A primary school in Heaton Moor celebrated the one-year anniversary of its school street initiative this month with a special bike ride. 

St Thomas' Primary School - the largest primary in Stockport borough - introduced its school street scheme last May. 

A school street is designed to make the commute for parents and pupils safer and healthier by restricting vehicle access to the road(s) outside the school at peak times. 

In other words, general traffic has no access to the surrounding streets around opening and closing times; the aim is to support active travel and promote cleaner air.  

Parents are encouraged to "leave the car at home and either walk, cycle, or scoot to school". 

A huge number of parents and pupils take to Heaton Moor Park for some cycling activities (Image - St Thomas' Primary)

To celebrate this special anniversary, pupils and parents at the school took part in a range of cycling activities on Friday 17 May. 

This included a 'bike bus' in Heaton Moor park, and a veritable peloton of young cyclists taking to the streets at arrival / home time. 

Mr Chris Silk, deputy head at the school said "We were overwhelmed by the turnout for our family group ride. To have hundreds of adults and children travelling to school in a healthy, active way to celebrate our School Street's first birthday makes me feel optimistic about the future."

Parent Matt Evans, who instigated the scheme at the school, said he was 'astounded' by the turnout. 

School streets are designed to make travelling to school safer for children, by reducing the number of cars - and by extension pollution - on the nearby roads (Image - St Thomas' Primary)

"It just goes to show there is a huge appetite for walking, cycling or scooting", Matt added. 

"[It] makes me all the more determined to continue our efforts. Hopefully with more support from the council and Transport for Greater Manchester, we can ensure the scheme sees future birthdays and keeps delivering fantastic benefits to pupils and the wider community."

At current, the street is managed by volunteers. In London, similar streets are automated. The aim for parents like Matt is to achieve a similar level of automation at schools streets in Stockport and Greater Manchester.

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