Meiklemill Primary School: Travel to School Survey

What you told us

Meiklemill Primary School asked families about how they travel to school and what they think about the journey, to better understand any problems and help make decisions. Surveys were sent out to all families, with 62 responses received.

All pupils also took part in the survey. Primary 1 to 3 pupils were asked questions about how they travelled to school, while the Primary 4 to 7 pupils were asked to expand on some of these points. The aim of the survey was to gather opinions on routes to Meiklemill primary school, how people travelled from home to school, why they did this and any barriers they faced to travel activity. Main points from the survey were:

• 50% of children either walk or cycle to school. Driving levels are around 26% and ‘Park and stride’ is sitting at 16%.
• The main barriers that were identified to active travel was distance (30% for walking, 26% for cycling), time (26% for walking, 17% for cycling), followed by the weather (11% for walking and 15% for cycling). Roads being too dangerous and having too much to carry as well as ‘other’ were also reasons.
• Pupils felt the main barriers to walking and cycling was distance for walking, and roads being too dangerous for cycling.
• Parent/ carers and pupils were then asked if there were concerns around safety at the school gate. More people agreed than disagreed that children were safe around the school gate. However more people agreed than disagreed that cars and buses caused concerns around the school gate.
• The main concerns that were raised in relation to the school gate were: illegal parking, congestion (from vehicles on the road and pedestrians on the pavement), speeding and poor parking.

What we're doing

Meiklemill School will go over the feedback and talk with pupils about what can be done to improve things. The school are keen to continue working on their Living Street WOW scheme which looks to provide incentives to pupils who actively travel to school.

The school will also look into the development of a school travel plan which provides helpful information to families on how to travel to school and how they can play an important role in keeping everyone safe around the school gate. This work will be ongoing.

You can view the original project here: Meiklemill Primary School: Travel to School Survey | Engage Aberdeenshire