WOW - The Walk to School Challenge
Frenchwood Community Primary School has chosen to be part of an exciting behaviour-change initiative to encourage more children and their families to walk to school. WOW – the walk to school challenge is delivered by Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking, to help as many children as possible experience the benefits of walking to school.
The pupil-led challenge will see children self-report how they get to school every day. If they travel sustainably at least once a week for a month, they get rewarded with a badge. It's that simple!
What are the benefits of walking to school?
Walking to school helps children feel happier and healthier. They arrive refreshed, healthy and ready to learn. More families walking means fewer cars on the road, helping to reduce congestion and pollution at the school gates.
What if we can’t walk to school?
If you live too far away or don’t have time to walk the whole way to school, you can Park and Stride to help your child earn their WOW badge. Simply park, hop off public transport or ask your taxi to stop at least ten minutes away from the school and walk the remaining journey. We have been able to arrange free parking at the The Grand Occasions site as the starting point for a designated Frenchwood Park and Stride. The route we have identified is 0.5 mile, takes 10 minutes and also goes through a park. Hopefully those families who live more than a 10 minute walk away will be able to use this facility and enjoy a regular morning walk with their children.
What is a WOW badge?
There is a unique WOW badge to earn every month if you walk, wheel, cycle, scoot or Park and Stride at least once a week. Each badge has been designed by a pupil from across the UK as part of our annual WOW Badge Design Competition. Each pupil will be able to work towards the first badge from Monday 10th January, with all children who manage to walk at least once a week being presented with their badge in the first week of February.
The badges are made in Cornwall from repurposed plastic material that was otherwise destined for landfill, including fridge trays, plastic plates and yoghurt pot off-cuts. For more information, visit: livingstreets.org.uk/recycling
In the UK, thousands of schools and around one million pupils are enjoying the benefits of walking to school with WOW. Will you join us?
Let’s swap those school runs for school walks.