Ridgway School walk to the top

MEDIA RELEASE

MEDIA RELEASE: Monday 23rd April
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ridgway School walk to the top

As part of increasing physical activity in their community, Ridgway School has focused on active transport for the past 6 months with lead teacher Sarah Clark and the support of Sport Wellington Region’s Nichola Brydon, as part of the SPARC Active Schools Initiative.

The school took part in the Feet First campaign and on “Walk to school Wednesday” they had 94% of their students walk to school and have just recently found that they achieved top school in Wellington for the whole Feet First Campaign with 79.2% of students walking to school. Those who were actively involved received a sticker and some received push play spot prizes. This exceptional achievement saw Ridgway school have the highest percentage of walkers in Wellington for both Walk to School Day and Feet First 2007.

The day also succeeded in increasing physical activity in the community, with many parents supporting the walk to school day, by walking with their children. The feedback was supportive and positive from parents as it had great benefits for all, including less traffic and chaos at the school gate.

From this enthusiasm, a group of parents from Ridgway School have created three walking school buses with the support of Sport Wellington’s Nichola Brydon and lead teacher Sarah Clark. Walking school buses are run with parents taking turns daily, walking the “school bus” of children on a set route to school in the morning. The benefits of a walking school bus are physical health, concentration, learning road safety and reduction of traffic congestion. Land Transport NZ guidelines were a valuable resource in the process of co ordinating the walking school buses, with tips for safety and templates for rosters and newsletters.

Ridgway School would like to thank AMI insurance for their support with providing the walking school bus parent packs, which include a high visibility jacket. However Ridgway school are looking for funding for high visibility jackets designed by Geared, for the 20 children involved. If you are interested please contact Nichola Brydon at Sport Wellington Region on 3890 217.

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