The National Walk to School campaign is organised by Living Streets, a national charity that promotes walking and runs from 15th - 19th May 2023. Their five-day walking challenge is an annual celebration of the walk to school and the perfect activity to celebrate National Walking Month this May - order your classroom packs now! (Orders placed on or before 2nd May 2023 can be expected to arrive ahead of Walk to School Week.
Did you know? You can use your PE and Sport Premium funding to cover the cost of your Walk to School Week packs.
The fun and engaging week-long activity for primary schools has been built to make pupils experience first-hand the importance of walking to school. Through this challenge, children will be well on their way to reaching their recommended 60 minutes minimum of physical activity per day before even reaching the school gates!
Last year, a record number of over 750 schools across across the UK took part! Join this growing movement of children walking to school and help them make 2022 their biggest year yet!
It’s been proven that children who do some form of exercise, especially a walk before school, do better in class because they arrive refreshed, fit and ready to learn. During morning peak traffic times, one in five cars on the road are taking children school, contributing to congestion, air pollution and carbon emissions. The school run alone is responsible for generating two million tonnes of CO2 per year.
This year’s theme #WalkwithWildlife encourages children to travel actively to school every day of the week. Meeting various animals along the way, they'll learn about the important reasons to walk and the difference it can make for individuals, communities and the planet! The reasons given are: Inclusion; Sustainability; Mindfulness and Friendship.
Pupils will be encouraged to walk, wheel, cycle and scoot every day of the week, earning stickers as they go along, with a special reward up for grabs at the end of the week!
Using LGfL Resources
Thinking Skills for Life
Thinking Skills for Life from LGfL in partnership with Axis education, includes a section on travel and transport, there are three categories of worksheets for each activity which require different levels of literacy, thinking and comprehension skills. This includes worksheets which use Widgit symbols to support understanding for many young people with SEND, EAL and lower literacy levels.
j2eToolsuite
For schools with an LGfL Let's Get Digital subscription, you could also use Just2easy's JIT or J25 to create either an animation or a poster to encourage pupils to walk to school, that can be displayed around school and the local environment or they could design their own superhero in JiT paint and then use the hero in a poster that spreads the message about walking to school; see an example below:
In addition they could write to their local council and ask what is being done in their area to encourage children to walk to school, or to encourage parents to park and stride.
Using J2data children could create data on traffic in their local area around schools and use this to encourage more people to walk to school.
Busy Things
Busy Things (premium resource for schools with an LGfL Let's Get Digital subscription have a template that can be used during the week and throughout the year to capture details of how children travel to school. They also have a Walk to School Week topical pack you could download and print.
EYFS Spotlight
EYFS Spotlight is a way of highlighting the many varied resources that LGfL offers to help your Early Years Foundation Stage setting by providing topic maps and planning. This resource aims to filter the extensive collection of LGfL content into popular EYFS themes / topics.
The resource is ideal for use in primary schools and Early Years settings. Within each category below you’ll find a variety of links to LGfL resources and suggested teaching ideas on how to use them within your Early Years setting. As some settings may have variations in naming of topics, please see the topic descriptions to help you search for the related content. Home would be perfect to use during the week it covers making connections with the local area, talking about directions, exploring maps of the local community and the wider area.
Other Resources
BBC Teach have a great assembly that schools could use to introduce the week, that includes a video, suggested songs and discussion points.
Think from the Department of Transport have websites for Primary and Secondary both feature sections for teachers, pupils and parents.
STARS is TfL’s accreditation scheme for London schools and nurseries. STARS inspires young Londoners to travel to school sustainably, actively, responsibly and safely by championing walking, scooting and cycling. STARS supports pupils’ wellbeing, helps to reduce congestion at the school gates and improve road safety and air quality.
STARS is open to all London schools and nurseries. To take part in the scheme, you first need to create a STARS online account. This will put you in touch with your local borough officer who will support you throughout the accreditation process, help you create a School Travel Plan (STP) and select the most suitable activities for your school to address your travel issues and reach your active travel targets. A great resource to use during Walk to School Week.
Brake, the road safety charity have produced a guide for educators on teaching road safety and have an assembly overview and some suggested lesson plans.
Please let us know what you are doing for the week, you can share via our Twitter and Facebook pages #WalkwithWildlife #NationalWalkingMonth #WalkThisMay