, where writing happens significantly faster, offering less time to think and meditate on the words being chosen.This slowness is also valuable as it can help with problem solving. Research published by the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Washington in the United States (Berninger et al., 2006) found that using multiple strokes instead of singular key presses on a laptop or tablet, which requires someone to spend more time on each letter and word, gives the brain more time and space to process and think about what it is producing, leading to more creative writing.This again highlights that while creativity is, of course, subjective, handwriting is a mechanism that we can use to facilitate children’s creativity, providing them with a tool that lets their natural creativity flow as best as possible.Self-expression – handwriting helpsThe benefits of handwriting go beyond allowing for more creative writing. There is also a lot to be said for its ability to act as a release, encouraging self-expression in children. Simply, handwriting isn’t about neatness or which pupil can write the prettiest cursive letters. It is fundamentally about expressing oneself. And those benefits are far reaching.As mentioned previously, we are seeing a push-back from teachers and parents against attempts to introduce overly prescriptive assessment criteria and marking guidelines on primary school children. There is in this a definitive call for self-expression to be encouraged and valued in the classroom, and it is therefore incredibly important that we prioritise things, like handwriting, that will help children to engage in these key areas of self-development.So how can we put this into practice?My experience with the Write Your Future campaign, working with children in schools to encourage handwriting skills has taught me that it is essential to come up with activities that encourage their active engagement with learning. Often, lessons that teach handwriting to children are dull and demotivating – hardly inspiring creativity.But there are plenty of ways that we can teach handwriting to children of all ages, making it accessible and fun, and encouraging creative thinking even during the learning process (See Teacher Tips – Write Your Future, 2018).Top tip – sand drawingGet your pupils to use a stick to write out letters in a sandboxThis activity is perfect for younger children who are just starting out on their handwriting journey. The activity combines a familiar play activity with learning for children who haven’t had much exposure to writing, engaging their sense of touch whilst teaching them basic handwriting skills.Top tip – celebrate handwritingOffer children the chance to write their favorite poems (or quotations) out for a displayGive children a selection of poems to choose from and encourage them to read them aloud to each other, choose particularly interesting combinations of lines and then write out poems, or quotations. It is important to give children the chance to say, discuss and feel the words and how they work together.Top tip – what’s your passion?Find out what your class is passionate about. Whether this is climate change, animals, space travel or technology, you can bring these topics to life in the classroom. Ask children to write a few words or a letter about a cause they are interested in. For example, they could create a poster for a wildlife centre or suggest a new spaceship design to NASA.There’s no better way to encourage children to write creatively than to get them talking (and writing) about something they care about. Finding out their passions is a sure-fire way to combine handwriting practice with creative thinking and writing. Parents can take this further by encouraging their children to write down their imaginative thoughts. Children are full of natural imagination, and getting them to write their creative thoughts down on paper can make a big impact on their handwriting development and on their ability to develop their creative thinking.Top tip – sometimes looks matterGet colourful pens and pencils to encourage children to be creativeThis may seem elementary, but many teachers may have seen that giving their pupils new and colourful stationary can make the world of difference in how they engage with the tasks set for them. Especially with handwriting, giving children eye-catching resources can motivate them to get stuck into creative writing.ConclusionHandwriting is one of the most important, yet often overlooked elements of a child’s education. In today’s digital age, when this basic skill is encountering unprecedented challenge, it is more important than ever to be aware of its far-reaching benefits.Not only does it have important physical benefits to children’s development, handwriting allows children the time and space to grow their fertile imaginations, giving them the opportunity to articulate their thoughts and to express themselves in an increasingly digitalised world.We are already seeing steps being taken to formalise the understanding that creativity is valuable in children’s education, so now more than ever, it is important to highlight the benefits that solid handwriting skills can have on fostering the creative process and enabling children to express themselves.Dr Jane Medwell is the Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Education at"
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Leadership

