Elizabeth Fish

A primary school near Lincoln has been holding scooter training classes for its pupils as part of an Access LN6 programme.

St Michael’s Church of England Primary School in Thorpe on the Hill held training sessions for 48 pupils, where they learn scooter control and pavement etiquette.

The Access LN6 course is taught using a 45 minute session of discussion, games and skills.

Victoria Wade, Sustainable Travel Officer at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We encourage all children to travel actively to school and travelling by scooter is a fun and active way to get around.

“Children learn bike skills through Bikeability training, but scooter training has not been offered before – we are really pleased to launch this new initiative through Access LN6.”

Naomi Weaver, Headteacher at St. Michael’s Church of England School, said: “We encourage our children and parents to walk, cycle or scoot to school where possible, and want to make sure they feel confident in doing so.

“The scooter training was fun and informative, and something I’m confident our schoolchildren and parents are equally pleased to have been offered.”

Scooter training is available for 15 pupils in Infant School Year 2 or Primary School Years 3 and 4 with one trainer until March 31, 2015.

If a school is interested in taking part in scooter training and based in Lincoln, contact Victoria Wade on 07825145776 or [email protected].

Schools in the county, including a Lincoln secondary school, will turn off their lights as part of a challenge to save energy.

Grimoldby Primary School, Allington Sedgebrook CE Primary School, Osgodby Primary School, Kirkby on Bain Primary School, Marton Primary School and others will be taking part in the Switch-off Challenge on Friday, November 21.

As well as the lights, computers, interactive white boards and all non-essential electrics will be turned off for the whole day to try and get schools thinking about ways to save energy.

Each school will take two meter readings during the challenge to compare to readings taken on a normal day.

Lincolnshire County Council’s Schools Collaboration on Resource Efficiency (SCoRE) team will collate the results. Prizes will be given to the three schools with the biggest reductions.

SCoRE project officer Emily Neville said: “The switch-off challenge is a great way to get teachers and pupils thinking about their energy use, and what simple changes they can make to reduce their consumption.

“Utility bills form a significant part of a school’s controllable budget, so using energy more wisely could save money as well as reducing the building’s carbon emissions.

“Previous switch-off days have seen schools reduce their energy use by up to 58% compared to a normal day, and we’re hoping everyone will be able to reduce it by about 50% this November.”

Schools can sign up for the challenge by registering with [email protected], which will send a free resource pack.