We promote active travel to enable children to get to and from school safely and, where possible, independently. We work to make our neighbourhood healthier, safer and more pleasant. We prioritise healthy streets for children, because healthy streets for children are healthy streets for everyone. We would like to see children’s needs at the heart of evidence based policy and decision making.
Dulwich is a unique area with an exceptionally busy school run - more than 11,000 pupils aged 4+ going to 18 school sites within a 1 mile radius. Many children in this area are regularly driven short distances because their parents do not feel that there is a safe and practical alternative.
Dulwich and Herne Hill Safe Routes to School is a partnership of schools, represented by staff and parents. See below for member schools. We meet termly along with The Dulwich Society, The Dulwich Estate, the police, local Councillors and Southwark officers as well as active travel groups around London to share information, ideas, concerns and resources.
Alleyn’s School
Alleyn’s Junior School
Bessemer Grange Primary School
The Charter School ( North Dulwich and East Dulwich )
Dulwich College, including the Junior School and DUCKS
Dulwich Hamlet Junior School
Dulwich Prep London
Dulwich Prep London Early Years
Dulwich Village CoE Infants’ School
Dulwich Wood Primary School
Herne Hill School
James Allen’s Girls School (JAGS)
James Allen’s Junior School (Prep)
James Allen’s Junior School (Pre-prep)
Judith Kerr Primary School
Kingsdale Foundation School
- We provide an ongoing forum to prioritise road safety interventions, share good practice and find common solutions.
- We are working to raise awareness of the dangers which air pollution poses to the health and well-being of children.
- Our schools actively participate in Southwark and TfL's sustainable travel agenda. We hold one quarter of Southwark's STARS Gold Medal travel plans, although we make up only 10% of Southwark's schools.
- DUCKS (Dulwich College) and Herne Hill School are each recipients of the STARS School of the Region award, and Dulwich College has won the School of Excellence in Partnership award.
- We supported Bessemer Grange School Street - the first school street in Southwark.
- We introduced Dr Ian Mudway, an expert on air pollution and human health at Imperial College London, to our schools and invited him to speak to the wider community.
- We are members of Southwark Council's Cleaner Air for Southwark Schools group.
- We are members of Southwark Council's Walking Joint Steering Group.
- We are members of Southwark Council's Cycling Stakeholder Group.
- We supported Southwark Council's "Our Healthy Streets" initiative to reduce traffic in our community and enable children to walk and cycle safely.
- We have been panel participants at City Hall, London Living Streets, London Cycling Campaign and Croydon Living Streets events, advocating for children's safe access to public space and we regularly participate in London-wide meetings to further our understanding of the issues and gather evidence and data.
- We supported the changed route of the Foundation coaches to improve safety and air quality on local streets.
- We work with Southwark Council to ensure the correct road markings are outside all our schools to deter dangerous parking.
- We campaigned for the 20 mph speed limit and support Community Road Watch.
- We made successful bids for new zebra crossings on Gallery Road and Burbage Road.
- We made a successful Cleaner Greener Safer bid to provide Dulwich Hamlet school with signs and banners to deter dangerous parking.
- We made a successful bid with Southwark Council for TfL funds for a Bike-it Plus officer to promote and support sustainable active travel in all our schools.
- We campaigned successfully for safety improvements for child pedestrians and cyclists at the junction of East Dulwich Grove and Townley Road.
- We co-hosted the Jamaican Olympic team's visit to Dulwich in 2012 in support of road safety initiatives.
- We led the 2011/2012 Lollipops for Life campaign to reinstate the School Crossing Patrols after they were made redundant.
We're not alone! People around the world are meeting the challenge of making streets safe, healthy and more child friendly, enabling a growing population to change its travel habits and ensuring that public space is accessible to everyone.
Dulwich Young Cyclists was a campaign subgroup of Safe Routes to School formed in 2013 to help Southwark work up plans for a Cycle to School Partnership. Transport for London subsequently decided not to go ahead with this programme but the research conducted for the project is still relevant today as we continue to campaign for child friendly cycling infrastructure in our community.
Our survey in summer 2013 showed that 80% of parents do not let their children cycle to school, and many feel it is too far to walk. 94% of parents wanted to see a network of safe, segregated cycle routes created throughout the area.
Dulwich Young Cyclists
Dulwich Young Cyclists was a campaign subgroup of Safe Routes to School formed in 2013 to help Southwark work up plans for a Cycle to School Partnership. Transport for London subsequently decided not to go ahead with this programme but the research conducted for the project is still relevant today as we continue to campaign for child friendly cycling infrastructure in our community.
Our survey in summer 2013 showed that 80% of parents do not let their children cycle to school, and many feel it is too far to walk. 94% of parents wanted to see a network of safe, segregated cycle routes created throughout the area.
