Walking Bus and Parking Facilities
We are an Eco School and have the Eco Green Flag, Platinum Travel Plan Award. We have a strong walk to school culture which has been developed as the school implemented its first Travel Plan late in 2000 before the school moved to its new location. As most of our families live locally, we strongly urge you to walk to school for environmental and health reasons. This is indicated clearly in our Home School Agreement and our Travel Plan.
Parking
Parents are not permitted to drive into the School Car Park which is accessed by a barrier, at the start or end of the school day without prior permission. Parking or driving in the vicinity of Riverhead or Amherst Schools is strongly discouraged for environmental and safety reasons. On the rare occasion you may need to drive to school we ask that you park considerately with care and consideration for our neighbours.
If you have a disability or a disabled child, you are invited to apply for a Parking Permit. This gives you permission to park in the School Visitors’ Car Park.
Cars using the car park should be in possession of a valid permit for drop off and collection times as it is also used by staff and official visitors to the school.
Walking Buses
Unfortunately we are currently unable to provide Walking Buses due to Covid restrictions. However the scheme usually operates from two convenient points. One serves the Dunton Green/Bullfinch Lane area and the other one serves Marlborough Crescent/Lyndhurst Drive/Brittains Lane area and uses the Hole in the Wall footpath.
The most important walk to school initiatives are:
- Establishing walking buses which collect children from different areas of the village and escort them into school by 8.50 am every morning.
- Encouraging all families to walk to and from school as much as possible. If the journey is too long then families are encouraged to park in one of the nearby public car parks and walk the remainder of the journey.
In 2005 the school published a new Travel Plan in order to apply for a grant from the Department of Transport. A new travel survey showed that around 80% of children walked all or part of the way to school, to put this in context about 45% of families used to walk to school before the Walk to School Initiative was introduced in 2000.
Travel Plan
In spring 2005 Riverhead Infants' School undertook a thorough investigation of the ways in which families travel and from the new school site. The findings were published in a report called a Travel Plan which was submitted to Kent County Council and the Department of Transport.
On the basis of the Travel Plan, Riverhead Infants' School was awarded a grant worth just over £5,000 which could be used to improve the walk to school for all its families. The most urgent issue identified in the travel plan was congestion at the main school gate. Therefore the school has used the money to improve access to the playground for all families by installing an additional school gate.
Our Travel Plans can be viewed on the link below.
Hands Up Survey
We recently held a "hands up" walk to school survey with the children. The results indicated that 39% of the children walk, bike or scoot to school which is good. There is always room for improvement though and walking to school not only starts the day off with a bit of exercise, giving time for families to enjoy our wonderful environment, but also helps with cutting down on air pollution. It would be great if we could increase our walking numbers. We would love Neptune Class to be able to come to school in a helicopter as they suggested in the survey but don't think that the carbon footprint would be very good; or for Falcon Class to ride to school on a horse as we don't have stables at the school; or by camel as suggested by Eagle Class - we aren't even sure where to get camels from!
Walk to School Wednesday
One simple way to increase physical activity is to take part in our "Walk to School" Wednesdays. The children who already take part in the scheme really enjoy walking with their friends and families, spotting the different flowers and birds along their route whilst enjoying the fresh air. A special "well done" goes to Valentina and her sister Victoria who not only walk to school every Wednesday but have also decided to use the time to litter pick on the way, making the Riverhead environment a nicer place to live in.
In Term One we started our WOW, Walk to School Wednesday, initiative again. The scheme started sixteen years ago and is run in partnership with KCC and the KM Charity Team. It is a great way to start the day by getting regular exercise and also reduces traffic congestion around the school. For our first week 69% of our children walked to school!
