About our Commitment to Active Travel
Worongary State School began its Active School Travel journey at the end of 2021 and we have been working with the City of Gold Coast, our families and the broader community to develop this initiative. With their support and encouragement, the number of children who travel to school by car has begun to decrease. Children at Worongary State School are encouraged to walk, ride a bike or scooter, catch the bus or carpool all or part of the way to and from school.
Good things happen when school communities actively travel. Empowered children travel safely to and from school, help the environment, feel part of a community and have fun.
What is Active School Travel?
The City of Gold Coast runs the Active School Travel (AST) program for Gold Coast primary schools. Schools that join the program receive resources, incentives and support to enable students, parents, carers and teachers to:
- re-mode–swap the car for walking, wheeling and bussing to school
- reduce car trips by carpooling (with friends or neighbours) or combining trips
- re-route–take a slightly different route to avoid congested roads or to drop off student at a safe Park and Stride location
- re-time school-related trips–consider dropping children earlier or picking them up later.
Since the inception of the AST program, thousands of Gold Coast families have been walking and wheeling their way to school, having fun, making friends, and helping the environment. Active travel school communities enjoy:
- healthier children
- safer school zones
- increased concentration in students
- making friends
- learning life-long skills
- a connected community
- resources and skills to empower the community
- reduced traffic around school
- helping the environment.
For more information on AST check out the City of Gold Coast's dedicated webpage: https://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/thegoldcoast/active-school-travel-20076.html
How to be an Active Travel Family
You can become an active travel family by changing the way you move to and from school. The following modes count as active school travel:
Walking
Leave the car at home and walk to or from school.
'Park and Stride'
If you live too far away, drive part of the way and walk the rest.
Wheeling
Riding a bike with your children helps them get to school quickly, be active and develop lifelong riding skills. It's fun and fast to scooter or skateboard to school. Just like when riding a bike, stick to the footpath and wear a helmet.
Carpooling
If you have to drive, try carpooling with another family or friends to help reduce the number of cars at the school gate.
Catching Public Transport
Travelling on public transport can give older children a sense of independence and free parents from daily school trips. For more information on catching the bus, visit the Translink Journey Planner : https://jp.translink.com.au/plan-your-journey/services-nearby
Join our weekly 'Walk and Wheel Wednesdays' for Safe Active Travel
You don't have to change the way you travel every day of the week – just one day a week can make a difference. As an AST school, we have nominated Wednesday as our weekly active travel day! We'd love to see as many families in our school community picking active travel as the way to go on this day. That doesn't mean it's the only day you can actively travel to school but it may be start and incentive you need.
Volunteer to Help
If you are interested in becoming involved in our active school travel community, please contact the school for details. We're always looking for volunteers who can promote active travel in the school or lead walking groups to schools.
Talk to your Children
Have conversations with your children about road safety, the active travel events being held at school, and the skills they are learning.
Maps
To help plan your active travel, Worongary State School is working with the City of Gold Coast to create and release an Active Safe Travel Map which will be available for use by all families. The map will include pathways to school, as well as, 'Park and Stride' locations which have been suggested by members of the community and our school. Once created, the map will be added to this page.
What we've Achieved so Far
In the past 12 months since we began this program, we have accomplished a number of goals, including:-
- Participating in Ashmore PCYC Bike Education program (conducted annually)
- Whole school participation in road safety education through the RACQ Streets Ahead Road Safety program (conducted annually)
- Engaging with GCCC and Main Roads regarding infrastructure around the 'Kiss and Go' zones
- Having Councillor Glen Tozer attend our community events including our launch
- Identified Park and Stride areas suitable for children and their families to walk to school from
- Free Healthy Breakfast events (each term)
- Having a large number of staff who participate in AST committee meetings a number of times each term, as well as, having many more who volunteer and help out at our healthy breakfast mornings
- Community liaison and support, including donations of fruit and bicycles from local businesses
- Increased parent engagement through involvement in AST breakfast, by actively travelling with their children and by completing our Park and Stride survey to find the best places to meet and walk to and from school
- Successful collection and monitor of data through our weekly class surveys
- Regular updates and reminders on the Dojo system, school newsletter and on assembly
Where to Next?
Although we have accomplished many of the goals we have set out for ourselves, Worongary State School continues to strive through our future planned projects, including:-
- New bike and scooter parking installation
- Implementation of the Look Out program
- Mural promoting Active School Travel
- Ongoing meetings with the council to discuss parking arrangements to enhance safe travel and decrease congestion around the school