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HOWRAH Primary School encouraged its students to walk to school on national Walk Safely To School Day (WSTSD) held earlier this month.
Parents and carers were asked to walk their children to school and many families participated in the event because the car park was almost empty on the day.
On arrival at Howrah Primary School, parents and children attended a special assembly where the Minister for Education, David Bartlett, presented certificates to students and spoke about the importance of walking to keep fit and healthy.
Amanda Midgley from the Tasmanian division of the Heart Foundation also spoke about the health benefits of walking while the Assistant Commissioner, Scott Tilyard from Tasmania Police, spoke about the safety aspects involved with walking to school.
After assembly, parents, teachers, students and special guests enjoyed a healthy morning tea together to celebrate Walk Safely To School Day.
Woolworths at Shoreline Shopping Centre generously donated the healthy morning tea which included fresh fruit, cheese sticks, sultanas, Up & Go and Musashi Water.
Principal of Howrah Primary School Anne Hay said Walk Safely To School Day was an ideal way to encourage students, parents and carers to start walking.
“It’s important for students to take part in this event because national statistics show that 22 per cent of primary school children are obese due to inactivity and this figure is growing daily,” she said.
“Walking to school is an easy way for students to get part of the recommended one hour of physical activity a day.
“It is a great idea for parents and carers to encourage their children to walk a certain distance to school wherever possible.
“Howrah Primary School supports Walk Safely To School Day because good habits last a lifetime and we feel it is important to develop healthy eating and physical activity habits in children now.
“We encourage students to be healthy and safe because it’s an integral part of their primary-aged development.”
An initiative of the Pedestrian Council of Australia (PCA), Walk Safely To School Day promotes better health and safety, cleaner air, less traffic and improved transport by encouraging Tasmanian children to walk regularly to and from school.
The Chairman of the PCA, Harold Scruby, urged Eastern Shore parents to think about changing lifestyle habits and start walking more.
“Parents could also reduce around 800,000 kilograms of greenhouse gases each year if they parked the car just half a kilometre away from their schools and walked the rest of the way,” he said.
“Walking instead of driving helps to limit climate change by reducing pollutants caused by car emissions around schools, not to mention reducing accident risk as cars drop off children.”
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