A CHIDDINGFOLD school has been praised by Surrey County Council for encouraging pupils and parents to use eco-friendly transport. Pupils at St Mary's Church of England Primary School are joining thousands of children across Surrey in taking up the Golden Boot Challenge this month. The scheme aims to reduce young people's carbon footprint by encouraging them to choose sustainable methods of travel. Children from 241 schools will be using foot and pedal power and cutting reliance on fossil fuel by car sharing. Dave Sharpington, school travel policy co- ordinator, said: "Around 70 million Surrey school journeys are made by car each year and families would never be able to plant enough trees to balance out that scale of carbon emission. "A much better plan is to cut down the amount of carbon generated by school runs in the first place and the Golden Boot Challenge has proved that this is an achievable goal". The scheme, part of Surrey County Council's Safe Routes to Schools initiative, has been run countywide for the last four years and some schools now make over 90 per cent of school journeys using sustainable transport. St Mary's headteacher Paul Bull said: "The Golden Boot Challenge provides a great annual focus for the children to develop their awareness of the importance of exercise and sustainable travel to school. "As part of our travel plan, the Golden Boot Challenge has enabled us to identify key areas of our catchment area where provision for alternative travel methods is needed. Everyone is looking forward to this year's challenge." This year the challenge is flexible so schools can make the most of the opportunity to involve parents and children in sustainable travel planning. Pupils are being encouraged to persuade their parents to leave the car at home and they then score points by using an environmentally friendly alternative. Classes compete with each other to be the greenest travellers and the winner receives a Golden Boot trophy. The fifth anniversary challenge started last week and runs until Friday, July 6, and schools can decide to travel green for four Fridays or the full 20 days. The Department for Transport (DfT) and the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has described the scheme as one of the most successful green travel campaigns in the UK, which should be shared nationally with other local authorities, and has been copied by schools in Estonia. Surrey County Council's executive member for transport, David Munro, said: "The Golden Boot Challenge is a brilliant way of showing children that they can each make a difference, both to their own health and also to the planet, by reducing their carbon footprint. "The council is making 2007 the year when it develops comprehensive policies to deal with climate change and the challenge plays an important role in encouraging the young generation to choose sustainable green travel".
