By Danielle Kutchel
Over 350,000 students across Australia are set to ride, scoot, skate or walk to school on Bicycle Network’s National Ride2School Day on Friday 19 March.
Among them will be students from Waverley Christian College in Narre Warren, building on a strong tradition of participating in the event.
Adam Dearness, a teacher at Waverley, said the school has been seeing increased interest in the event over the years.
He said the school targets healthy lifestyles amongst families, not just kids.
“It’s important to promote an active lifestyle for our whole school community, not just students,” he said.
“Ride2School gives us a platform to be able to speak into helping students to use active transport as a way to stay active.”
Often, he said, lack of safe riding routes is a barrier to students and their families choosing active modes of transport.
To counter this, the school talks to its students about safe routes to and from the gates, which helps put parents’ minds at ease.
Kids at Waverley Christian College eagerly participate in other physical activities through the curriculum and extra-curricular activities, Mr Dearness explained.
This includes things like volleyball and swimming, but also hiking and kayaking.
Mr Dearness hopes this enthusiasm will translate into increased numbers at this year’s Ride2School event.
“We would like to see this program grow,” he said.
National Ride2School Day is Australia’s biggest bike riding party and the peak of the Ride2School program which works to help children get their 60 minutes of daily exercise by riding a bike to school.
Bicycle Network General Manager of Public Affairs Anthea Hargreaves said that National Ride2School Day is a great time to start going to school the healthy way.
“National Ride2School Day is a fun way for students and parents to experience the joy of riding a bike. There’s no better time to make riding to school part of your routine,” she said.
“Riding to school is free and fun and can also help students perform better in the classroom. Studies have shown students arrive at school energised, alert and more ready to learn.”
Participation numbers in 2021 could receive a boost from the increased interest in bike riding, with a VicHealth survey finding more than 1 in 4 Victorian households with kids have been doing more walking or bike riding during coronavirus than they did in January and February this year.
Students won’t just be doing it for themselves, with many schools also fundraising for World Bicycle Relief to send specially designed Buffalo Bicycles to villages in Africa.
Buffalo Bicycles give children in developing countries a way of getting to school safely and quickly.
National Ride2School Day is part of Bicycle Network’s Ride2School program which has been running nationally since 2006.
