Active and Healthy Culture supported at St. Mary's Primary School, Cohuna

St. Mary’s Primary School Cohuna was recognised for its commitment to Active and Healthy living on Friday 11^th March 2016 when students participated in National Ride2School Day and a launch of the school’s Get Active Statement.
 

The celebration started early as students wheeled their way into the school ground.

“A handful of students are really committed to riding or scooting to school each day,” said the school’s Principal Mrs. Keath “But students and their families have really supported National Ride2School Day and today we have thirty three bikes and scooters in the school ground!”

 

Later in the day Mrs. Hammond ran through with students how to check their bikes to make sure they are safe to be on the roads using the A, B, C method – Air, Brakes, Chain. There was also a demonstration of how to fit a helmet properly. We found out how important it is to have a well fitted helmet that doesn’t move around on our head, is about the space of two fingers above the top of the eyebrow and does not move off the forehead or from side to side. The straps should not twist or cover the ears and the chin strap should be adjusted so it sits firmly. All important messages for students to help stay safe on the roads.

Gannawarra Shire Council’s Mayor, Cr. Lorraine Learmonth presented St Mary’s Primary School with their Get Active Statement. This statement reinforces the school’s commitment to supporting Active and Healthy Lifestyles and the commitment of Gannawarra Shire Council and other agencies to support local primary schools to support every child to have a great start to life!

Mrs. Keath said that she had worked with the Gannawarra Shire to develop the St. Mary’s Get Active Statement and was proud to be recognised as a school that supports a partnership approach to encouraging students and their families to be active and healthy.    

 

The students then participated in a peer support activity where teams worked together to create a bicycle out of  only newspaper and masking tape! It was an exciting 20 minutes and the end result was a fantastic demonstration of team work and creativity. Two teams were presented with toothbrush and toothpaste packs for designing and presenting the best newspaper bicycles.

Changing the canteen menu to offer only healthy choices was a great success with 70 lunch orders on the day for healthy salad wraps, fruit salad, apples and water. A healthy lunch helped replenish energy levels so that the students could continue their learning for the afternoon.

Riding, walking, skating or scooting are great ways for children to learn independence, to help build confidence and improve their health and wellbeing. Children also love catching up with friends and getting to school actively together. Being active helps keep children alert, improves their concentration and helps them to learn.

 

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

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Riding2School and Healthy and Active Living Celebrated at Kerang Primary School

Ride2School was celebrated at Kerang Primary School on Friday 4^th March 2016 with 34 school students riding or scooting to school on the day.

Over 2,000 other primary schools across Australia and 350,000 school students participated in Bicycle Network’s National Ride2School Day promoting the importance of children being Active and Healthy in their communities and fitting at least 60 minutes of physical activity into their daily lives.

Kerang Primary School students enjoyed their daily walk/run around the block followed by colourful fruit and vegetable platters. Some of the fresh produce on the platters had come from the student’s Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden.

Cr. Keith den Houting and Manager Community Health Narelle O’Donoghue judged the decorated bike and scooter competition with prizes awarded for each class for the most colourful bike or scooter, best themed bike or scooter and best bike or scooter decorated in Australian sporting team colours.

An amazing array of colourful entries made the judging very difficult and all students and their families were congratulated for their effort. Category winners were presented with toothbrush and toothpaste sets to help keep those big smiles happy and healthy!

More bike riding activities followed with students participating in an obstacle course and then a ride on their bikes and scooters around the block.

 

Later in the day Cr. Oscar Aertssen and Narelle O’Donoghue returned to present Kerang Primary School with their Get Active Statement. This statement reinforces the school’s commitment to supporting Active and Healthy Lifestyles and Gannawarra Shire Council and partner agencies ongoing commitment to support local primary schools 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.

Cr. Aertssen congratulated the school for adopting a Get Active Statement and said how important it was for Council and partnership agencies to support active and healthy primary schools. He said that schools are a safe place for students not only to learn but also to connect to the wider community and develop good citizenship qualities.

School principal, Brent Taylor, said that he had no hesitation in adopting the Get Active Statement as the school places a very high priority on student’s health and wellbeing and connecting with the wider community helps to support students to develop into good citizens.

