Murrabit Group School

Little faces peered through the school windows this morning excited by the prospect of what was waiting inside. It wasn’t long before the doors opened and the students filed in to see a healthy breakfast set up as part of the Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School program.

 

After a warm welcome from the school captains, Amber and Tyson, students, teachers and families from Murrabit Playgroup enjoyed choosing from the range of cereals, toast, fresh locally grown oranges and cups of cold milk.

 

 

 

Once tummies were full, Mayor Cr. Neville Goulding said how great it was to be at Murrabit Group School and to hear so much enthusiastic chatter as students enjoyed the rare treat of eating breakfast together. Cr. Goulding launched the new Gannawarra Ride2School media clip produced by Council in partnership with three local primary schools. The clip was funded by Bicycle Network Victoria as part of the Ride2School program and was designed to support and encourage more students to ride to school, not just across the Gannawarra Shire, but right across Victoria.

While riding to school can be challenging in rural areas, Murrabit Group School has a fantastic bike education program where students are able to learn to be road safe while riding their bikes in their community. The media clip helped to reinforce what the children had learnt about bikes and applying these lessons to a rural context – checking a bike’s ‘roadworthiness’ using the ABC for bikes – Air, Brakes and Chain and wearing bright coloured clothing to be seen, closed in footwear and a well fitted helmet.

Sometimes it’s hard also for rural students to walk to school but many students are able to walk to the school bus and this is great for developing a sense of independence as well as improving fitness. Schools like Murrabit prioritise physical activity as part of the school’s education program so students have the opportunity to be fit and healthy during the school day. This helps keep students alert, improves learning outcomes and provides children with a strong foundation for developing life-long healthy habits. 

Tanya, a Community Health Nurse from Northern District Community Health, came along to talk to students about healthy habits and particularly how to look at food labels to see how much sugar is in processed foods and drinks. Students guessed how much sugar was in a range of drinks and were surprised that a 600ml bottle of Lift has slightly more sugar than a 600ml bottle of Coke – both have 16 teaspoons or more! Students also learnt that flavoured milks contain lots of sugar and even drinks that come in little packages such as Primas also have heaps of sugar – more than 5 teaspoons in fact!

 

There are lots of tricks that food manufacturers use to make people think that their product is a healthy option – words like real fruit, yoghurt top, low fat, natural or healthy. Sometimes these foods contain more sugar than others that are similar – a yoghurt topped muesli bar for example has almost twice as much sugar as a plain muesli bar. Tanya encouraged students to take a closer look at food labels at home and at school so they are better able to make healthy choices now and as they grow up.

Tanya said how important it is to eat well, drink well and brush well so as part of the talk she showed students how to brush their teeth using a soft brush, a dob of fluoride toothpaste, small circular movements taking special care to clean the inside, outside and tops of teeth and those big molars at the back where food can get stuck – singing under our breath ‘happy birthday’ twice and brushing morning and night will help keep our mouths healthy and smiling! We only get two sets of teeth in a life-time so it’s important to look after them. Healthy teeth help us to chew and to speak; to smile and be confident.

 

The theme for this year’s Walk to School program is Healthy and Active Living, so after learning all about what it takes to be Healthy, we got Active with Pia from the Gannawarra Library Service leading an energetic and fun laughter yoga session in the school stadium. Pretending to eat a whole pineapple followed by a sour lemon helped warm up our face muscles before things started to really warm up with a chicken dance, monkey dance and lawn mowing routine. This was interspersed by lots of very loud clapping and chanting of Ho, Ho, Ha, Ha, Ha! Laughter yoga was a great warm up for our Walk to School town tour walk organised by the Years 4-6.

 

 

Taking in the local Murrabit Public Hall (circa 1912 and moved to its present location in 1926), Murrabit Market (circa 1977), community mural showcasing many of the student’s artwork (circa 2011), and the Kerang-Murrabit-Stony Crossing railway (circa 1924) the walk was an informative and well researched tour of the Murrabit township. We learnt lots about each point of interest as students shared the pride they have for their community.

 

 

 

Following our walk, we all enjoyed cups of cold milk or water and platters of colourful fruit and vegetables. A big thank you to IGA Kerang, IGA Cohuna, Border Packers Koondrook and Rocky's Fruit and Vegetables Cohuna for the fresh fruit and vegetables and to Murray Milk for the delicious cold milk. Also to Gray's Bakery Kerang for the bread for our yummy brekky.

 

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.

 

The next Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School event will be held at Lake Charm on Friday 23rd October commencing at 9am. This will be a combined event between Lake Charm Primary School and Quambatook Group School. An official opening of the Lake Charm Community Garden Beds will also be incorporated into the event.

 

 

Kerang Christian College

Year 6 leaders Emmer and Kevin welcomed students, teachers and guests to Kerang Christian College on Monday morning for a special Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School event. This was the first time Kerang Christian College has been involved in the VicHealth Walk to School program and the students are excited to be walking, riding and, in some cases, scooting to school throughout October with more than 500 other schools from across Victoria.

Cr. Oscar Aertssen from the Gannawarra Shire Council thanked Kerang Christian College for being involved and said how exciting it was to have all eleven Gannawarra primary schools supporting their students to be active and healthy not just throughout Walk to School month but all year round. Cr. Aertssen launched the ‘Gannawarra Golden Shoe’ trophy with the Year 3/4 class competing against the Year 5/6. Who will win? Clearly the students below think they will!

