WHAT'S IN THIS ISSUE?
• World Environment Day 2010
• School Travel Plans Launched
• Winter Wheelies - Stay Safe this Winter


• Coming Up: Rail Safety Awareness Week
• Glenn Innes' WSB Turns Five
• Counties Manukau WSB Workshop


World Environment Day 2010: Auckland City Goes Green!

More than 15,000 students and teachers participated in this year's World Environment Day (WED) celebrating the theme - 'Many Species. One Planet. One Future'.

Auckland City Council Road Safety Coordinators ran several competitions for the schools in their region, encouraging them to 'Go Green' for the day. Schools came up with a huge variety of ideas to 'Go Green', including encouraging a whole school walk and wheel to school, collecting litter around the school and local area, dressing in green, having litter free lunches and creating environmental messages for all students. Schools that registered received WED tattoos for each student and eco bags for the staff.

Three Kings School won the biggest effort award. Students were encouraged to walk and cycle to school, wear green and decorate their bikes. There was also a parade for all students who dressed up. There was a whole school rubbish collection around the school and local community and the power in the school was turned off for half an hour. They also planted three Kowhai trees and started a worm farm – looking towards a more sustainable future.

Many schools promoted walking and cycling to school to encourage the benefits of sustainable transport. It was also an opportunity for students to walk along with the Walking School Buses, which created a lot of interest. It was fantastic to see so many cycles and scooters decorated and being used as an important mode of getting to school.

The Pasadena Intermediate student group managed to get the whole school out of the classroom to enjoy the outdoor environment and they created a huge WED shape using all the students of the school (see the picture above)!

Auckland City schools made World Environment Day extremely successful! We look forward to seeing more GREEN inspirations next year!
By Hayley Thorne, School Road Safety Coordinator, Auckland City Council


School Travel Plans Launched
2010 has already seen many schools all over Auckland launching their new Travel Plans. This is a strong commitment to helping their kids choose safe and sustainable travel methods to get to and from school. Here are just a few stories about some of the schools that have been getting on board with TravelWise this year.

CHRIST THE KING SCHOOL
Three years of hard work has paid off for the pupils, parents and teachers of Christ the King School (pictured above) as they proudly launched their Travel Plan last term.
Implementing the School Travel Plan has not been an easy road with the development of State Highway 20 right outside their front gates. However, through commitment and hard work they have achieved their goal that will help kids engage in alternative transport modes in a safe manner.
Bindi Chouhan, ARTA School Travel Coordinator for Christ the King School, says "It has been fantastic to see Christ the King School embrace TravelWise as part of the school ethos. It is a time of significant change for the school with their new futuristic building and the impressive safety improvements they have made. There has been great student engagement all along and we are hoping to start a new Walking School Bus route in the near future."
SUNNYBRAE NORMAL SCHOOL
Sunnybrae Normal School has taken leaps and bounds towards promoting sustainable and safe travel for its pupils and parents this year. Firstly with the success of its annual Respect Our Community (ROC) Day and secondly with the launch of the School Travel Plan in Term 2.
A range of fun activities for kids to get involved in helped make the ROC Day a great success and combined TravelWise, Enviro-schools and the health curriculum. Children took part in games with a purpose to educate, including road safety games, creating works of art from rubbish, planting seedlings, and group walks.
After such a successful event, Sunnybrae will be giving a presentation about the ROC Day at the upcoming TravelWise Schools Seminar by sharing ideas and experiences about getting kids walking in their community.


Sunnybrae kids play a road safety game on ROC Day

MISSION HEIGHTS SCHOOL

A funky array of foot fashion was on display at Mission Heights School as pupils put their best foot forward for the launch of their School Travel Plan with a 'Fancy Feet' celebration.
Pupils proudly demonstrated their creative footwear to special guests such as Manukau Deputy Mayor Gary Troupe and MAXX the Pukeko.
The Travel Plan is the result of a hard-working collaboration between the school, Manukau City Council, the NZ Police and ARTA staff, working closely with the local community. Mayur Chauhan, School Travel Coordinator for ARTA, says "together we have already had traffic lights installed at the very busy intersection of Jeffs and Murphy's Roads, a pedestrian crossing in Jeffs Road and a Kea crossing in Valderama Road. Our students man the crossings before and after school. We have surveyed our parents and students on their current modes of transport and have discussed any hazards and concerns. The Walking Tree was a huge hit last term and the students enjoyed designing artwork for our Travel Plan."




Mission Heights School have fun with feet decoration
5, 4, 3, 2, 1...HENDERSON LIFTS OFF!
The Henderson Schools cluster really took off at the recent launch of their Travel Plan. The five schools in the cluster, Glendene, Holy Cross, Sunnyvale, Bruce McLaren Intermediate and hosts Henderson Primary, displayed their TravelWise credentials at an all-action event that was out of this world.
Welcomed by the Henderson Primary's choir with rousing songs with walking themes that got the feet tapping, parents and invited guests from Waitakere City Council and ARTA were treated to a sensational show of student talent. Each school showcased its commitment to being TravelWise in their own particular style.
Holy Cross put together a presentation that highlighted its whole school actions around sustainability. Sunnyvale Primary used its dramatic skills to highlight the problems of congestion and how walking can be an effective solution. The health benefits of walking to school were obvious from Glendene's energetic skip rope team, and Henderson Primary captured the sheer joy of "Walking on Sunshine" with a cleverly adapted song and video.
Before officially signing the Travel Plans, Councillor Brenda Brady and Stephen Lindfield from ARTA praised the schools for their commitment to making the streets around Henderson safer, and for their promotion of walking and cycling. As the official signing took place, a number of students and staff received recognition for their individual efforts in making the Travel Plan such a success.
Whilst the launch of the Travel Plan for this cluster of schools was a great success it is their ongoing enthusiasm and commitment that has the travel planners over the moon.


