How to Encourage More Students to Walk or Cycle to School

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How to Encourage More Students to Walk or Cycle to School

According to studies, 63% of primary and 70% of secondary students are driven to school every day. And yet, walking to school can be a great way for them to get some exercise and reduce their carbon footprint. So how can you encourage more students to walk or cycle to school?

Add Bike Shelters at School

One of the first things that you can do is find a space to install bike shelters on the school grounds. This allows students to safely store their bikes or scooters on the school grounds, keeping them dry and protecting them from UV damage.

Bike shelters can be free-standing or they can be integrated into a school canopy.

In addition, the school can consider offering bike locks and other ways to secure them while the students are in school.

Participate in Events

Numerous events can help encourage children to walk to school. For instance, there is the ‘Walk to School’ challenge and walk to school week. Getting children involved in these can help add a reason to get involved, and when doing it as a group, it makes it more relevant to them all.

You can host events during the week to reward students when they walk to school.

Teach the Benefits of Walking to School

Students should be taught the benefits of walking to school. These benefits are both for the students themselves and also for the environment. When children are taught these, they tend to want to participate and do the right thing.

And by learning as a group, they can all encourage each other to walk more to school.

Reward Students

Rewarding students for walking to school can be a great way to encourage them to walk to school. Simple rewards and prizes such as pins, badges, or treats can be a great way to get more of the students to walk to school.

Or you can reward them by setting a number of times students should walk to school, and when they’ve reached that number, you host a special cinema day.

Conclusion

Getting children to walk to school can be very challenging. However, there are ways that teachers and schools can encourage more students to walk to school. Using these can improve students’ health and make an impact on the environment.

Able Canopies Ltd. design, manufacture and install commercial grade canopies, shade sails, awnings and shelters across the UK. We specialise in servicing the education, leisure, healthcare and retail sectors and have extensive experience working with schools, councils, architects and contracting firms.
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How to Encourage More Students to Walk or Cycle to School

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