Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay school communities are encouraged to don their helmets and get peddling ahead of National Ride2School Day.
Held on Friday, March 24, the day is a free event open to all primary and secondary schools in Australia, giving schools access to a range of resources to help them celebrate, including posters, promotional material, stickers and count sheets to tally the number of students who ride to school.
Altona North’s St Leo the Great Primary School will be one of the hundreds of schools participating around the country.
PE teacher Ashley Brehaut said the school the school community is once again looking forward to taking part in the event, with a number of keen riders already taking part in active travel to school.
“We fluctuate between 15 and 25 per cent active travel participants daily,” he said.
“This is around 25 riders/scooters/skaters and about 30 walkers.”
Mr Brehaut said there are a number of benefits active travel can create for students and beyond.
“We have found that many of the students are more alert and switched on when entering the classroom after being active on the way to school,” he said.
“The traffic around the school is reduced when students are more active which is helping to keep our students safe.
“We have even had parents meet up before school and allowing their children to make their way to school together which has been a huge part of growing our school community.”
Bicycle Network chief executive officer Alison McCormack said that the National Ride2School Day and more physical activity create happier and healthier students.
“They also become more self-sufficient and build resilience,” she said.
Details: ride2school.com.au
Matthew Sims
