Now in its 19th year, the community event aims to increase awareness of road safety, health, public transport and the environment.
Statistics show Australian children are becoming less active and one substantial contributor is the decline in the number of students walking or using public transport to get to school.
Walk Safely to School Day encourages walking to and from school as part of students’ and parents’ daily routine. This not only aims to increase students’ daily physical activity, but also helps to decrease vehicle congestion in school areas and reduces carbon emissions emitted from idling cars.
With parents and friends also encouraged to be involved in the event, various meeting points were set up for students to join in on the morning fun.
As the students arrived at the school, they were greeted with a delicious breakfast prepared by St Mary’s staff.
A thank you goes out to all the teachers and parents who helped ensure the students’ safety during the walk, to the staff who helped prepare the breakfast and to Aussie Care Maitland for sponsoring the breakfast.