25 Mar 2024
Pupils at a St Albans primary are celebrating reaching a national leaderboard of schools making strides to walk or wheel to school.
Prae Wood Primary School is one of 10 schools on the WOW Top Ten leaderboard for February 2024.
The WOW – walk to school challenge, is run by charity Living Streets and sees pupils record how they get to school, with those who walk, wheel, cycle, scoot or ‘Park and Stride’ to school being awarded a monthly WOW badge.
The WOW Top Ten helps boost pupils’ engagement in WOW and increases walking rates at schools. With a few challenges scattered across the school year, WOW Top Ten supports pupils’ health and wellbeing while reducing congestion and pollution around the gates.
This term, pupils at Prae Wood Primary School took part in the spring WOW Top Ten which asked them to walk to school as many times as possible during the month of February.
Pupils who live too far away or are not able to walk the whole way to school were encouraged to Park and Stride by asking their parents or carers to park at least 10 minutes away from the school and walk or wheel the rest of the way.
However, just 10 per cent of journeys recorded on the WOW Travel Tracker by pupils at Prae Wood Primary School are car trips all the way to the school gates.
Prae Wood headteacher headteacher Jenny Sheppard said: “We are very pleased to be recognised for all the ways in which we try to help our pupils get moving and this initiative links well with our school ethos, ‘Be Active, Be Healthy, Be Mentally Strong’.
“Everyone enjoys walking, cycling and scooting to school and those who live a bit further away can join in by choosing to park and stride.
“We’ve since moved from 10th to 8th place in the top ten and hope to continue this upwards trajectory!”
Living Streets chief executive Stephen Edwards said: “We’re very happy to reward pupils from Prae Wood Primary School as part of the WOW Top Ten. Walking to school is a simple way for children to meet the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day needed to stay fit, healthy and happy. It can also reduce congestion, air pollution and road danger outside the school gates.
“It’s great that pupils at Prae Wood Primary School are benefitting from walking to school.
“They are an inspiration and I’m sure that they’ll encourage other children and their families to follow in their footsteps,” Stephen added.
