Going ‘Feet First’ earns Auckland school breakfast with champion swimmer

Children at Auckland’s Riverhead School are gearing up for a free breakfast with two-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games athlete Dean Kent on Thursday (June 21).  

The 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games silver medallist will walk to school with 230 Riverhead students, after joining them for a Sanitarium school breakfast – top prize for having the highest participation rate in the country for ‘Walking Wednesdays’ in the first term.

The ‘Walking Wednesdays’ programme is an extension of the push to encourage walking which kicked off with Feet First Walk to School Week in March, keeping the focus on walking to school after the week’s events have finished.

More than 62,000 children from 170 New Zealand schools signed on for Feet First Walk to School activities this year. Riverhead School won the ‘Walking Wednesdays’ component of Feet First, with 99.4% of their students walking to school on every ‘Walking Wednesday’ (7 March to 4 April). 

The Feet First programme aims to boost the number of children walking to and from school by promoting the benefits of making the trip on foot. Children from participating schools in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Nelson and Tasman took part this year, and plans are in place to expand the programme nationwide from 2008.

Results from the most recent Ministry of Transport household travel survey show that the proportion of primary school children walking to school has dropped from 42 percent in 1990 to 27 percent now, while the proportion who are driven to school has jumped from 31 percent to 52 percent. At some schools nearly 90 percent of students are driven.

“We need to turn those figures around. Getting children out of cars and on their feet will mean better fitness and health, less money spent on petrol, reduced energy use and fewer vehicle emissions, less congestion at the school gate and more social interaction for our children,” says Land Transport NZ Chief Executive Wayne Donnelly. 

In April two Nelson schools (Brightwater and Nelson Intermediate) enjoyed their own Sanitarium breakfasts for having 100 percent participation rates in the country for Walk to School Week and Walk to School Day.

Mr Donnelly congratulated all participating schools on the outstanding results achieved during Feet First Walk to School Week and on Walking Wednesdays.

“The planning and effort that goes into this programme has great rewards for all the schools, children and parents taking part. Feet First shows all of us the benefits of walking and getting more children to school under their own steam.  We’re committed to promoting sustainable and safe land transport for life, and this is a great way for children to learn good habits early on.”

Feet First is led by Land Transport NZ, in partnership with ARTA, Greater Wellington Regional Council, Tauranga City Council, Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council. Visit www.feetfirst.govt.nz for further information, including a full list of participating schools.

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