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Transport for London (TfL) yesterday gave top awards to 34 London schools for championing active and safe travel on the journey to school, as part of its STARS (Sustainable Travel: Active, Responsible, Safe) schools programme.

The schools received awards for being the highest performing of more than 1,500 participating London schools, in reducing car use, increasing walking and cycling and using public transport.

TfL's STARS scheme helps primary and secondary school children adopt safe and sustainable ways of travelling, such as cycling, walking and public transport. Now in its tenth year, accreditation to STARS has grown from 180 schools in 2006 to 1,557 in 2016. Schools are judged on their success in changing travel behaviour with each school awarded a Bronze, Silver or Gold accreditation.

Mayor Sadiq Khan signed the certificates which were presented to the top performing schools at the annual event at City Hall.

Deputy Mayor for Transport, Val Shawcross, said: `We're working hard to create more attractive, accessible and people-friendly streets and I'm delighted that so many schools across London have been spending their time encouraging active and safe travel too. These top 34 schools have shown particular innovation and should be proud of their achievements. I hope all involved continue to inspire families to enjoy walking, cycling and public transport, and help us reduce car dependence.'

Leon Daniels, TfL's Managing Director of Surface Transport, said: `With the help of our STARS programme, we are delighted children are championing sustainable ways of travel, the importance of air quality, and road and personal safety. School accreditation has grown impressively, and it's great to have every London borough on-board for the first time. We are especially proud of the top performing schools for leading by example to inspire others to help make our streets healthier and safer.'

The overall best regional primary and secondary schools include;

• Stamford Hill Primary School - for promoting healthy lifestyles and working with local communities and charities (Haringey, north London)
• Claremont High School - for creative travel plans including making an active travel video which has been viewed over 1,000 times on YouTube (Brent, north London)
• Mossford Green Primary School - junior travel ambassadors held a car-free day for pupils in year 2 and above to encourage active travel (Redbridge, east London)
• Stormont House - for arranging independent travel days for children with special educational needs, as well as overseeing walking trips and cycle training using specially adapted bikes (Hackney, east London)
• Regina Coeli Catholic Primary School - for getting the whole school community involved in active travel attaining a six percent modal shift in a year (Croydon, south London)
• Forest Hill School - the schools' youth travel ambassadors led a consultation using social media to resolve issues around buses servicing their area and arranged cycling activities to promote active travel (Lewisham, south London)
• St Richards Church of England Primary - for promoting scooter initiatives including creating a mock road for nursery and reception children to practice riding safely (Richmond, west London)
• Brentside High School - for an innovative approach to increase walking. Students used smart phone technology to design their own walking app and a walking map with colour coded routes to school (Ealing, west London)

Prior to the Top Schools event, other STARS accredited schools received Bronze, Silver and Gold grading for their initiatives at seven regional events held across London. They also shared best practice and pledged to increase their activities.

For further details on the STARS accreditation scheme and the full range of programmes TfL offers to schools and young people, visit tfl.gov.uk/stars or tfl.gov.uk/younglondon.

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Notes to Editors:
1.STARS accreditation scheme: in conjunction with the London boroughs, TfL supports primary and secondary schools (with over 49 per cent currently participating) with school travel plan activities that help young people and the whole school community adopt safer and more active travel behaviour. The scheme has three levels;

• Bronze;
• Silver;
• Gold

The more initiatives a school delivers and the greater the changes in behaviour, the higher the STARS Accreditation award.

2.Thirty-four schools attended the 2016 City Hall event. A total of thirty five awards were presented to thirty-four different schools.

3.Top awards that were presented at the City Hall event were

• School of the Region - The 33 London boroughs are divided into four regions - North, South, East, and West. In each region, one primary school and one secondary school were awarded School of the Region as they have demonstrated the highest level of commitment to active, safer and responsible school travel(8 awards).
• School of Excellence - This award recognises schools that have demonstrated innovative and outstanding achievements in one of seven travel areas: walking, scootering, cycling, road safety, public transport, pupil led projects and partnership working. Pupil-led projects are those campaigns that have been initiated and delivered by pupils, demonstrating the best in peer-to-peer leadership. The Partnership Working award recognises the best efforts in bringing internal and external parties together to achieve change for the school community (16 awards).

4.Other awards that were presented at the City Hall event were

• Bike It Plus Exemplar award - introduced in 2015 recognises schools that go above and beyond to promote cycling and run a number of cycling activities. (3 awards)
• School Travel Plan Champion- This award recognises an individual's dedication to embed an active and safer travel ethos within their school and the wider community(8 awards).