Winslow pupils encouraged to walk to school as part of new scheme

Pupils at Winslow Church of England Combined School launch their WOW walk to school challenge

To celebrate the launch of their WOW year round walk to school challenge and new walking zone maps, Winslow Church of England School had a walk to school gate launch on Thursday June 13.

Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking say they are pleased to have Winslow C of E School join the WOW scheme to encourage more pupils to walk to school regularly and to help reduce the number of cars around the school gate.

Research shows that a short burst of activity before the school day can improve concentration on work, create less pollution and congestion around the school and most importantly children have found that it’s fun to walk to school with their friends.

When running WOW, schools see an average 23 per cent increase in pupils walking to school and a corresponding drop in car use.

WOW is Living Streets year-round walk to school challenge which sees children who walk to school at least once a week rewarded with a collectable badge each month.

With WOW, pupils log their daily journeys to school each day on the WOW travel tracker.

Those who walk to school at least once a week for a month earn a WOW badge, with 11 to collect across the year.

Thanks to grants from Bucks County Council’s public health team and Winslow Local Area Forum (LAF), the school has also been given their own tailored ‘walking zone map’ to show walking and cycling routes to school.

Each child was given a copy of the walking zone map, as they went home.

Councillor John Chilver also visited the school to hand out WOW badges as a reward to children for walking in.

Councillor Chilver added: “Encouraging children to be healthy is one of our main priorities.

"Walking to school can significantly contribute to the recommended 60 minutes of exercise per day as well as reducing the traffic congestion outside the school gate and reducing our carbon emissions.”