Newsletter article....

Health Centre News

November 2021

Your Move

We started the term with the news that we had reached Double Platinum and that the grants had been extended and we were able to access the big grant. There was much excitement in the team.

We have had a busy start to the term with a meeting to discuss the outcome of the Leadership Labs, a stencilling activity with 10 students, the end of year Hands Up survey and currently a reward activity for those who ride to school regularly.

Leadership Labs, written by Jasmine Manolas.

The day started by meeting at the Thornlie Train Station and catching the train to McIver and walking to Adelaide Terrace, demonstrating our groups’ commitment and dedication to using active transport whenever possible. Our team was pleased to meet several other High School groups at the workshop who have the same level of concerns about issues affecting our environment negatively and working towards goals to improve them.

The first day involved us meeting Cat from Millennium kids and experts from RAC and Transperth to analyse passive and active transport and their effects on the environment.

We also did several fun activities in mixed groups to expand our thinking, knowledge and teamwork skills and identify group member’s different abilities and strengths. We identified real world problems that worry us all in a brainstorm session. Some of these issues are climate change, different types of pollution particularly plastic waste, clearing of the natural habitat and sustainability.

Then on day two, our team identified a problem in our local area that we could solve through the Your Move program. Cat taught us how to pitch ideas and solutions with data and facts, direct solutions and catchy slogans and visual methods. (story board)

We spent several hours brainstorming and data collecting in pairs, to prepare our two minute pitch to the experts at the end of the day. Our team created a solution to two issues we are concerned about -climate change and revegetation of the natural habitat. We thought this could be addressed by planning several events encouraging our students to change their travel habits to and from school from passive transport that adds to green house gas emissions to a higher level of active transport that has zero or lower emissions because everyone can make a positive difference every day. As a reward for students changing their travel behaviour from passive to active, our team wants to partner with our local land care groups and involve students revegetating barren areas of our school and surrounding bush reserves with local native plants. This can be done through a competition and students who walk, ride or scoot may win the chance to partake in a planting afternoon or an afternoon at a local BMX track.

Cat, the experts and the students from the other schools gave us really valuable feedback about our pitch. The workshop was very inspirational and motivating and our team have already met this term to plan the timeline for our Term 4 event to encourage students to ride regularly over the coming weeks.

Stencilling activity

We had Rory from WestCycles come to school on the 28th of October to complete our Safe Routes to school activity. We painted red stop signs at intersections and crossings and then went back and stencilled the word, STOP, in the middle. The students enjoyed getting out of school and painting the stencils. We finished up stencilling blue footsteps on the footpaths leading to school. We can’t wait to get the Safe Routes to school brochure finished so we can start promoting the safe routes to our new year 7 in 2022. We have orientation day coming up.

Hands Up survey

We conducted our Hands Up survey last week and found the number of students riding to school has dropped but the number walking has increased from March this year. There is a slight difference between active travel 49.8% and car travel 50.2%. Interestingly there is a marked difference from November 2019 to November 2021, car travel has increased 9 % over 2 years. Is this a result of the Covid pandemic?

Reward Activity

Our regular riders are being rewarded with a bike riding excursion and lunch in the park next to school. To be able to attend, students need to ride to school 12 times over 3 weeks and get 12 stamps in their passport. Your Move students have been out at the bike compound every morning this week and last week stamping the passports. We hope that the reward excursion will occur in week 9.

Our year 12 students are either sitting final exams now or have finished their secondary school journey. We wish them all the very best for the exams and for their futures.