Great Ryrie Primary School works towards active travel with the help of Maroondah Council

A SCHOOL in Melbourne’s outer east is ditching the car and going back to the good old days.

Great Ryrie adopts healthy lifestyle

ONE Heathmont school is stepping away from the pack and working towards healthier travel alternatives.

Great Ryrie Primary School has spent months putting together an active travel plan, to encourage more people to leave the car at home and walk or ride instead.

Sponsored by Maroondah Council, the plan sets priorities for the next three years and offers a points-based system for students to get them moving.

Classrooms can even win the school’s prestigous ‘golden shoe’ for the most exercise completed during the week.

The student revealed 65 per cent of students lived within a kilometre of the school but more than two thirds drove anyway.

Principal Doug Elliott said it was about “returning to the good old days”.

“When I went to school, we all walked more than a mile to school. If it rained, we had raincoats but I don’t know if people even own those anymore,” Mr Elliot said.

“We live an increasingly sedentary life but we want our kids here to put pressure on their parents to let them walk to school.”

He said active travel also helped with congestion at Great Ryrie and neighbouring schools.

Parent representative Julia Jenvey, who was involved in the study, said more than 50 per cent of parents would like to see their children travel more actively.

The council is now encouraging other schools to adopt similar plans to address student wellbeing, resilience and traffic issues.