School travel plans

This page is targeted at the travel plan officer at the school.

Parents can find advice about getting their child to school here.

The way children travel to school can have an enormous impact on their lifestyle. Greater numbers of parents taking their children to and from school by car is contributing to increased congestion, higher levels of pollution and greater risk to pedestrians and cyclists from cars.

The Travel Plans team would like to remind you that you can still complete your travel plan on Modeshift STARS and submit an application for accreditation if you meet all the accreditation criteria. The three submission dates each year are 

• 31 March
• 31 July
• 31 December 

Our school travel plans team are still available to provide you with any advice and support you need to update your Travel Plan to allow you to apply for accreditation. 

You can do this by emailing schooltravelplans@suffolk.gov.uk 

We can also provide advice over the phone, or using Microsoft Teams that can allow you to share your screen with us during the call. Please ensure that you state your availability in the email so we can allocate some time to go through this with you if needed.

A school travel plan may be able to address some of these problems, by looking at the issues that are barriers to sustainable travel, then recommending practical ways to reduce the number of car trips made to a school.

A school travel plan aims to:

• encourage more walking and cycling
• improve safety on the school journey
• raise awareness among pupils and parents of the harmful effects of increasing car use on children's health, safety, and independence

Take a look at our Suffolk on Board home to school travel guidance, which include discounts and timetables.

Guidance and templates

Modeshift STARS is a national awards scheme which recognises the excellence shown by schools, and will help to sustain the work that is being done. Schools can record and monitor all activities and initiatives that support the travel plan such as Bikeability and Junior Road Safety Officer schemes.

Sign up for free by following these steps:

1. Visit www.modeshiftstars.org and choose your location from the list of local authorities that appears.
2. Select the ‘Register’ tab from the top right corner of the page.
3. On the registration page, enter your name, select ‘School’ and then select the role that is most appropriate to your position in the school (e.g. School Travel Plan Champion).
4. Ensure ‘Your LA’ is correct and then select your school from the drop down menu.
5. Complete the rest of the registration form and then select ‘Register’.

Click the link for more help and guidance:

• DfE Home to School Travel and Transport Guidance (PDF, 403KB)

If you need any further advice or guidance on writing a travel plan contact the Travel Plan team at schooltravelplans@suffolk.gov.uk