Event Date: 20 May 2022

After another successful 2022 National Walk Safely to School Day, Sunshine Coast Council was delighted by the engagement and participation of schools across the region.

Sunshine Coast Council promotes a number of programs and events schools in the region to encourage student participation. 

Walking to school regularly is beneficial to children's health and wellbeing. It helps them to be more physically active, independent and confident. It also helps to reduce traffic problems around schools and teaches children about road safety.

For more information about National Walk Safely to School Day, visit www.walk.com.au.

Event Date: Friday 25th March 2022

National Ride2School Day is Australia’s largest celebration of active travel to school.

Ride2School Day encourages students to get physically active and ride, scoot or skate to school.

Sunshine Coast Council promotes this event to all schools in the Sunshine Coast Council region and provides prize incentives to encourage student participation.

Ride2School Day 2022 will be held on Friday 25th of March with over 2000 students expected to participate across the Sunshine Coast.

Be sure to mark your calendar for this great day to ride to school.

For more information, please contact us, or visit www.ride2school.com.au.

We're excited to announce that Ridescore has kicked off for 2022 with 9 schools on the Sunshine Coast.

The RideScore Active Schools Program, jointly developed by the Sunshine Coast Council and We Ride Australia, will significantly boost the numbers of children riding and scooting to school.

With over 1200 already enrolled, we are delighted by the interest from children and parents alike.

We are already getting feedback from children that they love the rewards and seeing their name on the leadership board, with parents reporting increased confidence in allowing their children to ride and scoot along with excitement that they are getting so much time back in their day.

The Australian Government is a major supporter of the Sunshine Coast Council and We Ride Australia initiative through the Move It AUS – Participation Program. The RideScore Active Schools program is also supported by the Queensland Government and Stockland Communities.  The University of Canberra’s Health Research Institute is a partner and will undertake evaluation and data analysis as the program unfolds. To discuss RideScore with us or simply to request more details please Contact Us.

We Ride Australia and the Sunshine Coast Council, supported by the Australian Government, are set to launch an Australian first ride to school program – RideScore Active Schools – that uses technology to direct message parents when their children have arrived safely at school.

The Australian first program uses:

  • Smart beacons to alert parents automatically when their child arrives at school
  • Advanced use of mapping to identify safe routes to school
  • App-based information and registration technology
  • Bicycle education, and
  • Encouragement awards for students who ride and scoot to school.

The program is expected to significantly boost the numbers of children scooting and riding to school as it provides parents with peace of mind about the whereabouts of their children for the daily trip to school, provides information on recommended routes and motivates and encourages children to reach milestones in the number of times they ride to school.

The Australian Government supported the initiative with an investment of $224,558 as part of its national Move It AUS – Participation Grant Program.

Federal Member for Fairfax, Mr Ted O’Brien MP said: “RideScore Active Schools is a fantastic example of helping children enjoy the fun and independence that comes with riding a bike, while also ensuring supportive parents have peace of mind that their kids are safe. This will help children across the Sunshine Coast region be active and safe and potentially provide the model for a national expansion.”

“This is one of many projects being funded across the nation as part of the Australian Government’s Move It AUS – Participation Grant Program, which is about building stronger community health and connections through sport and physical activity. It supports the Australian Government’s vision to become the world’s most active nation.”

The RideScore Active Schools program also received support from the Queensland Government and Stockland and the University of Canberra’s Centre for Action and Research in Public Health.

Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson said: “RideScore encourages school students to be more physically active and healthy by riding their bikes or scooters to and from school.

“Encouraging more students to utilise active transport also helps to reduce traffic and congestion around schools and provides parents with greater peace of mind by knowing their children have arrived safely at school or left school to ride home.

“It is initiatives such as this that reinforce our vision to be Australia’s most sustainable region – healthy, smart creative.”

We Ride Australia’s Peter Bourke said: “The school trip has become increasingly focused on being driven to school, with up to 70 per cent of all children arriving by car.

”This is not good for our children or their future health, but RideScore Active Schools addresses key concerns of parents with messaging from smart beacons letting them know their child has arrived at school or that they have left.

“We’re very pleased that the program has received substantial funding from the Australian Government, Sunshine Coast Council, Stockland and the Queensland Government in recognition of the comprehensive approach we have developed to boost riding and scooting to school.

