Active Travel
At Heartwood, we are committed to promoting active travel as part of our wider approach to health, wellbeing and environmental responsibility.
Active travel includes walking, scooting or cycling to and from school instead of travelling by car. It helps children stay active, supports their physical and mental wellbeing, and gives them a great start and end to their school day.
By choosing active travel, our school community also helps to:
- Reduce traffic and congestion around the school
- Improve air quality
- Keep our local area safer for everyone
- Support children's independence and confidence
By reducing reliance on cars, active travel also contributes to safer school surroundings, reduced congestion, and improved air quality within our local community.
Active travel is embedded within school life through curriculum learning, whole-school initiatives and participation in local and national programmes. We work closely with families to encourage active travel wherever possible, including launching our own Heartwood Park and Stride initiative for those families who live further away.
We aim to create a healthier school community and a more sustainable future for our Heartwood children, families and staff.
Together, we can build healthier habits for life!
Heartwood Scooter Loan Scheme – New for September 2026!
Launches Wednesday 16th September 26
We have secured a set of 'Micro' Scooters from ages 12 months to adult. Each scooter comes with a helmet and scooter lock.
This scheme enables our families the opportunity to try high-quality scooters as a fun, active and sustainable way to travel to and from school.
This scheme aims to:
- Make the school run easier, more enjoyable and more active
- Encourage short car journeys to be replaced by scooting
- Support our Heartwood Park and Stride, by parking at Theatre Street Public car park and scooting the rest of the journey to/from school
- Help families decide whether scooting could work for them long term
Loans are available for a week, Wednesday to Wednesday (If demand is high, the length of the loan will have to be reduced).
Don't miss out, these scooters are only available for the Autumn term! Secure your loan today by contacting the office for a parent sign-up form or speaking to Mrs Butters. Alternatively, sign-up forms can be found below, which can be completed and handed in to the office or emailed. Mrs Butters will be in the Main Office area every Wednesday from 3:30pm.
Let's Get Scooting!!
Big Walk and Wheel 16th - 27th March 2026
The 'Big Walk and Wheel' inspires children to make active journeys to school, improve air quality in their neighbourhood and discover how these changes benefit their world. This was our first year taking part in this initiative and WOW, we did amazingly well! 1,721 active journeys took place over the two weeks. We came 57th out of 1072 Primary Schools nationally and 13th out of 152 Primary Schools regionally. A massive thank you to the Heartwood Heroes and all the children and families who walked or wheeled to and from school. Please let's keep it up!
Walk to School Week 18th - 22nd May 2026
The five-day walking challenge is an annual celebration of the walk to school, brought to you by Living Streets. This year's challenge will see children set off on a special operation - codename Mission Move, to complete the five-day walking challenge. Classes will work together to make as many active journeys as possible across the week, tracking their progress as they go on the fun and interactive wall chart. Those that participate will receive daily stickers and an end of week reward!
Cycle to School Week 29th June - 3rd July 2026
We have teamed up with Rehook and AtoBetter to encourage more children to cycle - It's great for health, wellbeing, and the environment! Take part on the week of 29th June - 3rd July by cycling to school to be in with a chance to win cycling tools and equipment worth up to £24. There is nothing to sign up for - just encourage your child to cycle, and they could be randomly selected to win a bike-friendly gift to celebrate choosing two wheels over four. The more your child cycles, the better chance they will have! Let's get pedalling!
Radio Norfolk
We were invited to speak on Radio Norfolk with Kayleigh Poacher about active travel and our thoughts on the Government's new incentive to see 60% of children actively travelling to school by 2035. To listen to the interview follow the link below (about 20 minutes in):
Congratulations to two Year six pupils for speaking so confidently on the radio and being such positive ambassadors for our school!