Bicycle Network: Success stories

Parent power

It's the best way to get to school!

Joining forces the key

In September 2007, Essex Heights Primary School joined the Ride2School program and reported 20% of the students travelled to school by bike, scooter, skateboard or foot. Today, this figure has increased to about 50% - almost double the National average!

The key to bringing about this change is parent champion, Morwenna Griffiths.

On the first day of school back in 2007, Morwenna, along with her excited little prep, arrived at school by bike. Having to put their bikes in a small corner along with only two others disappointed Morwenna but, more importantly, also motivated her to take action to improve the facilities at the school and encourage more families to choose to ride.

Today, the school has a secure bike shed and their active travel rate speaks for itself.

How Morwenna more than doubled the active travel rate:

1. Put announcements in the newsletter calling for other parents who would be interested in helping her.
Joining forces with other like minded parents is important as “finding some like-minded people to help you [makes it] much easier to get action,” says Morwenna. Linda Cornell responded to the request, and the two have worked together ever since.

2. Started a process of collecting HandsUp! data for the school each month.
With the help of teachers, Morwenna and Linda coordinate the HandsUp! data collection for the school. A class is nominated each month, with each student visiting two classrooms to collect the class’ forms. The forms are then forwarded on to Morwenna who collates the data and enters it into the school HandsUp! portal. Morwenna believes this process works at Essex Heights as teachers are very busy and appreciate that HandsUp! data collection takes ‘literally 10 minutes’.

3. Campaigned for a bike shed.

Morwenna and Linda, along with other concerned parents, approached the Principal about the possibility of campaigning for a bike shed. The group faced a small setback when a preliminary grant application was unsuccessful; however, this did not deter them and they got straight to work on a hot cross bun fundraiser which helped accumulate the much needed funds. A generous donation from the Parents and Friends Association (PFA) raised the extra funds needed to build a covered, lockable bike shed that now houses more than 30 bikes and scooters each day.

This term, in conjunction with the Junior School Council, Morwenna and Linda are starting the 'Bike Shed Riding Record' initiative (also known by the Ride2School team as Frequent Rider Passports). Children who wish to participate receive a credit-card-sized 'riding record' to attach to their bike or scooter. Each day when the bike shed monitors lock the bike shed, they will clip one number on each card. Each term all completed cards will go into the draw to win great prizes donated by the Ride2School program.

Looking at their active travel rate rise over the past 4 years and going from only 3 bikes per day to 40 is a big achievement. Morwenna and Linda attribute much of their success to the wonderful Parents and Friends Association and acknowledge that joining forces with other parents was the key for their school.

Conversation starter

Preventing drop-off zone ‘madness’ has led Michael Ryan, a parent at the school, to ask questions of his son’s school principal about improving bike parking facilities in the school. Noticing the many barriers he faces in encouraging active transport for his son, he decided to take steps to make a change within the school community. Talking to the school principal became the first step needed to prompt discussion of turning the school's old woodshed into a bike shed. Recycling the old woodshed should alleviate student fears of having a bike damaged or stolen, which is a significant barrier to active travel in the school community. Ride2School has provided valuable tips on how to build a bike shed to the Physical Education teacher who has offered to coordinate the building process.

Another barrier the school faces is the perception among students that cycling to school is ‘un-cool’. To overcome this barrier, Michael met with the fathers of students in the local football and basketball teams and realised they all shared the same passion but did not know where to start.

The football and basketball team dads are now joining Michael in his efforts to create a bike shed and are encouraging their children to ride to school. Students in the football and basketball teams are respected among the student community and have been the key to breaking the ‘un-cool’ barrier. They set a good example and promote discussion among other parents and students on how they too can actively commute to and from school.

This is a prime example of how the input of parents is vital to lead to positive progress in efforts to get more students riding and walking more often. As Michael says, active travel needs to be encouraged by parents as they are the ‘key change agent’ in modifying attitudes among their children and the wider school community.

If you would like further information of how you can improve the bike parking at your school then please call us on (03) 8376-8888 or email ride2school@bicyclenetwork.com.au.

