A primary school in Brent has taken a road to victory by scooping an excellence award for its use of public transport and being the only one in the borough to do so.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School, on Wesley Road, Stonebridge, travelled to City Hall as part of Transport For London’s (TfL) STARS (Sustainable Travel: Active, Responsible, Safe) schools initiative last Tuesday .

It was one of the 13 highest performing schools out of thousands in the capital who were invited to attend the TFL event.

Pupils were presented with the School of Excellence – Public Transport award which recognised the school’s achievements in reducing car use, increasing walking and cycling and using public transport more responsibly amongst their pupils.

Out of 25 school trips last year, the school only used four coaches, opting to use public transport.

Anna Thompson, assistant headteacher, said: “The whole school community, staff, pupils and parents all worked together on this initiative so that we, as a school, could make travelling healthier and more enjoyable for our children. We are incredibly proud of our JTAs (Junior travel ambassadors) and all of the hard work they put in to this project.’

Leon Daniels, Managing Director of TfL Surface Transport, said: “We hope that by celebrating their achievements we will encourage all London children to travel safely, actively and responsibly to school.”

Tfl’s STARS programme was launched in 2007 to encourage children, parents and teachers to adopt more sustainable and safe ways of travelling to school.