Kerang South Primary School

Kerang South Primary School students enthusiastically walked, rode, skated and scooted to school on Friday dressed up in the colour of their favourite fruit or vegetable – there were bananas, watermelons, oranges, strawberries, carrots and even a blueberry! The fruit and vegetable theme coincided with the final day of National Nutrition Week and celebrated healthy and active living; the theme for this year’s Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School program.

An Indonesian welcome started off the Friday morning assembly led by the Year 6 students. This was followed by the National Anthem ‘Advance Australia Fair’ and weekly presentations based on good learning outcomes and positive behaviour. Students representing the school at the recent Regional Athletics held in Bendigo shared their stories of success.

Following assembly, the students moved into the library where Cr. Mark Arians said how proud he felt travelling to Kerang South Primary School and seeing so many students actively making their way to school. A show of hands revealed that most students had walked to school with many saying their parents had dropped them off part way so they could walk the remaining distance. Riding and scooting were also popular means of active transport for Kerang South Primary School students. Cr. Arians said that Gannawarra Shire Council and partnership agencies were committed to working in partnership with local schools to encourage active and healthy lifestyles. This commitment supported better learning outcomes for the shire's children and created healthier communities which benefits everyone.
 

Cr. Arians went on to launch the 'Gannawarra Golden Shoe’ as an added incentive for students to walk, ride, skate or scoot to school throughout October. The class with the highest participation at the end of October would be presented with the prestigious trophy.

Kerang South Primary School were involved in producing the new Gannawarra Ride2School media clip and the room was super quiet as the media clip was viewed for the first time. Student Mischa had a lead role in the media clip and this was acknowledged with a special presentation. Mischa told  fellow students how much she had enjoyed being a movie star and that she had lots of fun telling her story and being filmed riding her bike to school.

The official launches were followed by an interactive sugar display led by Leesa, a Dietician from Northern District Community Health. This followed on from oral health screening undertaken by volunteer dentists from the Royal Flying Doctors Service earlier this year at Kerang South Primary School as part of the Rural Engaging Communities in Oral Health project. The dentists raised concern at the amount of tooth decay they saw in children at primary schools and pre-schools across the Gannawarra Shire and so the Dental Health School at Latrobe University in Bendigo provided the sugar display as part of the Gannawarra Walk to School program to help children better understand the importance of good oral health. Children were reminded to Eat Well, Drink Well and Clean Well.

A tooth-brushing demonstration helped children gain greater knowledge of how to look after their teeth – slow and gentle movements to help clean all the teeth – singing ‘happy birthday’ twice in your head while you brush is a good way to measure the time it should take to brush your teeth - opening your mouth wide to get to those big back teeth. A soft toothbrush and a small amount of fluoride toothpaste are all that is needed and remembering to brush twice a day is a great start.

 

We found out too that there is lots of sugar in some of the drinks and foods that children regularly eat – like a prima with 5 teaspoons of sugar and a yoghurt topped muesli bar with nearly 3 teaspoons. We learnt that some drinks like soft drinks, sports drinks, iced coffee, iced tea and juice have lots of sugar in them that young children just don’t need. It’s much better to fuel our bodies with crunchy fruit and vegetables that help keep our mind and body healthy and our teeth strong and cavity free.

 

Fitting lots of physical activity into daily routines also keeps young bodies fit and healthy. Karyl from Kerang District Health helped students demonstrate activities that build muscle strength and to help keep bones strong and resistant to breaking as we grow. It was then time to stretch our muscles and take in some fresh air with a walk around the school oval.

 

 

Our colourful walk was followed by a cup of cold milk or water and platters of yummy fruit and vegetables. A big thank you to IGA Kerang, IGA Cohuna, Border Packers Koondrook, Rocky's Fruit and Vegetables Cohuna and Woolworths Kerang for the fresh fruit and vegetables and milk.

 

The next Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School event will be held at Kerang Christian School on Monday 19^th October from 9:30am.

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In the meantime, walk your way to wellbeing by getting out and about walking in your community – take time to breath in the delightful Spring aromas, learn about the world around you, and connect to other people along the way…

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: www.walktoschool.vic.gov.au.