Walk Ride Scoot Roll to School
Bellarine Community Health (BCH) is thrilled to be partnering with the City of Greater Geelong (COGG) and Active Geelong on the new project, Walk Ride Scoot Roll Geelong, within primary schools on the Bellarine Peninsula.
The project will support students to actively travel to and from school and aims to give students and families the confidence to feel safe using active travel in their communities.
BCH will work with the students to co-design a range of actions that will make it easier, safer and more fun for the school community to walk, ride, and scoot over the next 12 months. The co-design approach will allow the actions to be different in each school and fit the specific needs of the surrounding community.
“Supporting students to be active on the way to and from school is a great way to increase physical activity and we will be guided by the students and their families on what that support looks like,” says BCH Healthy and Connected Communities Planner Jackie Gillin.
“Active travel also has other terrific benefits like increasing students’ connection with the community, boosting students’ concentration and making the paths and roads safer by reducing congestion around the school.”
BCH is delivering Walk Ride Scoot Roll Geelong in local schools after COGG successfully secured one of only four Kids Active Travel grants awarded by Sport and Recreation Victoria. COGG has also contributed extra funds to the project.
BCH’s Healthy and Connected Communities Team (HCCT) will be working with Leopold Primary School, Portarlington Primary School and St Leonards Primary School to roll this project out on the Bellarine. This new project builds on successful active living activities the HCCT has worked on with these schools in the past two years such as the ‘Active Our Way’ program.
A fourth school outside of the Bellarine will participate in the project later in the year to test the co-design approach to see if children take up the active travel options in a new area.
“We hope that the Walk Ride Scoot Roll Geelong project will pave the way for students and families on the Bellarine and in Geelong to choose walking, riding or scooting as their favourite way to travel to school and back,” says Ms Gillan.
Learn more about our health promotion activities and about our Healthy and Connected Communities team HERE.
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