Walking School Bus / TravelWise

   We are a TravelWise School!

Being Travelwise means we make wise travel choices to keep ourselves safe and healthy , and we think about our environment too. Less cars mean less pollution and less congestion at our school gates - keeping us all safe and healthy! Travelwise ways to get to school include walking, biking, scootering, catching the bus, car pooling, or parking and walking. 

  • WALKING - Manly is a great safe place to walk to school, with plenty of footpaths and w alkways connecting to the school. Please remember safety rules when walking - walk on the foot path, close to the houses and away from the road; look and listen carefully at driveways for cars coming in or out; always stop and check both ways before you cross the road; use pedestrian crossings where possible. We have several walking school buses operationg each morning at Whangaparaoa School. This is a safe, supervised way for children to walk to school, learning safety rules and getting to know others along the way. Scroll down for our Walking School Bus details.
  •  

    BIKING / SCOOTERING - NZ transport agency recommends that children under 10 should always cycle with an adult. Scooting is a fun way for primary aged children to get to school, as they can use the footpath. Again, safety rules should be followed - A helmet should be worn at all times when biking, scooting or skating; equipment should be in good working order and brakes checked regularly; share the footpath with others; look and listen carefully at driveways.
  • PARK AND WALK - if you must come in a car, how about parking a bit further away and walking some of the way to school? You could park at Manly Beach and walk up Ladies Mile or through Manly Park; or you could park at Edith Hopper Park and use the pedestrian crossing to get to school.
Being Travelwise helps our school to be safer, with less cars at the school gate. Drivers - please drive carefully and slowly around our school, and be considerate of other road users. As a Travelwise School we regularly have visits from parking wardens to ensure that we are keeping our children safe by parking in the correct places - away from driveways, pedestrian crossings, bus stops and no parking areas.


TRAVELWISE EVENTS AT WHANGAPARAOA SCHOOL
 
TERM TWO 2013 - Travelwise Week is week two. How many people can come to school a Travelwise way? Register here for WOW - Walking Or Wheeling On Weekdays. It's a great calendar you can use to track how you get to school - and you can print out a certificate at the end of the term too! Information on other Travelwise activities coming soon...
 
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of our 'Caught being Travelwise' competition. Thanks to everyone who sent in photos - they are displayed in the office.
SURVEY - a group of year 6 students are looking at how they can help improve things around the school. They have designed a survey 'YOUR THOUGHTS ON OUR COURTS' to find out people's views on play space at school. They will be working with an engineer to try to design some solutions to give us more space to play at school. Please fill in the survey (the link is on the main page of our school website) to help us get information.
 
 
 
 

We started 2012 with a special visitor - Lance from Times FM walked to school with our Manly Village bus and broadcast his morning show while he walked. Some of us got to talk about the walking school bus on the radio. Thanks Lance for supporting our Walking School Buses!

POLKADOTS T RAVELWISE WORKSHOP AND CONCERT  

October 2011 - Aucland Transport organised a concert for us by the Polkadots. The kindy children came too. The Polkad ots brought their new frind Cooper, an alien, We hel ped teach him road safety rules with cool songs and actions. Thanks Polkadots and Auckland Transport!

    

WINTER WALKERS...

Check out our shoes from our Winter Walker Parade!

 

 

We had milo mornings in winter for walking school bus walkers to warm up as they arrived at school. Well done for continuing to walk in the Winter!! 

 

   

 

 

OUR WALKING SCHOOL BUSES - CHILDREN WALK TOGETHER IN A GROUP - SUPERVISED BY ADULTS

A FRIENDLY AND HEALTHY START TO THE DAY!

Travelwise Awards Ceremony

2012- The ceremony was held at the Rendezvous hotel. Delegates Sophie Ogden and Alexander Rutherford got to meet the Mayor, Len Brown,  and Whangaparaoa School was proud to keep our gold level for the Travelwise scheme.

2011- This was held at the Civic Wintergarden in Auckland. Many   Travelwise schools attended to celebrate their achievements of reducing traffic and encouraging wise travel choices for students. They were presented with Bronze, Silver and Gold level certificates to signify their travelwise commitments. Whangaparaoa School was honoured to receive a Gold Certificate from Mayor Len Brown. Delegates Josh Thompson, Siena Thompson and Emerson McCullough we re presented with the certificate along with a big high five from the mayor! Well done Whangaparaoa!

 

It's Cool To Walk To School On a

Walking School Bus Smile

A walking school bus is a group of children who walk to and from school together supervised by adults. Like a real bus, it travels at a set time and children join or leave the bus at designated stops. 

All children using the 'bus' are issued with a ticket. Each time they walk to school they get a click on their ticket. When they have walked 24 times they receive a small prize.

The walking school bus is fuelled by the commitment of parent volunteers who walk as "drivers" and "conductors". Their work is helping to reduce traffic congestion at the school gate , teach children road safety skills and build stronger, safer communities.

Kids Love It

Walking school buses give children a sense of independence although they are part of a team. They provide a safe, healthy and sustainable way to travel to and from school, and are suitable for even the youngest pupils. Children arrive at school awake, refreshed and ready to learn.

 

Whangaparaoa walking school buses 

At Whangaparaoa Primary School we have several walking school buses. Walk to school - get fit and healthy, make new friends and help ease traffic problems around our school. You can join a bus at the start of the route, or join in anywhere along the way. Parents are always needed to join in too - you can walk whichever days suit you - you don't need to walk every day.  This is a great way for you and your child to get to know other kids of all ages from your neighbourhood and to get to school refreshed and ready to learn.

 

Don't live close to a Walking School Bus Route? Why not "Park and Ride"?

For more info check out the WSB noticeboard in the office, or phone Debbie Thompson 4283747 or email debbiethompson@xtra.co.nz 

 

Please click here for a copy of the walking school bus timetable