Michaela Meade
Pupils at Doreen’s Ashley Park Primary School are gearing up for a day of active travel next week as part of National Ride2School Day.
Principal Keren Barro said the school and wider community was looking forward to participating next Friday, March 19.
“Our house heroes will be wearing the National Ride2School day T-shirts and handing out stickers to those children who walk, ride and scoot to school on the day,” Ms Barro said.
“Our school zone contains no major roads and there are plenty of paths and bike tracks that enable easy accessibility to our school for our students and their families.
“We do have lots of kids on bikes most days, and even our families jump on their bikes as well… it’s sort of the community feel.”
Pupils Lily and Jeremiah are excited to be a part of the day. Lily said she enjoys the active travel her principal encourages.
“You get to get a lot more exercise than you would usually because you have school five days a week, it’s a lot of exercise,” Lily said.
Jeremiah said he likes observing nature on his way to school.
“It feels really good… you can see the leaves swishing, and hear the birds chirping. It’s really calm,” Jeremiah said.
Ms Barro said there are many benefits to riding to school.
“[You get] exercise, fresh air… [and it helps] developing independence and responsibility in children,” Ms Barro said.
“It also reduces traffic congestion around our school, making streets safer.
“Our school was built with a bike shed so we have great facilities to accommodate and enable active travel at Ashley Park.”
Michaela Meade
