More than 50 per cent of a March primary school has walked, cycled and scooted to school this week as part of a national campaign to keep young people healthy.
One hundred and nineteen students at All Saints Inter-church Academy have been commended by their teachers after joining in with the nation-wide Big Pedal 2019 challenge.
Spearheaded by teaching assistant Ruth Johnson, the campaign aims to “instil good habits” so that the pupils can continue a healthy lifestyle after leaving school.
Ms Johnson said: “The children are enjoying it [the challenge] and they like getting out of the car, they like the fresh air and looking at things they wouldn’t normally look at.
“Taking part in this challenge is to instil good habits for children later on in life, so if you walk to school now, hopefully later on in life they will continue to walk to the shops and work.”
Six pupils from Year 5, all sporting orange high-vis jackets were elected as Junior Travel Ambassadors (JTAs), a scheme spearheaded by the Cambridgeshire County Council.
The JTAs run safety activities throughout the school year and help the school staff to keep track of how many students are taking part in the healthy challenge.
Ms Johnson added: “We would like to encourage other local schools in the area to register for the challenge so that they can take part next year. We would really like some competition.”
Across the UK, more than 740,000 pupils are getting out of the car to head to school, making more than 1.1 million journeys.
Teacher’s say the feedback from students has been great, with many saying that they will continue to walk and cycle to school even after the 10-day challenge has finished.
Jack Brealey, aged 10, said: “I cycle to school for exercise because it’s good for your legs and to build muscle. I like it because you get fresh air and it is fun.”
Lacey Hartley, aged 8, said: “I walk or scoot to school because if I came in a car I would be using more energy and if we use too much, we will run out of it.”
Jacob Gaeza, aged 9, said: “I want to keep the environment healthy because cars give out smoke and make the atmosphere have a big a hole.”
All Saints is the only school in March taking part in the Big Pedal and Ms Johnson is calling for more schools in area to register. To sign up, visit: www.bigpedal.org.uk/register
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