03 September 2010More pupils than ever are travelling to school by environmentally friendly transport, according to the latest 'Streets ahead' survey.
The annual survey, carried out by Sevenoaks District Council, is intended to help school children better understand the impact school traffic has on the environment.
By taking part in the survey, children at schools in the District can record how they travel to school on any one morning. They do so by making a tree which is a visual representation of their pupils' journey to school. Green leaves represent pupils who travelled by sustainable means, such as walking, cycling and car sharing, and red leaves represent pupils who travelled as a single passenger in a car.
This year, 1,555 pupils from ten schools took part in the survey recording how they travelled to class on one school day between June to September 2009.
Schools excelled with 83.2% of pupils travelling in an environmentally friendly way. This was an increase of 1.7% on last year's results and the highest score since the Council began the survey in 2003.
Churchill Primary School in Westerham was the school with the most green thinking pupils, with 93.6% of children travelling to school by a sustainable form of transport, the highest percentage in the District.
Every school that took part in the 'Streets Ahead' survey will receive a garden voucher to purchase an item for their school grounds.
Cllr Avril Hunter, Sevenoaks District Council's Cabinet Member with responsibility for the environment, says: "It's encouraging that more than ever, children and their parents are thinking about the environment and the impact of their school journeys. I would like to say a big thank you to all the schools, parents and pupils who took part in this year's survey making it a record breaking year for Streets Ahead."
