Kerang Primary School

School captain Hunter welcomed all in attendance to Kerang Primary School on Friday 9^th October for a special Walk to School event. The day started with an outdoor assembly, singing of the National Anthem ‘Advance Australia Fair’ and awarding of prizes children received at this week’s Kerang Agricultural Show.

Cr. Oscar Aertsenn congratulated Kerang Primary on being involved in the VicHealth Walk to School program and launched the new Gannawarra Ride2School media clip that students from Kerang Primary School were involved in producing.
 

Cr. Aertsenn also launched the ‘Gannawarra Golden Shoe’ trophy as an added incentive for students to walk, ride, skate or scoot to school throughout October. He promised to return to the school in November to present the trophy to the class with the highest participation throughout October and to launch the school’s new Active Map, funded through the Ride2School program.

The official launches were followed by an interactive sugar display provided by LaTrobe University’s Dental Health School in Bendigo as part of the Rural Engaging Communities in Oral Health project. This followed on from the Royal Flying Doctors Service visit to Kerang Primary School as part of this project earlier this year with volunteer dentists raising concern at the amount of tooth decay they saw in children at primary schools and pre-schools across the Gannawarra Shire.

 

A tooth-brushing demonstration helped children gain greater knowledge of how to look after their teeth and we learnt that while brushing twice a day – morning and night – is important, the night time brush is the most important so that our teeth are clean before we go to sleep. This is because the protective action of saliva isn’t as strong as it is during the daytime. We also learnt that brushing our teeth too hard or too often can wear away the teeth and harm our gums so twice a day is best using a soft toothbrush and a small amount of fluoride toothpaste (about the size of a pea is enough). Toothbrushes were awarded as prizes throughout the demonstration.

 

 

Continuing the Healthy and Active Living theme, Leesa, a Dietician with Northern District Community Health, provided students with some extra skills to look at the sugar content in the nutrition panel of common foods and drinks and how to choose healthier options. We learnt for example that yoghurt topped muesli bars have twice as much sugar as plain muesli bars even though they look like a healthy option. We also learnt that drinks like primas, pop tops, soft drinks and energy drinks contain lots of sugar plus other ingredients that growing bodies just don't need.

It’s always good, if we can, to eat more fruit, vegetables, nuts, wholegrains and lean meat and choose water as our main drink and sometimes milk. All of these foods provide lots of vitamins, minerals and fibre that help keep our bodies healthy and strong.

 

 

Karyl from Kerang District Health also came along to encourage students to be active and incorporate lots of physical activity into their daily lives. Activities like walking, riding, skating and scooting are good for our health and wellbeing. Other activities that build our muscle strength are also great so that our muscles and bones stay strong and healthy as we grow up.

 

Under Karyl's guidance students learnt to build their bicep (arm) muscles by doing bicep curls. Students used weights but just as good would be a bottle of water or any other everyday item.  They also worked on strengthening some other major muscle groups like legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders and arms, using resistance bands. This was lots of fun and helps maintain flexibility, balance and protects joints from injury.

 

 

It was then time for some outdoor fun - a 5 Ways to Wellbeing themed walk or scoot around the block with students collecting stamps on their ‘walking passports’ as they went. The walk supported Mental Health Week activities. The 5 Ways to Wellbeing  - Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give - can help support good health and wellbeing when practiced every-day.  

 

Students then enjoyed cups of cold milk or water and platters of colourful fruit and vegetables – carrots, celery, cucumber, red, green and yellow capsicum, oranges, apples, rockmelon, watermelon and strawberries. A big thank you to IGA Kerang, Border Packers Koondrook, Murray Milk, Rocky's Fruit and Vegetables Cohuna and Woolworths Kerang for providing everything we needed for our healthy morning tea.

 

 

All school children participating in the Gannawarra Walk to School program receive a locally developed Walk to School bookmark and Walk to School ruler as ongoing reminders to walk, ride, skate or scoot to school.

The next Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School event will be held at Kerang South Primary School on Friday 16^th October from 8:45am.

 

In the meantime, walking is easy, free and fun, and it’s good for you too, so what are you waiting for? – pull on your walking shoes and get walking…

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The Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School program is rolled out across the Gannawarra Shire as a Gannawarra Local Agency Meeting (GLAM) partnership project. This is a partnership between Gannawarra Shire Council, Northern District Community Health, Kerang District Health, Cohuna District Hospital, Mallee District Aboriginal Service, Victoria Police, with support from the Southern Mallee Primary Care Partnership.

Walk to School is a VicHealth initiative. For more information go to walktoschool.vic.gov.au.