Please see below a letter from the North Tyneside communications team regarding safe travel to school in September.
There is also a short YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/pqbYgDlX7Jk
August 2020
Dear parent/carer
We want to help children stay safe when they return to school this September. Because social distancing guidance is still in place, it is vital that we manage the space around school gates. This is difficult to do if cars are parked or waiting near the school.
We urge you to help us maintain social distancing by ensuring that pupils walk or cycle to school where at all possible. Distances up to 20 minutes’ walk can fit well into the day’s routine.
If it is essential to take the car we encourage you to ‘park and stride’ and walk the remaining short distance to school. This means parking legally, away from the street the school is on, and avoid parking on footways where this limits space for social distancing.
By walking or cycling to school or using ‘park and stride’ you are helping to support social distancing on the journey to school as well as getting healthy exercise and contributing to improved local air quality for everyone.
Bus and Metro services will still run, and Nexus and the bus operators aim to provide extra buses on the busiest routes where possible. However, capacity will still be reduced because of social distancing measures, and we advise that pupils who normally use bus or Metro should instead walk or cycle to school where this is possible. Please note the law requires that everybody aged 11 and over, unless exempt, must wear a face covering on public transport.
To get the latest information, please follow the Council’s social media accounts. For the details on public transport, please check the Nexus website.
nexus.org.uk/covid-secure
Thank you for taking part in walking or cycling to school or ‘park and stride’ and helping to maintain social distancing around schools.
Kind regards
The Go Smarter North Tyneside team