Walktober Walk-to-School
Get students walking and have a chance to win some fantastic prizes for your school!
Walktober Walk-to-School Day is coming up on Wednesday, 20 October.
We encourage the school community including parents, teachers and school councils to run fun events and activities to raise awareness about walking to school.
By simply walking all or part of the way to school, Walktober Walk-to-School Day allows children to realise how fun and easy it is to be active on the way to school.
Five Great Reasons to Walk to School
1. Most schools say Walktober Walk-to-School has encouraged and motivated more children to walk and cycle to school.
2. Schools report that Walktober Walk-to-School helps to raise awareness of the benefits of walking for physical and mental wellbeing.
3. Walktober Walk-to-School helps instil confidence in parents by showing them that their children can walk safely to school.
4. Running Walktober Walk-to-School day enhances existing walk-to-school initiatives and often motivates additional activities in schools
5. Walktober Walk-to-School day gives families and neighbours the opportunity to form new relationships and ongoing informal support within local communities.
We’re really excited with the success of
Walktober Walk-to-School
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Over the last four years, more and more schools and children have been choosing to walk as part of the Walk-to-School campaign.
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Congratulations to the 372 primary schools across Victoria that participated in Walktober Walk-to-School 2009
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That's 50 more schools than in 2008
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71,678 children walked on Walktober Walk-to-School 2009 – that's 60% of the school's population!
This year we want everyone to have a go!
Walktober Walk-to-School is very simple to run.
Every primary school in Victoria will be sent an information pack inviting them to participate, along with posters and stickers to help promote the event. Kits will also be sent to all Councils.
Why not give the responsibility to a group of senior students such as the Student Representative Council to organise the event or perhaps a parent would like to get involved?
Walktober Info Pack
Every Victorian Primary School will be sent an Info Pack mid-August 2010. You can also download Info Pack items below:
Get students walking and have a chance to win some fantastic prizes for your school!
Schools have a chance to win some fantastic prizes. Prizes are awarded based on the number of students who walk to school on the day, as a percentage of the total number of students enrolled.
What if students live too far away to walk to school?
Many students, particularly in some outer suburban and regional areas, live some distance from school. ‘Part way is OK' is a means to ensure that these students can still have the opportunity to enjoy walking and riding to school.
What to do:
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Provide supervised meeting points within walking and riding distance to and from the school;
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Parents/ guardians are encouraged to take students to these designated meeting points;
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Students, teachers and parents may then all walk to school together!
Visit www.bv.com.au
Getting ready for Walk-to-School Day
In primary school children become more independent in their travel – as pedestrians and cyclists. To ensure students are well informed about road safety issues in the lead up to Walktober Walk-to-School, it is recommended that your school works with Kids on the Move, Victoria’s key traffic safety education resource for primary schools. This resource is designed to help children learn to travel safely.
Visit www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/programs/traffic/resources.htm
Parents/carers can help them prepare for increased independence by providing plenty of practical supervised experience in using the road safely and by modelling safe road use. Your children learn by watching what you do!
Here are some tips to help prepare your children for Walk to School Day.
Together with your child, plan a safe route to walk to school. If possible plan a route that makes best use of paths and roads that are away from busy traffic conditions. Practise walking the route with your child, observing any potential traffic hazards.
Help your children understand the correct road crossing procedure – STOP, LOOK, LISTEN and THINK.
• Hold an adult’s hand (for younger children)
• Choose a safe place to cross – where you have a good clear view of traffic in all directions and where drivers can see you
• STOP one step back from the kerb or shoulder of the road is there is no footpath
• LOOK in all directions for approaching traffic
• LISTEN in all directions for approaching traffic
• THINK about when it is safe to cross the road – when the road is clear or all traffic has stopped
• When crossing, walk straight across the road. Keep LOOKING and LISTENING for traffic while crossing.
Get students walking and have a chance to win some fantastic prizes for your school!
Prizes will be awarded based on the number of students who walk to school on the day, as a percentage of the total number of students enrolled. All schools that participate in Walktober Walk-to-School 2010 will go in a draw for the chance to win one of two Tabloid Sports Carnivals. The two schools that demonstrate the greatest increase in the proportion of the student population walking to school on Walktober Walk-to-School Day compared with the day prior will win the Golden Shoe Award for one year. The top 10 schools from each category to achieve the greatest proportion of the student population walking to school on Walktober Walk-to-School Day will win a $300 HART Sport equipment voucher. The school's enrolment figure will determine which one of the prize categories is relevant.
Prize category 1 - School enrolment = 1 to 199 students.
Prize category 2 - School enrolment = 200 to 349 students.
Prize category 3 - School enrolment = 350 students and above.
