Since the beginning of the academic year an unprecedented level of cycling and scooting has been taken up by pupils and members of staff at the Dulwich Foundation Schools, Alleyn’s, Dulwich College and James Allen’s Girls’ School (JAGS), in addition to the number of children who walk.

Dulwich College estimates that more than 400 pupils are cycling an average of three miles per day to and from school, which means that a whopping 1,200 miles (or 1,931 km) are cycled in total every day. At Alleyn’s School, there is a marked increase in the use of their 250+ bike stands, and almost two hundred JAGS’ girls are now cycling or scooting to school on a daily basis.

For all three schools, this visible increase shows the pupils’ commitment to active travel and reinforces the schools’ commitment to sustainability; Dulwich College is delighted to be adding to additional bike and scooter parking slots, helping support the College’s ambition towards being a carbon neutral campus; JAGS has a dedicated Eco Team of staff and pupils from across the school who work to implement eco initiatives into daily school life; and at Alleyn’s, the majority of their Senior School pupils walk, cycle, scoot, or take a train or bus to school, supported by a pupil-led Eco Committee and twice yearly Sustainability Weeks including active travel and cycling-related initiatives.

All three Dulwich schools are part of local school groups working together as Dulwich and Herne Hill Safe Routes to School, and are also all Gold STARS Schools with TFL.

The increase in cycling has not gone unnoticed; cycling tweets posted on @DulwichCollege have been liked and retweeted by healthy streets groups, local residents and societies. The posts have been viewed more than 25,000 times and received positive messages of encouragement. This number of ‘impressions’ is a record for the College.

The schools welcome recent initiatives by Southwark Council and the Dulwich Estate to improve opportunities for active travel and improved cycling routes within the area.