Staying Active All Year Round at Koondrook Primary School

Koondrook Primary School is committed to encouraging students to be active and healthy all year round. As part of this ongoing commitment, for the fourth year in a row, Koondrook Primary School has participated in the Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School program.

The Walk to School program is coordinated by Gannawarra Shire Council and the students were excited to hear today how they went.

The final result for this year was that 87% of students walked, rode or scooted 477 times during October - that’s about 343 kilometres – equivalent to walking along the Murray River to Lake Hume right up the top of the Murray River (341kms)!

There were 4 students who achieved Gannawarra Star Walker status by walking at least 30 times out of the possible 38 times during Walk to school month. Star Walkers at Koondrook Primary School were:

Grade 2 /3: Zara Verhey (30/38).

Grade 4/5/6: Rainni (31/38), Emily (34/38) and Lachlan (38/38).

There were also 2 encouragement awards for the Prep/1 class:

Thomas W who walked 16 times for the month and Haydin who walked 17 times for the month.

 

Students were asked to share their Walk to School secrets to success. One said that they walk to school with their mum and while they don’t talk much they do enjoy looking at the river and checking out what’s going on. Another said that they live in Barham so dad brings the ute across the bridge and drops him off with his bike so that he can ride along the walking track to school. Another said that they get dropped off at the bridge and walk to school from there. This is a great tip for families who live just a bit too far away from school to walk the whole way. Another said that mum works so he, his brother and sister all walk to school together. They think this is great and love the fact that they are trusted and independent. Another way that they make sure they walk to the school bus as often as possible to keep fit and healthy.

Students were keen to know who had won the Gannawarra Golden Shoe trophy and after holding their excitement for so long, the announcement was made...

…and the class with the highest participation throughout Walk to School month at Koondrook Primary School was…Drum Roll please…Grade 4 /5 /6.

Xander and Jayde accepted the prestigious trophy from Cr. Steve Tasker and the whole school gave them a great big cheer!

 

 

The VicHealth Walk to School 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.


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

Read all about the Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School program: www.facebook.com/HealthyGannawarra and the Gannawarra Walk to School BLOG: www.gannawarrawalkstoschool.blogspot.com.au