Latymer achieves Gold STARS Award

29 March 2022

Latymer has been awarded a Gold Award in the STARS (Sustainable Travel: Active, Responsible, Safe) schools accreditation scheme.

Run by Transport for London (TfL) the scheme aims to inspire young Londoners to travel to school sustainably, actively, responsibly and safely.

To achieve the Gold Award Latymer has, over the last three academic years, completed 25 different travel activities, 15 supporting activities and 8 consultation activities, successfully bringing about more than the required 6% modal shift away from the use of cars by parents, encouraged by additional bike storage space on site and students taking part in Bikeability sessions to increase their confidence.

According to TfL we are ‘among the top 10% of London Schools setting high standards to inspire others to transform travel habits’.

Latymer students care passionately about the environment, something that was evidenced by them choosing ‘Environmentalism and Sustainability’ for the School’s charity theme. We were proud to host the 2020 Sustainability Conference for Schools, with speakers addressing students and teachers from schools around London. The three day event was masterminded by Latymer’s Sustainability Lead and supported by the students in the Eco Society – who are all passionate about finding ways to combat climate change. One of the students involved in Eco Society, is the youngest CEO of a business to receive B Corp status and he was nominated to be on the panel at the Youth Against Carbon conference (YAC Con) in 2020.

As well as an active Eco Society in the Upper School and a Prep Eco-Committee, there are a number of environment-focused clubs running and students also fundraise for environmental charities like the Woodland Trust, throughout the academic year. The Prep has also signed up to the Eco-Schools Green Flag Award as part of its commitment to actively engaging pupils with environmental issues.