Winter Wheelies - Stay Safe this Winter

Now that winter is upon us and our precious daylight hours have dwindled, it is important that we ensure those young cyclists who ride to and from school arrive safely at their destination. Whilst cyclists are urged to brighten up, motorists are encouraged to allow space when passing and to be extra alert.

Brian Horspool, Regional Walking and Cycling Coordinator, says "The most important messages from the successful summer 'Share the Road' safety programme are especially relevant to young cyclists and motorists in these cold and wet winter months. For young children cycling to and from school it is important that they 'be safe - be seen'. This is best achieved by wearing high visibility gear and ensuring that bikes have both front and rear lights. Motorists need to be watchful that they give cyclists space on the road. 'Give bikes 1.5m' is the message, or wait until it is safe to pass. Intersections and driveways are where motorists need to be particularly alert for cyclists."

More information on sharing the road and rules for cyclists can be found in The Official New Zealand Road Code, and the recently released The Official New Zealand Code for Cyclists. Both of these codes can be found at www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/roadcode/
Here's a checklist of a few things that will help you pedal your way through winter:
- A reflective vest, sash or high visibility belt with tail
- Front light (white beam), reflector and tail light (red)
- Waterproof raincoat and trousers
- Reflective covers for bags
- Covered shoes (rather than jandals and open foot sandals)
High visibility cycle gear and lights are available from cycling and safety shops. Examples are given below.
  
 
For more information about high visibility cycle gear contact your local council Road Safety Coordinator or email brian.horspool@arta.co.nz.

Coming up: Rail Safety Awareness Week
The annual Rail Safety Awareness Week will be launched in Term 3 (24th – 28th August) and ARTA will be contacting schools across the region to help raise awareness about the risks associated with level crossings and the rail network.

The focus of this year's Rail Safety Awareness Week will be on level crossings. Last year there were 37 collisions at level crossings across New Zealand and 82 near misses. ARTA, with the support of KiwiRail and the Chris Cairns Foundation, will be running a high profile campaign to make people aware of the dangers at level crossings unless they take the right precautions.

A package of information will be sent to schools for the launch of the week, which will include fact sheets and rail safety awareness material for pupils and their parents.

Glen Innes' WSB Turns 5
The Glen Innes Primary School staffroom saw a very special celebration last term. For five years Walking School Buses have provided safe, active and healthy routes to school and thanks to a team of dedicated volunteers this service will be celebrating many more milestones in the future.

Over a slice of "birthday" cake, Principal Jonathan Hendricks thanked the volunteers and said their commitment to the Walking School Bus not only helped the school and its students but provided a great service to the community. "You are a great role model for the community, giving your time to help the children of this school and showing the positive difference local people can make".

Miss Lammas, as she is known to hundreds of Glen Innes students, remarked that not only did the children love being part of the Walking School Buses but local people always had a smile and a cheery wave for them as they went on their way.

Claire Dixon, from Auckland City Council, praised the team for reaching the 5th birthday and the fact that the three walking routes were so well supported. "It's great to see so many children using the Walking School Buses and clearly enjoying the experience". Auckland City Council also provided the children with a special present to mark the occasion, but really the day was for the wonderful volunteers who have such an impact on the Glen Innes community.

The Walking School Buses at Glen Innes are supported by the school, Auckland City Council and the Auckland Regional Transport Authority.

"One of the best things that ever happened to this area is the Walking School Bus"
As glowing tributes to the Walking School Buses (WSB) go, that statement is hard to beat - and coming from a Police Officer with 28 years' experience it really shows how the WSB benefits our communities.
Senior Constable Adele White (pictured above) was speaking as part of a Counties Manukau WSB workshop focusing on health and safety. WSB volunteers from a number of schools attended and received expert advice on road crossing with groups, First Aid and hazard identification and reporting.
As a Youth Education Officer based in Howick, Senior Constable White was able to offer valuable tips on dealing with road crossings and reminded the volunteers of the great work they did in modelling good safe behaviour and influencing good decision making. Top tips included: Staying visible (our AMI WSB vests are great for this), keeping groups tight together, recognising good behaviour and verbalising reasons for road safety actions. She also emphasised the need to deal with any issues that do arise promptly and in a way that helps children make the right choices in future.
Covering some basic First Aid with the group was Robbie Page from the Red Cross. Responding to the volunteers' needs, a number of potential situations were looked at. These ranged from the everyday cuts and grazes to dealing with specific medical emergencies such as choking, epileptic fits and CPR.
Whatever the situation, Robbie emphasised the need to ensure that all members of the WSB are safe before dealing with an issue, providing reassurance, calling the school if extra help is needed (it's a good idea to have the school office number on your cellphone) and of course dialling 111 in an emergency.
The workshop was completed with a look at hazards and the volunteers took away an audit form to complete, highlighting any hazards they might encounter on their WSB routes.
Sally Fraser from Manukau City Council and Helen Faamoe from ARTA ran the workshops in Botany and Mangere as part of their WSB development programme and would like to thank all those who attended, especially the experts from the Police and Red Cross.

Further information: bronwyn.coster@arta.co.nz, .