”We want cycling, scooting and walking to school to be viewed as a healthy, positive start to the day for kids as it was just a few years ago,” Peter Bourke said.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said the Palaszczuk Government was proud to support the program as part of its $219 million investment in bike riding across Queensland.

“More than half a million Queenslanders ride their bike every week, which is why it’s important that we invest in bike lanes and projects like RideScore,” Mr Bailey said.

“We’ve built plenty of new bike projects across the coast like the David Low Way bike lanes and Mooloolaba to Maroochydore Cycleway, and programs like this play a vital role in making bike riding a popular choice to get around.

“I’m excited to see our next generation put on their helmets and get riding to and from the school gate.”

The launch event is being held at the Baringa Public School with Principal Noel Baggs welcoming parents, students, Mr Ted O’Brien MP, Sunshine Coast Councillors and other VIPs.

The program will trial a comprehensive framework that includes mapping of the safe routes to school, fitting of smart tech beacons and school sensors, bicycle education and a system of rewards when students reach pre-determined numbers of trips to school by bike or scooter.

The RideScore Active Schools program will undergo a full evaluation to enable it to be rolled out more broadly in the future.

Features & benefits:
– Real-time messaging tells parents when child arrives and leaves school
– Trips counted to track milestones and provide incentives to students
– Simplified app-based registration and information management for parents
– Maps of the local safe routes to school for all students
– Bicycle education for students
– Increase in student physical activity
– Improved road safety awareness
– Reduction in traffic congestion around schools.

More details on the Australian Government’s Move It AUS Participation Grant Program is available at https://www.sportaus.gov.au/grants_and_funding/participation

The official Launch of the RideScore Active Schools Program was held on 21 November 2019 at Baringa State Primary School.

RideScore is an incentive-based program designed to increase active travel to and from school. The digital platform uses personal sensors that send real-time notifications to parents on the arrival and departure of student's riding and scooting to and from school. Individual trips are recorded and rewarded at certain milestones.

Sunshine Coast Council and We Ride Australia are partnering together to trial the RideScore program to nine Sunshine Coast schools from Term 1, February 2020 for 1 year.

This program has been made possible with Federal grant funding from the Move it AUS program, Queensland Government and Stockland.

View a video news report including interviews with our key partners here.

Get involved

The following nine schools have committed to be part of the region-wide trial for 2020. Further information on how students can participate will be made available on the school websites in early 2020.

  • Baringa State Primary School
  • Bli Bli State School
  • Brightwater State School
  • Buddina State School
  • Caloundra State School
  • Chancellor State College
  • Coolum State School
  • Meridan State College
  • Peregian Springs State School

Schools were selected following a recent traffic and active travel assessment, taking into account some of the following considerations:

  • safe pathway infrastructure conducive to cycling/scooting around the school
  • known traffic and parking congestion history
  • catchment area of the students enrolled at the school.

Parents/carers who have children in one of the nine selected schools will be able to register online. Participating students will receive a personal sensor (beacon) that is attached to their bicycle or scooter. The school bicycle storage facility is fitted with a Bluetooth reader that detects the signal from the sensor, and immediately sends a notification to the nominated contact that the student has arrived at, or departed the school gate.

Data is collected by the online platform, so that incentives can be offered at certain milestones.

In addition to the digital platform, activities are planned throughout the school year to promote and encourage active travel to and from school, including bicycle education classes for all year 4 students.

Benefits

There are many potential benefits for students, families, the school and local community.

Student and families

  • Improved health and fitness, leading to better outcomes
  • Improved road safety awareness
  • Reduced traffic volumes and congestion
  • Increased peace of mind for parents, and increased independence and resilience in students

Schools

  • Increased road safety around schools
  • Reduced traffic congestion and illegal parking
  • Students arrive more active and alert
  • Improves school community health and well-being

Community

  • Reduced traffic volumes and congestion
  • Reduced air and noise pollution
  • Opportunities for community links and partnerships
  • A greater sense of community

Future schools

Following the completion of this trial, an evaluation will be undertaken to assess the viability of continuation of the program. It is hoped that the program will be expanded and offered to additional schools in the future, however, the current trial is only for nine Sunshine Coast Schools for a period of one year.

Schools wishing to register their interest in the program for future consideration, can email ridescore@sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au.

Contact

For more information about the RideScore Program, please Contact Us

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