Walking, cycling and scooting to school are great ways to build regular physical activity into young people's lives. Some of the benefits of walking to and from school include: improved physical and mental wellbeing; arrive to school ready to learn; develop road safety and social skills; safer streets for the whole community. Children who have walked to school from a young age are likely to feel more prepared with the skills required to transition to greater independent travel. [1]
Did you know that today, more than half of New Zealand primary school children are driven to and from school - that’s nearly double the number from 10 years ago! If you’ve noticed that more of your students are being dropped off by car at the school gate, and this is of concern then our WAVE School Travel Plan Coordinator can work with your school to develop a school travel plan. Children learn, grow and have fun when they get active on the way to school.
It is a tool for identifying and managing the local issues generated by car travel to schools. The objectives and actions to achieve the goals of a STP consider the 5 “E’s” of Enforcement, Education, Encouragement, Engineering and Evaluation. The aim of a STP is to:
A STP encourages people to look at their car use and choose healthier, cheaper alternatives when available.
Who develops the STP?
Putting their best foot forward are, in foreground, Mayor Damon Odey and Gleniti School principal Steve Zonnevylle, as part of the fancy feet theme for this week's Friday Footpath Frenzy.
Check out their article in the Timaru Herald: https://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/106506425/mayor-inspires-fancy-feet-theme-for-schools-friday-footpath-frenzy
St Joseph's School is a Catholic Primary School who commenced working on a School Travel Plan in 2012 and continues to be proactive in promoting active and sustainable transport methods.
Case Study: Take a look at St Joseph's School Timaru's Case Study about their School Travel Plan journey: St Joseph's School Travel Plan
The Let’s Get Going programme has been developed for kindergartens, preschools, playcentres and early primary school years, interested in up-skilling children aged 3-5 years in cyclist skills. It gives young children the opportunity to learn, develop and practise fundamental skills of cycling in order to gain the skills, information and motivation to progress towards riding a bike independently.
This in turn increases the likelihood of retained cycling with the goal of developing a lifelong enjoyment of cycling among children and their families/whānau.
The programme has been developed by early childhood teachers and cyclist skills trainers to recognise the skills set and developmental needs required by children.
If you are interested in undertaking the Let’s Get Going programme, contact your WAVE Facilitator, or download a copy of the programme.
Craighead Kindergarten took part in the Let's Get Going programme and here is their story: Craighead Kindergarten Let's Get Going
We have various toolkits, programmes and useful links that you can access to help with your investigation into Active Travel
[1] Living Streets UK. Swap the school run for a school walk. 2018 Accessed via https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/media/3618/ls_school_run_report_web.pdf 17 July 2019