STUDENTS from Ballymun lent a hand to Minister of Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe, last week for the launch of this year’s National Walk to School Week.
The event takes place all this week and pupils, parents and teachers are all being encouraged to leave the car at home and walk to school wherever possible.
Scoil an tSeachtar Laoch has been working on the Green-Schools Travel theme for two years and will receive their Green Flag for Travel in May and so are well placed to help spread the walk to school message.
Speaking in Ballymun at the launch Minister Donohoe said:
“Encouraging our children, at an early age, to consider more sustainable ways of getting to school, other than the car, is essential.
“National Walk to School Week makes walking all or part of the way to school a fun experience and teaches our children the health and environmental benefits attached to doing so.
“This programme has been developing, year on year, and I am confident that this year it can surpass all others in terms of the number of children that will travel to school by foot during this week.
“Other walking initiatives undertaken by Green-Schools across the year, such as Walk On Wednesday (WOW) Days, Feet First Fridays, ensure that the lessons we are teaching our children are being promoted year-round and not just for one week during the year.
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The An Taisce backed initiative is taking place all around the country with Wednesday (May 13) designated as Green-Schools’ National WOW day when its hoped there’ll be at least 20,000 people walking to school all over Ireland. Local schools are being asked to keep a record of how many people walked to school on the day and email or text the numbers to travelevents@eeu.antaisce.org or 086-0311412.
National Walk to School Week is aimed at supporting a greener, healthier environment as well as sustainable travel modes.