VicPolice is a partner to the Get Active Statement and Tania and Carole from the Swan Hill Crime Prevention Unit came to speak to students about the importance of looking after their bikes and being safe on the roads.

There were lots of questions and some very good ideas for how to stay safe. Wearing bright clothing and being sensible on the roads and footpaths is a good start as is sticking to the left and using the bell and your voice to make people aware of your presence.  We learnt that children under 12 are able to use the footpath but that they must ride slowly and give way to pedestrians.  Remember those four key messages: Stop, Look, Listen and Think…

Wearing a correctly fitted helmet is also really important. Ensure that the helmet sits centred on the head about the space of two fingers above the top of the eyebrow and does not move off the forehead or from side to side. The straps should not twist or cover the ears and the chin strap should be adjusted so it sits firmly.

 

 

Bikes should be correctly sized so that when sitting on the bike we can comfortably hold the handlebars and place the balls of both feet firmly on the ground.

Tania and Carole then assisted students to engrave their bikes and to complete a Bicycle Passport to help keep their bikes and scooters safe.

 

Six primary schools across the Gannawarra Shire participated in National Ride2School Day encouraging students and their families to ride, walk, skate or scoot to and from school, or the school bus. Other schools participating are Murrabit Group School, Kerang South Primary School, Quambatook Group School, Cohuna Consolidated Primary School and St. Mary’s Primary School Cohuna.

Riding, walking, skating or scooting are great ways for children to learn independence, to help build confidence and improve their health and wellbeing. Children also love catching up with friends and getting to school actively together. Being active helps keep children alert, improves their concentration and helps them to learn.

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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Kerang South Primary School Ride2School

There was a flurry of early morning activity at Kerang South Primary School on Friday 4^th March 2016 as students ‘wheeled’ their way to school as part of National Ride2School Day.

Eighty two students excitedly rode or scooted to school with the bike racks overflowing with enthusiasm and colour. Many more walked their way to school on the day.

Students had learnt about bike safety in the lead up to Ride2School Day with further bike activities incorporated into Friday morning assembly.

The assembly commenced with the singing of the National Anthem and the awarding of student achievement awards recognising learning outcomes and good behaviour. School leaders were also presented with their school badges.

 

Gannawarra Shire Council’s Manager Community Health, Narelle O’Donoghue congratulated the school on its involvement in the Ride2School program and the school’s ongoing commitment to Active and Healthy living.

Riding, skating, scooting and walking to school, or the school bus are all great ways to help students incorporate activity into their daily lives and to improve mental and physical health. Being physically active also helps students to stay alert, to concentrate and improves learning outcomes.

Narelle noted how happy the students were as they arrived to school on their decorated bikes and scooters and how great it was to see so many parents encouraging their children by supporting them to get actively to school and by attending the assembly.

 

Tania and Carole from the Swan Hill Crime Prevention Unit came along to reinforce the importance of being safe on the roads. Children under 12 years are able to ride on the footpath with an adult but this comes with added responsibility and being considerate of other foothpath users such as walkers and the elderly. All bikes should be fitted with a bell and students were encouraged to use their bells to alert other footpath users to their presence and to watch out for cars crossing the footpaths particularly when they back out of driveways.

Some other things to be aware of is that dark clothing sometimes makes it difficult for drivers to see students so wearing something bright over is a very good idea to improve safety. How to fit a helmet properly were demonstrated as well as how to check a bike to make sure it is ‘road safe’.

 

The judging of a decorated bike and scooter competition added excitement with winners from each year level awarded with a toothbrush and toothpaste set to help keep their smiles bright!

 

Following assembly students walked or ran two laps around the school oval which helps further support the importance of being physically active while at school.

 

Tania and Carole from VicPolice then assisted students with permission from their parents to engrave their bikes and to complete a Bicycle Passport to help keep their bicycle safe.

Six primary schools across the Gannawarra Shire participated in National Ride2School Day encouraging students and their families to ride, walk, skate or scoot to and from school, or the school bus. Other schools participating are Murrabit Group School, Kerang Primary School, Quambatook Group 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 taking part and more than 350,000 students riding, walking, scooting or skating 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.

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/

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

 

 

 

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/

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