Local tamariki will be commuting to school by bike, scooter, skateboard or by walking as Sport Central’s Walk n Wheel week is back next week (March 6 - March 10).

Sport Central physical education and play advisor Ella Brown said the week is to promote active transport to and from school, reduce congestion at the school gate and support health, wellbeing and the environment.  

Seven Central schools are taking part: Alexandra Primary School, Clyde School, Cromwell Primary School, Goldfields School, The Terrace School, St Gerard’s Primary School, and Omakau School. 

Children are encouraged to walk or wheel (skate, scoot, cycle) to school, either with a parent/caregiver/older sibling or independently as considered appropriate. 

Ella said the schools would collate data to try to increase walking or wheeling over the course of the week. 

“The school with the most walkers and wheelers per capita will win prizes sponsored by local businesses.”

Thursday March 9 is the Walk n Wheel whānau day and special activities are encouraged to celebrate this day such as dress ups or wheels at lunchtime. 

This week-long event is run by Sport Otago, with funding from the Central Otago District Council, and the Otago Motor Club Trust. It is a free event open to all Otago Primary (Year 0 – 8) schools. 

In 2022, approximately 1,500 Central youngsters participated in Walk n Wheel week. 

The Sport New Zealand Active NZ Survey 2019 found that only seven per cent of children and young people met the Ministry of Health guidelines of at least one hour of moderate to vigorous activity a day.

However around two in five children (42.5 per cent) aged five to 14 years usually use active transport such as walking, biking or skating to get to and from school, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health.