Feet First Walk to School Week has strong footprint on the Shore

February 25, 2008

Thirty North Shore primary schools are putting their best feet forward as Feet First Walk to School Week rolls around for 2008.

The annual event, to be held from March 3-7, promotes the benefits of walking to and from school, says North Shore City Travelwise co-ordinator Nicola Maire.

“Whether it’s with a walking school bus, sibling or parent, the week encourages all students to get out of cars and onto the pavements.

“On average 50 per cent of New Zealand children are driven to school every day and Feet First Walk to School Week gives parents and children an opportunity to see the many benefits of walking to school.

“We ask participants to walk for at least ten minutes of their journey to and from school throughout Feet First Walk to School Week, and encourage them to aim to keep the habit up once the week is over,”Miss Maire says.

The week centres around national Walk to School Day on Wednesday 5 March, with many prizes up for grabs – including $2000 worth of sports gear for the school that gets the most participants involved.

“North Shore students have a great chance of one of our schools winning the grand prize, thanks to our strong parent and teacher commitment to our many successful walking school buses”, Miss Maire says.

Browns Bay Primary School is celebrating the day in style with TV presenter Suzy Cato, Constable Bryan Ward and his alsatian puppet ‘Bobbie’ accompanying their walking school bus for the morning.

Each participating school also has the chance to win a Sanitarium breakfast for their school, and receives a resource kit containing flyers, posters, stickers and progress cards for classroom activities.

For further information on Feet First Walk to School Week, or to register your school please visit, www.landtransport.govt.nz/feet-first or contact; feetfirst@landtransport.govt.nz.

ENDS

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