Buckinghamshire pupils lead the way in national walking initiative
Elangeni Junior School takes part in WOW – the walk to school challenge from charity Living Streets. WOW sees pupils record how they get to school using the interactive WOW Travel Tracker with those who walk, wheel, cycle, scoot or ‘Park and Stride’ to school being awarded a monthly WOW badge.
The Walk of Fame helps boost pupils’ engagement in WOW and increase walking rates at schools. With a few challenges scattered across the school year, the Walk of Fame supports pupils’ health and wellbeing while reducing congestion and pollution around the gates.
This term, pupils at Elangeni Junior School took part in the spring WOW Walk of Fame Challenge which asked them to walk to school as many times as possible between 1 and 28 February. Pupils who live too far away or are not able to walk the whole way to school were encouraged to Park and Stride by asking their parents or carers to park at least ten minutes away from the school and walk or wheel the rest of the way.
A generation ago, 70 per cent of primary school aged children walked to school, now it’s 49 per cent. Living Streets is working to reverse the decline in walking rates. WOW schools typically see an increase in walking rates by 23 per cent with a 30 per cent reduction in cars driving to the school gates.
Nationally, 43 per cent of 5–10-year-olds are driven to school[1]. However, just 5 per cent of journeys recorded on the WOW Travel Tracker by pupils at Elangeni Junior School are car trips all the way to the school gates.
Miss Burns, Headteacher, from Elangeni Junior School said:
“Pupils at the school really enjoy walking to school and the Walk of Fame challenge is a great incentive and has created a fair amount of competition even between classes. I’m delighted to see that their hard work and enthusiasm has paid off and is being celebrated. The teachers here have noticed the positive change when pupils walk to school – and I’m sure that it will encourage them to keep walking!”
Stephen Edwards, Chief Executive, Living Streets said:
“We’re very pleased to reward pupils from Elangeni Junior School as part of the WOW Walk of Fame. Walking to school helps children to meet the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day needed to stay fit, healthy and happy and it can also reduce congestion, air pollution and road danger outside the school gates.
“It’s great that pupils at Elangeni Junior School are benefitting from walking to school. They are an inspiration and I’m sure that they’ll encourage other children and their families to follow in their footsteps.”
[1] National Travel Survey 2021. Table 0615 National Travel Survey: 2021 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)