HOWE DELL PARENT/STAFF ASSOCIATION

Who we are

Howe Dell School was Hertfordshire's first Eco-School when it was built in 2007. The school has continued to advance it's eco-credentials with an active eco-squad made up of KS2 children and staff who are passionate about continuing to reduce the carbon footprint of our school and gained the Green Flag award in 2023. The Parent/Staff Association are keen to support youth-led projects within the school and this is a great project. 

The background to the problem

The Parent/Staff Association has been approached by the eco-committee for further funding to support the installation of additional bike and scooter racks - their successful campaigns in recent years has seen a rise in families now travelling to school by bike or scooter rather than car, reducing the co2 emmissions around school and improving the air quality for the local community. However, this has meant that our existing bike and scooter racks are full and often bikes in particular, are attached to railings/gates rather than in suitable racks. 

The solution

We are at the early stages of supporting this project, but are hoping to fund additional covered racks - starting with a minipod which accommodates both bikes and scooters but importantly, can be mounted onto grass or gravel - which is great as we want to retain the schools grassed areas as much as possible for the benefits to air quality and nature. We have an area in our school car park that is grassed and not used for anything else and is conveniently next to our existing bike racks. The new racks mounted there would mean that we could maintain the benefits of the grassed area - but have the benefits of not having to add concrete for a base for a new rack. The model pictured above can be supplied with grass fitting and canopy starting at £1,999 ex vat. 

The matting would ensure that the grass does not get damaged with daily use as it would grow through this, but does encourage users to keep to the "path" protecting the wider grass area from damage. 

 The canopy is much needed as there is a noticable rising in travel to school by car when there is inclement weather and our covered bicycle shelter is always full on those days, whereas the un-sheltered racks are less popular. Children have said that they would prefer to be able to keep their saddles dry and therefore, we have agreed to have them installed with a canopy.

The future

We hope to invest in further bicycle racks in future and continue to monitor the demand for spaces. The mini-pod system is modular and can be separated to be wall mounted or added to. We think this is the right solution for our school and paved the way for growth in the future.