Movin’March – coming to a school near you

Registrations are open for Movin’March, a week-long celebration of children and families who walk, scoot, skate or cycle to school – and what they discover along the way.

“The week (23 – 27 March) is an opportunity to high five all those kids who go to school on foot, bike, skateboard or scooter and equally importantly it’s an opportunity to encourage others to give it a go,” says Melanie Thornton, Greater Wellington Regional Council’s Sustainable Transport Manager.

“A highlight of the week is ‘All In Day’ which aims to have every child in the school walking, cycling, scooting or skating all or part of the way to school. Parents who need to drive their children to school are encouraged to drop them off a couple of blocks further away and the children can join others walking the rest of the way.

“Travelling to and from school on foot or on a bike, skateboard or scooter is not only fun, freeing and makes you feel good, it also gives you the chance to learn essential road safety skills and be independent.”

This year, schools are being encouraged to incorporate the active travel theme into their curriculum. “For example, for art that week kids could create a collage using leaves, feathers or other bits and pieces they’ve collected on their way to and from school. In science, kids could find out exactly how the different bike gears work. And Maths classes could gather some statistics around the number of students who travel by foot, bike, scooter, skateboard, bus or car and then turn these into bar graphs or pie charts.”

Creativity is a big part of the Movin’March week with students being encouraged to turn their footwear into works of art and decorate their school gates.

Schools that enter the writing competition – where you share story, poem, song or rap about your journey to school – automatically receive a book for their school library and go in the draw to win an amazing prize.

Movin’March is open to primary schools throughout the Wellington region. Registrations are open until Thursday 5 March 2015.

More information, including registration details is available at http://schooltravel.wix.com/movin-march

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