Central Otago youngsters are being praised for another successful Walk n Wheel Week.

The event, hosted by Sport Central from March 14-18, attracted more than 1500 Central Otago tamariki who used active transport to get to and from school.

Sport Central's PE and play advisor Ella Brown said the week was a huge success and she was very proud of Central Otago's kura and tamariki for their involvement.

"We had eight motivated and and enthusiastic schools taking part in using active transport to and from school. With petrol prices at the moment I am sure we also had some very happy parents."

The schools were Omakau School, Goldfields Primary School, Cromwell Primary School, Clyde School, St Gerards Alexandra, Alexandra Primary School, Tarras School and The Terrace Alexandra.

"I received such positive feedback throughout the whole week with schools and teachers sending me photos and sharing their stories with us.

"Like many schools in Central Otago the students rely on organised transport to commute, especially in more rural areas. Omakau school arranged to get the school bus to stop further from school at the main street in town, and everyone walked to school together.

"Whilst not all students can get the bus due to specific routes, there was no effort lacking as Trina Armstrong from Omakau School talked about the students and said “some even parked in Omakau and walked and scooted with their parents.”

Wacky Wednesday was a bright and colourful celebration in the middle of the week with both Goldfields and Cromwell primary schools showing passion for dressing up in something bright to assist with being seen by vehicles.

Sport Central's Ella Brown greeting students at Cromwell Primary during Walk n Wheel week's wacky Wednesday. PHOTO: Sport Central

Central Otago District Council's road safety officer Abi Hawkins said Central Otago District Council [was] happy to support Sport Otago with Walk n Wheel to School Week as a way to encourage our tamariki to think about how they can safely use our roads - and have fun in the process.

“As a parent I would say I really appreciate the encouragement to get our children active and independent and try other ways to travel to school other than by car,” she said.

Ella thanked the many local businesses who sponsored prizes throughout the week.

The Sport New Zealand Active NZ Survey 2019 found that only seven percent 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 percent) aged 5-14 years usually use active transport such as walking, biking or skating to get to and from school*.

*Statistics from Ministry of Health Annual Update of Key results 2019/20: New Zealand Health Survey.