Supporting local families to walk, ride and scoot to school

Supporting local families to walk, ride and scoot to school

Published on 12 August 2019

Baw Baw Shire Council has once again partnered with West Gippsland Healthcare Group and VicHealth to get students walking, riding and scooting to school for the annual Walk to School program.

Every October Walk to School encourages families to get active on the trip to and from school to help children build healthy habits for life.

This year Walk to School month runs from 7 October to 1 November.

Local schools are encouraged to participate. Every school that registers by 20 September (last day of term three) will win a mixed pack of sporting goods. Schools can sign up via an online registration form available at www.surveymonkey.com/r/XCNVHYT

Schools will be awarded prizes in each category with the highest participation rate. Prizes are split into the following categories:

Category 1: Schools will 300 or more students - $2,000 Intersport voucher. Category 2: Schools with 151-299 students - $1,500 Intersport voucher. Category 3: Schools with 150 students or less - $1,250 Intersport voucher.

To make it easier to capture participation data, schools can order a wall chart for each classroom when completing the online registration form.

Last year more than 1,190 local students from 12 schools in Baw Baw participated in Walk to School. Darnum Primary School took out the top prize for highest participation in the Southern Region with an impressive 97 per cent of students walking, riding and scooting to school every day.

For more information visit the Walk to School website on www.walktoschool.vic.gov.au

Quotes attributable to Mayor Cr Mikaela Power

“VicHealth’s Walk to School program is a free, easy and fun way for kids to get active and build healthy habits for life. Baw Baw Shire Council is delighted to once again support VicHealth’s Walk to School. Our kids are healthier and happier when they’re active every day and walking to school is a great way to get their activity in. We encourage more primary schools to get involved this year to make Walk to School bigger and better than ever before.”

Quotes attributable to Acting VicHealth CEO Dr Lyn Roberts AO

“Each year the Walk to School program continues to grow with more and more schools taking part with fantastic results. Walking, riding or scooting to and from school every day is an easy way to make physical activity part of kids’ daily life which is why our Walk to School program is so important.”

“Last year more than 140,000 kids from over 750 schools across Victoria took part in Walk to School, travelling the equivalent distance of two return trips to the moon. Helping our kids to get active is so important for their health and wellbeing, which is why it’s great to have the support of Baw Baw Shire Council to get more local kids walking, riding or scooting to school.”

  Additional information

In the lead up to Walk to School, five local schools created Active Travel videos:

Nilma Primary School, talking about how walking to school is great for socialisation; Ellinbank Primary School shows us how being a small, rural school never stops them from getting out in the fresh air; Warragul Primary school makes active travel as fun as it can be; St Pauls Grammar tells us why it is better to ditch the car and drop off a short distance from school; and Rawson Primary School reaffirms that schools with less infrastructure can get moving during Walk to School month.

These videos have been created to demonstrate how walking to school is easy and fun. View them on the Being Healthy in Baw Baw’s Facebook page.

Enquiries

Contact: Kira Hardy, Health Promotion Officer Organisation: West Gippsland Healthcare Group Phone: 5624 3544