Our Lady Help of Christians: How school is fighting plummeting rates of Aussie kids who walk or bike to school

With road safety a significant concern for parents, fewer Australian children walk and bike to school, but Far North Queensland schools are leading the way.

Our Lady Help of Christians students take a 'walking bus' to school. (L to R) OLHC school principal Brendon Napier, Ethan Cook, 6, Tayla Warren, 6, Hugh Fletcher, 5, Ruby Bita, 9, Megumi Hirase, 10, OLHC Travel Smart coordinator Jill Watson. Picture: Elodie Jakes

With road safety a significant concern for parents, fewer Australian children walk and bike to school, but Far North Queensland schools are leading the way.

Since 1981 the national rate of kids who “actively travel” to school instead of being driven has drastically dropped from 75 per cent to 25 per cent, according to the WA Department of Transport.

Cairns primary school Our Lady Help of Christians (OLHC) adopted an innovative approach to boosting active school travel by appointing parent volunteers to lead “walking school buses”.

For the past 11 years OLHC travel smart coordinator Jill Watson has organised and championed the school initiative.

“We have designated areas across Cairns where parents can drop off their kids, and from there volunteers will walk groups of students to the school,” Ms Watson said.

“We actually have a walking, scooter and bike ‘bus’ so the kids and volunteers can choose different modes of transport for their morning commute.

“It means they get to be active, there are less cars on the road, they learn how to cross the road safely and they also have an opportunity to socialise with a group of students who aren’t in their immediate cohort.

“Burning a little bit of energy before the start of the day also really gets their minds ready to learn, we’ve noticed that they’re more focused and settled if they’ve walked or biked to school.

“We used to have a motto — the more they burn, the more they learn.”

Our Lady Help of Christians students cross the road safely outside of school. (L to R) Ethan Cook, 6, Hugh Fletcher, 5, Tayla Warren, 6, OLHC school principal Brendon Napier, Millie Armstrong, 6, Ruby Bita, 9, OLHC Travel Smart coordinator Jill Watson. Picture: Elodie Jakes

Despite countless benefits to ‘active school travel’ societal shifts towards car-dependent infrastructure and working culture has seen rates plummet.

Queensland parents have reported increased work commitments, longer distances for students to travel, fear of crime along the route and limited road safety as key reasons for driving their children to school, according to the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Brent Mickelberg said the Crisafulli Government was committed to improving road safety, including implementing more flashing school zone signs.

“Three quarters of Queensland parents want their kids to be more active, but safety concerns are one of the biggest barriers to more kids travelling to school actively,” Mr Mickelberg said.

“We’re getting on with the job and investing in new and improved paths and crossings for walking and riding to make it easier and safer for kids to safely travel to school on foot or by bike.”

Last Friday was National Walk Safely to School Day, an initiative which raises awareness about the benefits of active school transport.

Originally published as Our Lady Help of Christians: How school is fighting plummeting rates of Aussie kids who walk or bike to school