CATERPILLAR FEET

Andrew, Macie and Anna on the Walking School Bus

We started with the Walking School Bus shortly after Maggie (Andrew’s older sister) started at Omanu Primary last year. Andrew was still in the buggy because it was too far for his little legs to walk! It started with a few families and has grown over the past year – we sometimes have 17 children on the bus, with 11 families participating on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

We live on Ascot Rd between Gwen Rogers and Bayfair so it’s a fair distance for these troopers, especially in the rain! This is a parent-led program sponsored by Tauranga City Council as part of City on it’s Feet. We join other Mums on our road and ‘pick up’ children along Ascot Rd, Aintree Place, Links Ave and Golf Rd then walk through Waitui Grove to Ranch Rd to get to school.

The obvious benefit is that the children get some exercise on the way to school but there are less obvious ones. We learn about road safety; when it’s safe to cross (especially on Golf Rd), Sneaky Driveways, watching out for cars turning, awareness of other pedestrians, wearing helmets, and staying with the group. More importantly, we have met many families on our street that we never would’ve known so there is a real sense of community. I appreciate the change of pace; rather than rushing to get into the car, the busy roundabout at Golf and Maunganui Road and looking for a park around the school, we walk at our own pace and chat most of the way. It’s lovely getting to know these kids while getting some fresh morning air.

We practise being:

ü  a Friendly Freddy when show courtesy to pedestrians

ü  a Persistent Percy when go the whole way to kindy without giving up

ü  a Confident Cody when we walk together as a group and making friends

ü  an Organised Olly when we get our school bags ready to be on time for the bus

ü  a Thinking Thelma when we look left and right before crossing the road

The preschool version of the Walking School Bus is called CATERPILLAR FEET. In the next few weeks we will be putting up a map of the area for parents to take a look at and decide if they are able to walk one morning a week along a route that leads to the kindergarten with another family. We will also put a big Caterpillar on the wall and the children that walk will stamp their own caterpillar every time they come to school. Keep an eye out for the Caterpillar and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Happy Walking everyone!