Success! Carterknowle is the first school in Sheffield to have a Green Wall and it is looking good. This is intended to improve the quality of the air that children are breathing while they are out at play. It attracted the attention of the press who took some lovely photos of the children wrote about the purpose of the work. Please keep an eye on the plants’ growth and health over the summer holiday.
Another Coup! The STARS group on Friday 5th July - a meeting with Cllr. Bob Johnson. Bob Johnson is the Cabinet Member for Transport and Development and is keen to get things moving on the strategies that could have a real impact on the life and development of our children and the community. He was pleased with the initiatives that we have taken already and is anxious to support further work including actions on unsafe parking and school time road closures. He is already in consultation with others working on the Carterknowle Park development, public transport, highways, possible red lining of the roads… He wanted to encourage all of us to undertake the Clean Air Consultation: https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/home/pollution-nuisance/clean-air-zone and watch this space on the developments under the Sheffield City Region and Mayor Dan Jarvis MP https://sheffieldcityregion.org.uk/dame-sarah-storey-announces-active-travel-pledges-for-the-sheffield-city-region/
Air Quality Study (Rohit.chakraborty@Sheffield.ac.uk). A number of people have been taking up the opportunity to carry the monitors and return the readings – we await the the results. Mrs Tyrrell is working with the University of Sheffield on the installation of the weather station and that comes with a bonus of an air quality monitor. So as long as listed buildings can approve the installation at Carterknowle, we will be in a strong position to be sure of both what we are achieving and the distance we have to travel!
WOW! WOW is Living Streets' year-round walking challenge to encourage more families to walk to school and results in a 23% average increase in walking rates and up to 30% fewer cars at the school gates. The WOW package usually costs around £500 per school, but is being offered FREE of charge to both Holt House and Carterknowle for the 2019-2020 academic year, thanks to funding from the Department for Transport.
Action on Unsafe Parking There were positive comments about the banners at both schools. We hold to our schools vision of nurturing a caring community and although not illegal, we would discourage putting shaming photos in newsletters or on social media. Remember Sheffield West Neighbourhood Police Community Support Officer promoted the use of online incident forms, which would enable a crime number to be acted upon, should a firmer approach be required. https://www.reportingcrime.uk/SYPincidentreport/ Cllr Johnson was also very clear that a face-to-face challenge to individuals was ill-advised and that the online form was the route to go, despite the frustrations.
Keep-on Keeping Healthy The Active Challenge and Keeping Healthy Week were both really successful and enjoyable. One action is to look at enhancing the PE curriculum at Carterknowle to allow for more opportunities for the ‘daily mile’.