Year 6 pupils from Leeds’ Allerton Church of England Primary School came out on top yesterday when they visited Metro’s headquarters to pitch their ‘green’ ideas to a panel of Transport Dragons.
Three finalist schools from along the A61 corridor visited Metro at Wellington House to present their ideas to the panel. Their brief was to come up with a scheme to develop a concept, campaign or idea that will get people out of cars and thus further reduce carbon emissions in the city.
The Allerton Primary group’s proposals for a Transport Incentive scheme which encourages pupils to walk cycle, scoot or use the bus to school, in exchange for rewards such as extra playtime, caught the imaginations of the panel, which included Metro’s Assistant Director of Customer Services, Diane Groom, Dave Alexander, First’s Northern Regional Managing Director and Cllr Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council’s Executive Member for Development.
Backing from Metro and First, and approval from the Transport Dragons, means Leeds City Council can begin working with the school to roll out the initiative to primary schools throughout Leeds. The pupils were also awarded £500 and the use of a bus to take their classmates on a school outing of their choice.
Once in a lifetime experience
“This was a once in a lifetime experience and we’re over the moon at winning. We were very nervous but very excited,” said Natalie Farag age 11, from the winning Allerton Primary School group. “Now we are looking forward to seeing our ideas come to life at schools in Leeds.”
“While I hope we weren’t too dragon-like we did ask each of the groups questions about their proposals and they certainly knew their stuff and appreciated the contribution that using public transport can make to the local environment,” said Diane Dragon Groom. “I was impressed by the enthusiasm and ingenuity of all the groups and while we ended up with an overall winner, the other two projects were too good not to take forward as well.”
Pupils from Mill Field Primary School came up with the idea of a board game called ‘Busopoly’, which delivered key messages about the benefits of travelling sustainably. First are going to work with the school to bring the idea to life, and the group was awarded £200 to put towards a school outing.
Talented youngsters
A group from Brodetsky Primary School delivered a creative pitch, which featured a rap to deliver the key points. Metro will be working with the talented youngsters to produce a creative jingle for a forthcoming promotional campaign and the school was also awarded £200 to put towards a school trip.
The project, which also involved workshops and interactive assemblies by the Riot Act Theatre Company at schools along the route, ties in with First’s recent introduction of double deck hybrid buses that are powered by a cleaner combination of diesel and batteries.
Today’s finalists made their way to Wellington house on one of the hybrid buses where Riot Act were on hand to help the groups prepare for their grilling by the Dragons.
“I was very impressed with the creativity and quality of the ideas and presentations, “said Dragon Dave Alexander. “We will now work in partnership with the children to bring their ideas to life.”