Handwriting Your Way to Self Expression

12 Sep 2018

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      string(381) "... a denselydeveloped urban area but the school site itself willbe developed to maximise biodiversity. Planting 31 Volume 2:2  Learning SpacesInternational Learning – Malaysiawww.teachingtimes.comwill travel this way.  Currently the school is alsoinvestigating the feasibility of a change to naturalgas for these vehicles when the move to the newsite takes ..."
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      string(5611) "challenge, andas a result our approach is layered.  Our designsuse chilled water to cool the concrete floor slabsat night taking advantage of off-peak tariffs. This‘coolth’ is retained in the thermal mass of thestructure through the day. It is supplemented bycooled air (using the same plant) during the daytimebut as a consequence the cooling loads and costsare substantially lower. The majority of circulationis covered but is external and naturally ventilated.Employing more ambitious and challengingstrategies from the basis of an essentiallyefficient building.The campus will be in a high density residentialarea of Kuala Lumpur approximately 2.5 km fromthe centre of the city. At 23 acres it is a large sitebut the need for 60,000m2 of accommodation,playing fields to support an active sportscurriculum and the requirement for a maximumof 70 school buses at peak times necessitatedan ingenious approach to site planning. Thenew school will house 2,500 pupils aged from3 to 18 years old. It is split into Kindergarten,Elementary, Middle and High Schools, each withits own identity and at the same time needingto be identified as part of one institution. Quickcalculations will reveal a space allowance of 24m2per pupil. Needless to say one of the biggestreadjustments we have had to make as Britishschool designers is putting aside all of thosepreconceptions about space standards that wehave worked with for most of our careers.■29 Volume 2:2  Learning SpacesInternational Learning – Malaysiawww.teachingtimes.comWithin the building design we are planningthe use of bubble deck floor slab system toreduce the concrete content of the structure bynearly 30%. Aggregates will be either fly ash orrecycled, which are becoming more availablein the region. Walls will be constructed usinga recycled steel framed dry wall system witha blown infill. This will provide high levels ofinsulation and help ensure airtightness in aClassrooms are cooled, and transitional spaces suchas open commons areas befit from spillage throughdoors. The transitional spaces, which will be slightlywarmer than classrooms, are important in reducingthe impact of moving directly from a hot outdoor toa cooled internal environment. All of these areas willbe fitted with low velocity ceiling fans to encourageair movement and to improve comfort withoutnecessarily lowering temperatures.Condensation control is important in humidregions and although this is an inherentlyeconomic approach there will be additionalexpense incurred through the need for windowsof a higher quality than is usual in Malaysia.Conventionally local buildings tend to be very‘leaky’, and this concept demands more substantialbuild quality that in the long term will provebeneficial. 30 Learning Spaces  Volume 2:2International Learning – Malaysiawww.teachingtimes.comwill be established at ground,intermediate and roof levelsand will be there to enhancethe microclimate of the schooland play a role in enrichingthe curriculum. The school isplanning to introduce urbanfarming and permaculture. Wehave set ourselves the target of a75% reduction in potable waterusage through the use of efficientfittings, rainwater, greywaterand condensate harvesting andthe use of native species in thelandscape to reduce irrigationneeds. For obvious reasonssolar hot water collectors are asensible choice for a site on theequator, but we are currentlylooking closely at the economicsof photovoltaics to supplementthe energy needs of what weexpect to be a very energyefficient building.All of these strategies willcontribute to the creation of ahighly sustainable building in avery challenging environment,but this will be meaninglessunless this is all carried throughinto the operational andeducational life of the school. AtISKL we have every confidencethat this will occur and we havea client that is already workinghard to make this happen. Veryactive waste managementsystems are already in operationon the existing sites and will beupgraded when the move to thenew campus takes place.  Organicwaste will feed a bio digesteron site and other waste will berecycled wherever possible.Students will continue to monitor(and police!) energy use andwaste management.Transportation will be one of the most significantchallenges facing the operational life of the school.Kuala Lumpur is a very hot, very crowded and notalways safe city; therefore walking and cyclingto school is not a realistic option for most pupils.The site layout has been arranged to facilitate safeand effective movement of buses on and off thesite and it is planned that the majority of studentsregion where more conventional techniquesmake this difficult to achieve.Having responded to the cooling andtemperature considerations we were now in aposition to consider more ambitious sustainabilitystrategies. The school will be situated in a denselydeveloped urban area but the school site itself willbe developed to maximise biodiversity. Planting 31 Volume 2:2  Learning SpacesInternational Learning – Malaysiawww.teachingtimes.comwill travel this way.  Currently the school is alsoinvestigating the feasibility of a change to naturalgas for these vehicles when the move to the newsite takes place to help further reduce the school’senvironmental impact. Meanwhile changing stafftravel culture is a bigger challenge but carpoolingand incentivisation schemes are being consideredand park and ride schemes for big parent eventsare already in the early stages of implementation.Perhaps most importantly the sustainable ethosStefan Jakobek is Vice President and Head of"
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Learning Spaces

Designing a sustainable tropical school

10 Jul 2014

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