The new Gannawarra Ride2School media clip was viewed before Andrew, a local police officer, talked to students about pedestrian safety and some simple reminders – Stop, Look, Listen, Think! He also picked out some key messages from the Ride2School media clip – the importance of wearing a well fitted helmet, checking the ABC - Air, Brakes and Chains – before riding to make sure bikes and scooters are road safe, walking bikes and scooters across roads and school crossings, riding in single file and watching for cars backing out of driveways.

Getting to school actively, or being active while at school, after school or on the weekends helps keep bodies strong and healthy as they grow. Also important is the foods and drinks that we use to ‘fuel’ our bodies as they provide energy and help us to learn. Tanya, a Community Health Nurse from Northern District Community Health, came along and talked about the high sugar content in some foods and drinks. Did you know that a prima has 5 teaspoons of sugar, a yoghurt topped muesli bar almost 3 teaspoons, and Up and Go Liquid Breakfast that looks like a healthy option has almost 5 teaspoons? Riley measured out how much sugar is in a 600 ml bottle of Lift soft-drink – 66 grams – that’s more than 16 teaspoons! A 600ml Coke has 64 grams and even an iced-coffee has more than 46 grams followed closely by iced tea with 31 grams, even that’s nearly 8 teaspoons!

What does sugar do in our bodies? We need sugar to help ‘fuel’ or brains but while sugar might provide short-term energy, overall too much sugar makes us tired and lacking in energy. Our brains can become ‘foggy’ and our waistlines can get bigger. We can become overweight and even develop Diabetes. Eating a balanced diet using sugars found naturally in foods like fruit provides lots of vitamins, minerals and fibre that processed foods and drinks don’t.

Of course, sugar also sticks to our teeth and causes plaque to build up. If teeth aren’t cleaned properly we can get holes or cavities. We only get two sets of teeth in a lifetime so we need to look after them! Thomas did a great job demonstrating how to brush our teeth – a soft brush, a dob of fluoride toothpaste, small circular movements taking special care to clean the inside, outside and tops of teeth and those big molars at the back where food can get stuck – about two minutes of gentle brushing twice a day is a great way to keep a healthy smile!

 

Eat Well, Drink Well, Brush Well!

Looking after our wellbeing is also an important part of living a healthy life and students learnt a little bit about the 5 Ways to Wellbeing – Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give. These are some simple things we can do every-day to improve our health and wellbeing. After being issued with a ‘walking passport’ the students collected the 5 Ways to Wellbeing stamps as they enjoyed a walk around the school oval. Sometimes it’s hard to walk or ride to school so each day the students have been walking twice around the school oval as part of the VicHealth Walk to School program.

 

Following our walk, we all enjoyed cups of cold milk or water and platters of colourful fruit and vegetables. A big thank you to IGA Kerang, IGA Cohuna, Border Packers Koondrook and Rocky's Fruit and Vegetables Cohuna for the fresh fruit and vegetables and to Murray Milk for the delicious cold milk.

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.

 

There is also an article on the Kerang Christian College's website: http://www.kccs.vic.edu.au/gannawarra-vichealth-walk-to-school-program

 

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.

Watch here for more photos, posts and comments...

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.

 

Tips for helping children become independent walking or riding in their communities

VicHealth has released some great tips for parents to help children become independent in their communities:

1.       Walk or ride with your child around the neighbourhood as a great, cheap family activity.

2.       Teach and reinforce road safety and navigation skills by riding or walking around the neighbourhood.

3.       Set up buddy groups of older children who can walk or ride together.

4.       Drop your children 500 metres from school so they can walk the remainder.

5.       Join VicHealth’s Walk to School month, all October.

For full details go to:

https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/parental-fears



Walking to school is a fun way to stay active and healthy

Local Businesses get behind Walk to School

The Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School program reaches across all Gannawarra primary schools - that's around 850 students! We couldn't provide healthy breakfasts and snacks for all these students without the support of local businesses.

 

This year's program has again received incredible support and ensures that students at our local primary schools have access to healthy foods, particularly fresh fruit and vegetables. They also love the cold glasses of milk!

 

Some of the businesses listed below have been supporting the Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School program for the past three years. Their ongoing support and commitment to our Shire's schools and children is very much appreciated.

 

So a very big thank you this year to IGA Cohuna, IGA Kerang, Border Packers Koondrook, Murray Milk, Rocky’s Fruit and Vegetables Cohuna, Woolworths Kerang, and Gray's Bakery Kerang.

 

Just a small amount of the fresh produce donated to this year's Walk to School program.

 

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.

 

 

Gannawarra Golden Shoe Trophy Competition Launch

Students from St. Joseph’s Primary, Kerang Primary, Kerang South Primary School and Kerang Christian College (Grades 3-6) are all vying for a Gannawarra Golden Shoe as part of this month's​ Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School program.

The class with the highest percentage of students who walk, ride, skate or scoot to and from school, or the school bus, throughout October (and record this on their classroom VicHealth Walk to School calendars) will be presented with the prestigious trophy.

The Gannawarra Golden Shoe competition is being launched at each primary school to inspire students to ramp up their physical activity levels in an effort to be named as the winning class…

Will your class be the winners?

St. Joseph Primary School students with the Gannawarra Golden Shoe trophy

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.

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…

Watch here for more photos, posts and comments...

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.