Day 1, Term 1, Assembly Item #1

On the very first day back at school for 2024 I had the opportunity to speak to the school community about our new bike shelter. Ms Coniglio and I had decided late last year that we would wait until the new year to communicate the 'guidelines for use' of the new bike shelter as it was more likely to have a long term effect. And it is just as well, because there was not one bike parked in our new shelter, everyone had forgotten over the holidays and parked in the old area - old habits die hard! My presentation was first cab off the rank.

The guidelines were agreed with Mrs Coniglio ahead of time:

• Bike shed accessed from middle playground gate in the morning
• Those crossing Gladstone Rd are to cross in line with middle gate to help avoid the majority of car traffic in the morning
• When parking your bike, choose the next available number, e.g. first person gets spot number 1, next gets spot number 2. These will be chalk at first, until permanent markings available
• Raised racks are for the front wheel (F), ground-level racks are for the back wheel (B).
• Scooters have dedicated racks in the alley between the hall and the fence – beyond the bikes.
• Helmets to be stored on saddles, not on handle bars.
• Always be respectful of all bikes, scooter, helmets and others using the space, particularly at the end of the day.
• Your Move Student Team will monitor whether students are using the bike shed appropriately and let teacher on duty know of any issues
• The class who holds the green foot trophy will have access to the VIP Parking area, which is the bike parking directly outside the music room. This is to be kept neat and tidy.

I revealed the poster that was to be installed in the bike shelter and explained each point to the school community. I explained that because of the limited space, we all need to follow these guidelines to ensure that everyone is able to use the facility comfortably. At the end of the presentation there were lots of interesting questions from students.

I also revealed to the school community our plan to use the previous parking area (VIP PARKING) as a reward for the class who are the holders of the green foot trophy (the green foot trophy is awarded to the class who have the most active travellers, counted on a random day and presented at each assembly).

We are planning to use our 2023 Connecting Schools Grant placemaking initiative funding to paint the signage on the bike parking areas, but for now I took to the area with some chalk so that the students can start getting used to the process (and we can iron out any kinks before the paint drys). It was just as well that the space was empty for me to get this done.