Tuesday 8 December 2015

Local School Wins VicHealth Walk to School Regional Prize


Kerang Christian College has been announced as a first time participant winner for the North West region.

 All 57 Kerang Christian College students (100%) participated by walking, riding, skating or scooting to or from school during October and marking their activity on the VicHealth Walk to School classroom calendars. Total student participation across the month was 78.2%. Walks totalled 1784 and based on the average walking distance that’s 1281 kms – equivalent of walking from Kerang to Canberra and almost home again!

The school’s prize is free tickets to the Melbourne Stars practice match on 15 December 2015.

 


Well done to Kerang Christian College and the other ten local primary schools who participated.

All up Gannawarra students walked 16,237 times as part of October’s Walk to School program and based on the average walking distance this equates to 11,658 kilometres – that’s almost a circuit around Australia!

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.

 LIKE our Facebook page to continue to keep up to date with Healthy Lifestyle programs at Gannawarra: www.facebook.com/HealthyGannawarra.

Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School Wrap Up


The 2015 Gannawarra VicHealth Walk to School program has come to an end and Gannawarra Shire Council at its meeting held on Wednesday 18 October passed a motion of thanks to the following partners:
VicHealth, Northern District Community Health, Kerang District Health, Cohuna District Hospital, Victoria Police, Gannawarra Library Service, Rocky’s Fruit and Vegetables Cohuna, Border Packers Koondrook, IGA Cohuna, IGA Kerang, Woolworths Kerang, Gray’s Bakery, Murray Milk, Kerang South Primary School, Kerang Primary School, St. Joseph’s Primary School Kerang, Kerang Christian College, Cohuna Consolidated Primary School, St. Mary’s Primary School Cohuna, Leitchville Primary School, Koondrook Primary School, Lake Charm Primary School, Murrabit Group School, Quambatook Group School, and the Dental Health School at LaTrobe University Bendigo.

Some Key Points
For the first time all eleven Gannawarra primary schools participated in the 2015 Gannawarra Walk to School program. That’s 763 students. 95% of these students (726) participated by walking, riding, skating or scooting to school, or the school bus, throughout October.

Walks for the month totalled 16,237 and based on the average walking distance this equates to 11,658 kilometres
 – that’s almost a circuit around Australia!
 
Ten events were coordinated throughout October, with Lake Charm and Quambatook combining for a joint activity.
A Facebook page was established at the commencement of the program with 121 followers at the end of the month.
A Gannawarra Walk to School BLOG assisted in recording stories from events and sharing these stories across other Gannawarra schools and the wider community.
Gannawarra posts were shared across the state via the VicHealth Facebook page and Twitter feeds.
4 schools participated in the Gannawarra Golden Shoe trophy aimed at motivating children to walk, ride, skate or scoot to school throughout the month and to fill in the VicHealth Walk to School calendars.
Through the activities at individual schools and via Facebook, Twitter and the BLOG, promotion of Gannawarra Shire as a great place to live and visit were provided. This year community walks took place at Leitchville, Lake Charm, Murrabit and Cohuna to showcase the towns and to increase the sense of community for students.
The majority of the food for healthy fruit and vegetable platters, breakfasts, lunches and milk were donated by local businesses namely: Rockys Fruit and Vegetables Cohuna, Border Packers Koondrook, IGA Cohuna and IGA Kerang, Gray’s Bakery, Woolworths Kerang and Murray Milk. In fact Council’s food bill for the month to feed 763 hungry students totaled the very small amount of $145.20!


Involvement in the VicHealth Walk to School program supports Council’s Healthy Liveable Communities priority area and the new Gannawarra Municipal Early Years Plan which has the vision to support every child to have a great start to life.
Primary schools are a key setting for promoting healthy liveable communities were children can grow and develop in a supportive and safe environment but also where they develop a sense of place and pride in their community that may entice them to one day raise their own families in Gannawarra.
The program provides a fabulous opportunity for Council to take a leadership role in coordinating a large scale community health program focused on promoting healthy lifestyles, and the opportunity to have conversations with schools on other important issues that impact on the educational and community outcomes for children.
Great feedback has been received from schools and media coverage has provided positive promotion for all parties involved.
An evaluation of the 2015 program will occur in partnership with health agencies and participating schools. This will ensure that the outcomes are captured as well as key learnings and opportunities to build on the partnership approach in the future.
Thanks again to all who supported the 2015 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.
Walk to School is a VicHealth initiative. For more information go to: www.walktoschool.vic.gov.au.
LIKE our Facebook page to continue to keep up to date with Healthy Lifestyle programs at Gannawarra: www.facebook.com/HealthyGannawarra.