WOW! Check out these walking kids

THE pupils and parents at Gardiner Street Primary School showed that they know how to travel green by walking en mass to school last Wednesday (November 21).

The school was launching its weekly WOW (Walk on Wednesday) Days and up to 97 per cent of pupils asked their parents to leave the car at home for the school journey on the morning.

The school’s new walking initiative encourages pupils, parents and teachers to walk or park n’stride to school every Wednesday to kick-start a greener and healthier approach to travel on the school journey.

A travel survey carried out by An Taisce has shown that less than a fifth of all pupils at the school normally make the journey by car.

While this figure is below the national average for car use on the journey the school now hopes to reduce this figure even further by promoting and facilitating initiatives such as WOW Days and carpooling for pupils.

Those who walked to school on the morning were rewarded with stickers and placed green leaves on the school’s new Green Tree. In preparation for the launch of the school’s WOW days, An Taisce facilitated a

‘walkability audit’ at the school to help the Green Schools committee assess the safety of walking routes around their school.

The WOW launch is an important step for the school towards achieving their fourth Green Flag from An Taisce for the theme of sustainable travel.

Sandra Flavin, An Taisce’s Green Schools Travel Education Officer, said:

“Active travel is so important to a healthy lifestyle at primary school level. Many studies show that children who walk and cycle to school are fitter and better able to concentrate than children who have a more passive journey such as being driven to school.

“It is very inspiring that Gardiner Street Primary School are taking such a proactive approach to green travel in their school. More walkers on the school journey means less traffic on our roads in the morning and we all benefit from that. Congratulations to the pupils, parents and staff at Gardiner Street for making sustainable travel a priority.

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