Movin'March bigger and brighter than ever

The winnners of Greater Wellington’s active travel to school promotion are announced.

The Movin March WOW Passport Challenge, where students who walked or wheeled their way to school got their passports stamped each day, went into the draw to win one of six $300 Avanti vouchers. Six winners were announced across the region.

"Congratulations to the winners and all of the schools which took part," says Greater Wellington school travel coordinator Kirsty Barr. "It's been a really successful year, with a 30 per cent increase in the number of schools getting involved. Momentum is obviously building behind the programme and we look forward to even more involvement in 2019."

It's estimated that nearly 60,000 kms of walking or wheeling journeys took place during the month, an increase of 26 per cent on last year.

The winners of the challenge were: Patrick Middleton, aged 9 from Kapanui School, Kapiti Coast; Ellie van Berlo, Masterton Primary School, Wairarapa; Charlotte Scott, aged 10, from Island Bay School, Wellington City; Giddeon Gonzales, age 5, Taita Central School,  Hutt City; Samuel Ford, from Plimmerton School, Porirua, 7 yrs; Evie Perkins, St Brendan's School Heretaunga, Upper Hutt, aged 5.

Amesbury School, Karori West Normal School and Totara Park School had the highest participation rates in the region, and nearly all Wairarapa Schools took part.

Movin March is a flexible programme, and this year some schools combined walking and wheeling days with triathlons, organised special walking buses (including some in fancy dress!).  Other schools took a  different tack, such as Kenakena School with a walk your dog to school day and Khandallah School which painted rocks with a "WOW" theme, hid them along popular routes for walking children to find, who in turn arranged these in a spectacular koru display on the school courts.  The broader programme also included a poster competition, WOW family day, parent photo competition and plenty of class activities to engage the students and get them moving.

Now in its eighth year, Movin'March aims to promote active travel to school - whether it be walking, cycling, skating or scootering

"There are real benefits in wheeling and walking. While exercise is important the programme also enables students to develop connections, get to know their neighbourhood and learn vital road-safety skills. Movin'March helps them break down barriers and build a positive sense of place," says Kirsty.

Movin'March is also for people who live too far away to walk all the way to school and have to use car transport. The programme uses "Park and Stride" and the Walking Pou to encourage parents to park away from the school to give students the opportunity to walk some of the way.

ENDS

For more information, please contact:  Kirsty Barr, GW School Travel Coordinator, tel: 8304333, 0272005111, Kirsty.barr@gw.govt.nz