October is Walk to School Month

October 2011 is International Walk to School Month when about 40 countries promote walking to school. Next week we’d like you to do your bit just for 5 days! Please walk at least part of the way to school during this period even if you have to drive into Haddenham.
Children will have a sheet to sign in each class if they have walked and we may have a small reward for the class who have walked the most.

We also ask you to avoid driving in our Exclusion Zone if possible to make the area near to the school safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

HCJS support the reduction to 20 mph on our streets

Most HCSJ parents are also drivers and we all appreciate that cars give us a great flexibility in a time when parents are expected to take their children to many different places, several times a week.
But looking around us, we have to admit that this liberty has considerably changed the life in our streets. Children have less freedom and need more supervision where streets are busy. Walking and cycling cease to be fun in heavy traffic.

To regain what we have lost, a new norm of behaviour needs to be established between those in and those out of cars. Some change is already happening: many drivers show great consideration for those on foot and cycling.
To give an even greater freedom to the ‘soft-skinned’ (as opposed to the armoured ones), we need to do more. We believe that setting an upper speed limit of 20mph would help reduce the noise and emission, with a much smaller risk of accidents. Walking and cycling would be safer and more enjoyable, and perhaps become the preferred modes of transport?

For a 20 mph speed limit to be set up in Haddenham, we first need to demonstrate local support. Please sign our petition online.

New Path to Snakemoor

Haddenham Community Junior School was the first school to use the new path to Snakemoor, our local Nature Reserve.

Snakemoor started life as a nature reserve in 1987; in 1999 English Nature designated the site to be a Local Nature Reserve.

Everybody is invited to visit Snakemoor and enjoy the variety and changes to the flora and fauna throughout the year. You will find several linked footpaths, a hay meadow, an pond and a variety of trees; apple and pear trees make a tasty visit in autumn!

Thanks to a grant from the Big Lottery, children and adults alike can now cycle or walk safely to Snakemoor from the village.

Big Pedal

Haddenham Community Junior School will be competing against hundreds of schools around the UK to see who has the highest proportion of children cycling to school. Get your bikes ready!

Big Pedal is a 3 week event, from 7th to 25th March, to get kids cycling all over the U.K. Schools will compete with one another by entering bike counts online to compete in each "stage" or day of the race - the higher the % of the school cycling, the higher the school will be placed in each stage of the race.
There will be amazing prizes including a visit from MAD the cycle display team, cycle storage and daily prizes for schools

Haddenham Cycle Training will organise three cycle snakes to schools for this event on Monday 7th, 14th and 21st March, from

• 144 Sheerstock
• 7 Dovecote
• Catholic Church

If you want to join one of our snakes, you can download our form and put it in the HCT box at the school reception.

Our School Travel Plan

The School Travel Plan helps the school community have a safer, more sustainable journey to school. Recognizing environmental issues should be an integral part of school life as our children become aware of their and others’ impact on the world around them.

Haddenham Community Junior School is one of three schools in Haddenham, a large village in the Aylesbury Vale. We are situated on a busy road which is used as a short cut from Thame to Aylesbury by drivers avoiding the A418.

Children attend Haddenham Community Junior School from Haddenham itself and the reserved area villages of Cuddington, Chearsley and Kingsey, as well as from outside the reserved area, e.g. from Stone, Dinton, Ford, Thame and Aylesbury. Our school is popular and currently 20% of our children come from outside the reserved area.

Getting to school

A bus is provided by Bucks CC for children from Cuddington and Chearsley. Whilst many children who live in Haddenham do walk to school, a significant proportion is brought to school by car, and this number increases in bad weather.

There is a large volume of traffic both before and after school. Part of this traffic consists of commuters and part consists of parents delivering and collecting children. Furthermore, Arriva recently changed its 280 bus route; it now runs along Woodways and a bus stop is located between the pedestrian and the cyclist school entrances.
There is a school crossing patrol between Woodways and Churchway but this has to cover two roads at once on a complicated junction governed by two mini roundabouts.

Traffic calming measures (road narrowing and speed bumps) were installed a couple of years ago. This has reduced speed, but the volume of traffic continues to be a problem. Although we actively encourage cycling, cyclists leaving the school have to deal with the traffic on Woodways as well as cars (mostly school cars) emerging from a car park opposite the school entrance.

Eco School and School Travel Plan

We have worked towards the Eco Schools award over the last couple of years and have been awarded the Silver Eco Award. We continually encourage those who can to walk, cycle, bus or car share to school.

Initiatives

• The school newsletter regularly mentions travel issues.
• To this day, we’ve conducted 3 detailed travel surveys and reported results to parents and governors.
• We defined a car exclusion zone on Woodways and Churchways and run Go for Gold as an incentive.
• The Golden Boot is awarded weekly during an assembly to the class with the best Go for Gold record.
• We’ve introduced and developed cycle and scooter training courses
• We’ve organized Walkers’ breakfast during Walk to School Week, and Bikers’ breakfast during Cycle to School Week.
• A covered cycle rack and a scooter rack have been installed at the school, provided by funding from eco projects and cycling activities. A gazebo has also been erected on the school playground.
• We work with Haddenham Safe Walking and Cycling Group  and other village schools on poster competition.
• We worked with Haddenham Safe Walking and Cycling Group  and other village schools on a community path/cycle lane through the playing fields. This path is now open and offers a safer way to school to pupils living in the southern and western parts of the village.
• Three Year 6 pupils are our Junior Road Safety Officers and help us implement our School Travel Plan

Working group