News and Features
Top draw prize for Cradley youngster in Centro competition
Jack Hughes, left, with Sam the Cyclist at Cradley Church of England Primary School
Cradley youngster Jack Hughes is top of the class after winning a competition to design a new website character.
The seven-year-old came up with Sam the Cyclist in a West Midlands-wide competition organised by Centro for its Letzgogreen website and centred around the 2012 London Olympics.
Jack, a Year 2 pupil at Cradley Church of England Primary School in Cradley, Halesowen, was presented with his prize of a Letzgogreen goodie bag including T-shirts and Olympic characters in a special assembly.
His fellow pupils also received Letzgogreen badges and pencils.
But the highlight of the assembly for Jack and his friends was seeing Sam make his first public appearance when he joined them at the assembly.
Proud mum Mrs Marie Hughes said: "Jack designed it all himself and has been chuffed to bits since he found out that his picture had won."
Head teacher Mrs Marcia Harris said: "I am delighted for Jack that he has won as he is such a keen cyclist."
"The children entered for the fun of it but it was a fabulous competition with a very good message."
Devised by Centro's Letzgogreen team, the competition was for Key Stage 1 children (aged 5-7) who were asked to design a new character for the Letzgogreen website.
A competition for Key Stage 2 youngsters (aged 7-11) is now underway to design a story featuring Sam and how he would get to the City of Coventry Stadium to watch the 2012 Olympics football games.
A final challenge will then be set for schools where pupils will be asked to swap the car for a day in May and work together to find environmentally friendly ways of travelling to school.
The winning school receives a Centro-sponsored sports day featuring the Letzgogreen mascots, sports equipment, prizes and giveaways.
The aim is to raise awareness about sustainable travel and encourage schools to work together to help children and their families to live healthy active lifestyles.
Education Show 2012 Update!
The Letzgogreen Team had a very successful Education Show with about 800 visitors to our stand over 3 days! We'd like to thank everyone that came by and enjoyed our demonstrations of the new Key Stage 3 resource, 'Investigating Sustainable Transport' and the fantastic new Key Stage 2 resource 'Transport Timeline'.
Laura Masterson from Birmingham was the lucky winner of £50 High Street vouchers, as her entry was picked out in the Free Prize Draw. Thank you to everyone who entered.
James enjoys the sweet smell of success
James Bell holding his winning storyboard with Centro's award winning green travel mascot Theo, outside Cadbury World
Schoolboy James Bell was the toast of classmates after his story telling skills landed them a dream trip to Cadbury World.
The nine-year-old scooped 28 Cadbury World golden tickets for his class at St Augustine's Catholic Primary School in Handsworth after winning a story competition organised by transport authority Centro.
The Year 4 pupils were given a guided tour of the famous chocolate attraction before tucking in to a free goody bag of Cadbury treats.
James' winning entry, which beat more than 500 rivals from around the West Midlands, has also been turned into an animated storyboard which features on Centro's award winning eco-friendly website www.letzgogreen.org
His cartoon features a boy called Adil who, together with his father, walks and catches the train to Cadbury World. While on the trip they avoid traffic jams, admire the scenery and get some valuable exercise.
Assistant Headteacher, Annette McGrath, said: "We were absolutely delighted when we heard that James' story had been awarded first prize and we we're very proud of his achievement.
"Our children love writing and always create marvellous stories, often with a clear message.
"They were really excited about going to Cadbury World and as you would expect they had a fantastic day out."
James was presented with his winner's certificate by Centro's sustainable travel officer Rachel Hooper.
Competition winner James Bell and his classmates arrive at Cadbury World
Rachel said: "The competition was very popular and we received hundreds of excellent entries from school children across the region. It has proved a great way for young people to use their creativity, engage with public transport and win a fun day out in the process.
"James' story showed how you can plan your journey on the internet and clearly illustrated how easy it is to visit top attractions like Cadbury World by public transport while helping the environment in the process."
Centro launched the comic strip competition to encourage Key Stage 2 students across the region to use their creative and literacy skills to come up with a story that showed their fellow pupils the benefits of using green and healthy travel.
The www.letzgogreen.org website was developed three years ago by Centro and Resources For Learning. It uses cartoons and interactive games linked to the school curriculum to encourage children in the West Midlands to use green and healthy travel on their journeys.
There are zones for students to help build their confidence in using public transport, walking and cycling, and to teach them how to be streetwise and travel safely.
You can view James' competition winning comic here.
New Homepage Redesign
Our new homepage design
As you may have seen we have a brand new homepage which shows you everything the Letzgogreen website has to offer.
The improvements to the web page include clearer zones for Key stage 1, 2 and 3 for both teachers and pupils, more interactive graphics, improved teachers' area and featured comics and stories.
You can let us know what you think by logging onto our online forum and sharing your views.
Transport Timeline
The new Transport Timeline resource has just been launched in September 2011.
It is a history based module with a board game style activity, which tests the knowledge of pupils undertaking work on local and national history of transport.
New Teachers' Forum
The Letzgogreen teachers' forum is a place where teachers can share their views and post comments on how to use the website in their curriculum work for Key stages 1, 2 and 3. Teachers can discuss ideas with colleagues and have the opportunity to ask any relevant questions.
The aim of the forum is to make letzgogreen.org even more accessible to teachers and a place where they can discuss and share their ideas and views. It's easy to use and completely free.
Teachers can simply log on with a unique username and password and then post their comment, views and curriculum work. Teachers who post comments within the West Midlands will be given the opportunity to have a visit from Theo to their school (Theo is a character from Letzgogreen)! So why not register and take a look? The forum topics are updated frequently and we would really like to hear your views and for you to post your own topics and resources.
Design A Story Competition
A pupil from St Augustine's Catholic Primary School in Handsworth has won the 2011 Design a Story Competition.
The winning design was selected from over 500 entries from schools across the West Midlands. Please check the website to see the winner's story coming soon.
Events
Education Show
Letzgogreen.org will be attending the next Education Show at the NEC from 15th to 17th March 2012.
Please come along to visit us at the show on stand G103. We will be able to talk you through the website and go through the new features. We will also be holding a competition for you to enter.
Year 6 Workshops
Bookings are now open for Year 6 Sustainable Travel Workshops. Please click on the following link and complete the form.
Book your Sustainable Travel Workshop using the online form
Alternatively, please email us on letzgogreen@centro.org.uk with your request or any questions you may have and we will get back to you.
The Sustainable Travel Workshop consists of a short talk and introduction to sustainable travel, the process of making a journey and online journey planning.
The workshop also gives an insight into the Letzgogreen website, which takes pupils through virtual journeys and contains lots of games which improve key skills, for example timetable reading and handling money.