Getting Active and Healthy at Quambatook Group School

Quambatook Group School re-committed to supporting Active and Healthy lifestyles at an event held on Thursday 3^rd March 2016.
The event, held in the lead-up to National Ride2School Day on Friday 4^th March 2016, aimed to build knowledge and confidence about bike safety, and of course to have some fun.

All five Quambatook Group School students ride or walk to school almost every day. They enjoy meeting up with their friends and walking or riding together. Daily physical activity is also part of the school day helping students to learn through exploring and play.

Students brought their bikes along to school for the Ride2School event and created signs for their bikes.

Good role modelling from adults is also really important with Miss Blight and Council staff participating.

 

Students learnt how to fit a helmet properly and to check their bikes to make sure they are safe to ride on the roads. We used Bicycle Network’s Get Kid’s Riding Guide with all children taking home a guide at the end of the day to help start conversations about the importance of helmets and bike safety with their families.

A fun obstacle course helped reinforce some riding skills.

Back in the classroom, Gannawarra Shire Council’s Manager Community Health, Narelle O’Donoghue, launched the Quambatook Group School’s Get Active Statement demonstrating a local partnership approach between schools, Gannawarra Shire Council and partner agencies to support every child to have a great start to life.

The Statement is a partnership project between Council, Northern District Community Health, Kerang District Health, Cohuna District Hospital, Mallee District Aboriginal Service, VicPolice and the Southern Mallee Primary Care Partnership. All primary schools in the Gannawarra Shire have been asked to contribute to a Get Active Statement for their own school and are at varying stages of consideration.

Quambatook Group School was keen to adopt the Get Active Statement to demonstrate its commitment to supporting Active and Healthy Lifestyles and the importance of wider community partnerships to a small rural school.

Each student was excited to be presented with a copy of the Get Active Statement and a toothpaste and toothbrush set to recognise their personal commitment to health, and to keep their smiles bright!

A viewing of the Gannawarra Ride2School media clip was a fun way to end the day. The media clip highlights the four key messages Stop, Look, Listen and Think and demonstrates how to check a bike using the ABC method – Air, Brakes and Chains. This clip was developed in partnership with three local primary schools in 2015 after the Gannawarra Shire Council successfully secured one of two Bicycle Network Victoria grants available across Victoria.

Six primary schools across the Gannawarra Shire are participating in this year’s program with students encouraged to ride, walk, skate or scoot to and from school, or the school bus.

Other schools participating are Murrabit Group School, Kerang Primary School, Kerang South Primary School, Cohuna Consolidated Primary School and St. Mary’s Primary School Cohuna.

The Ride2School Program is an initiative of the Bicycle Network with more than 2,000 schools across Australia registered to take part in National Ride2School Day and more than 350,000 students expected to ride, walk, scoot or skate to school.

The Ride2School program promotes the importance of children being Active and Healthy in their communities and fitting at least 60 minutes of physical activity into their daily lives.

Getting actively to school, the school bus, or while at school not only helps keep children fit and healthy, it also helps them to stay alert, to concentrate and improves learning outcomes.

Ride2School is a Bicycle Network initiative. For more information about the Ride2School program or National Ride2School Day visit https://www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/general/programs/179/

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