A year of movement part 2 and moving forward to 2021

A reflection on a year of movement:

This year has come with its challenges but also its rewards. Being able to complete activities like the Walk Safely to School Day helped bring everyone together and encourage a strong community spirit.

On a positive note, even with Covid, we still saw a small increase in the number of people getting to school actively. The difference being less people caught public transport and there were more walkers or bike riders.

Grant reward:

Due to the number of points awarded in my last post recounting the year and completing the end of year hands up survey, we unlocked a silver level grant. After looking at all the options, we narrowed it down to two options; the Safety School Excursion to Constable Care centre in Maylands or the Bike Promotion Package.

After discussions with the exec team, we decided on the Bike Promotion Package. We had seen an idea from another school about handing out raffle tickets to students who walked/rode to school as they entered the gate. We thought this was a simple initiative that we could do once a month to encourage students to actively get to school. We would use the grant money to buy bike bits and pieces such as helmets/gloves/sunnies etc to give as prizes. We would have the added bonus of supporting a local bike shop business. Another reason we chose the grant is to help support and promote the Pedal Prix team that will be racing in Busselton and Adelaide (Covid allowing). Pedal Prix is an event that encourages our students to ride bikes and live an active lifestyle. We would consider purchasing some items that the team could use but are also usable for all students who ride their bikes such as a standing bike pump, puncture repair kit etc.

The photo below shows the type of bikes that the students use to ride around the track. This is the 2019 group that went to Adelaide.

Looking forward to 2021:

Next year will see me hand over the Your Move baton to a new staff member who has taken on the “events coordinator role” within our college. She is looking forward to the role and I will work with her to ensure a smooth transition.

Some activities that are already set in the calendar include the yearly events listed below that we pledge to run next year:

- Walk Safely to School Day, Constable Care Incursion, and the First Aid Focus (St John) incursion for all year groups.

Events that we would like to bring back next year (that we couldn’t get to work this year) include the following:

-RAC little legends incursion. The younger students really enjoy the hands on learning that occurs in these.

-Safety House incursion: students are introduced to/reminded about a Safety House and how if something happens to you that makes you feel uncomfortable or scared while you are getting to school or at a park, you can go to a Safety House and find some people who have been trained to help you.

New Leaders
At the beginning of the year, we will also be organising for a new Year 6 leadership group. A part of this process is for the students who are interested, to create a speech to explain what they will do in their roles and why they would be good leaders. They will be asked for their suggestions on how we can encourage students to be more active in getting to and from school. As a leadership group they will then be able to put some of these ideas in motion. It will be exciting to see what they come up with.

From our school community to yours, we wish you all an enjoyable, relaxing break and look forward to hearing all the new initiatives that happen in 2021.