It's the best way to get to school!

Commuting to work twice per week from Mentone to St. Kilda, Martin says, “having three kids, I don’t have time to go to the gym, so riding to and from work means I get my exercise in whilst travelling to and from work. It also wakes up your system and gives you more energy during the day.”

An avid supporter of active travel, Martin is keen to have his son ride with him on his way to work and is going to start making a day of it on weekends by taking the whole family out for rides. Tips for other parents who want their child to benefit from being active on the way to school is to "be very persistent and keep their spirits up... or they will just want to give up. [Teaching your kids to ride] will test your patience but the benefits are well worth it".

Encouraging a child to ride to school is much easier when the whole community get behind it. Mentone Park Primary School, where his son attends, is registered with the Ride2School program. This means the school supports making active travel part of the school culture by promoting walking and wheeling to school as an alternative to taking the car.

Is your child's school registered in the Ride2School Program?

Contact the Ride2School team to find out more:

E: ride2school@bicyclenetwork.com.au

Ph: (03) 8376 8888

Meet Fitness Fred

Thanks to Kim Lim and Fitness Fred, being active on the way to school is cool at Belmont Primary School.

Kim Lim – Parent extraordinare!
Kim is a parent who is dedicated to make walking and riding a popular behaviour at the school. She has been key in implementing Walk On Wednesdays (or WOW) which encourages students to walk or ride every Wednesday. Kim hopes getting into the habit once per week will encourage students to choose to be active more often. The class that gets the most students walking and wheeling on Wednesdays is rewarded with a trophy, a ‘casual clothes day’ and is recognised at the school assembly.

The cuddly trophy... Fred
The school has two trophies depending on the year level of the winning class. Senior classes receive a trophy with sneakers and a bike handlebar, whereas junior classes are awarded Fitness Fred (otherwise known as ‘the cuddly trophy’) for the week!

Walking and wheeling quiz
Another strategy Kim uses involves including quiz questions in the school newsletter where the answer can only be obtained by walking or wheeling to school (e.g. how many green letter boxes in a certain street). Winners get 'It's Cool To Walk to School ' wrist bands and one lucky person gets a free swim pass to the local pool, both of which are kindly donated by Greater Geelong City Council. Kim has noticed that “the quiz only works if the incentives are good enough. We have seen a lot more interest since we started offering the swim passes”.

Tracking progress

While the school relies on incentives to promote walking and wheeling, Kim likes to track how they are changing behaviour by doing a HandsUp! survey each month. To see if the incentives are encouraging students to walk and wheel on a regular basis, she chooses a random day of the month (except for Wednesdays) to ask students to put their HandUp! if they walked, rode, caught public transport or were driven to school. She then enters the results on the Ride2School portal which allows her to see graphs showing her how the school is tracking.

An upward trend
Encouraging walking and riding once per week seems to be crucial in creating behaviour change at the school, as they are experiencing an upward trend in active travel numbers. Belmont Primary's active travel rate of around 70% is testament to the success of Kim's techniques in building the Ride2School program in the school.

Parent support is key

The Ride2School team have noticed that registered schools which have parental support achieve very impressive active travel results. A ‘whole school community’ approach has frequently been reported as a significant feature of most successful Ride2School program schools, and parents are key to schools achieving this. Kim is a fantastic example of a parent who has made a difference in creating an active travel friendly school – Well done Kim!

Riding for a safer community

Associate Professor of Geography at The University of New South Wales and Bike Futures conference presenter, Dr Paul Tranter said the congestion around schools makes streets unsafe for parents and children, urging for a cultural shift.

''In car-dominated cities, the needs of both cyclists and children have been subordinated to the demands of motorists,'' said Dr Tranter.

''Unfortunately, our response in Australia is to simply put our children in our own cars, which makes the problem worse. It contributes to traffic dangers.

''There are more cars on the road, so parents are driving their kids to school to protect them from the traffic danger created by other people driving their kids to school.''

The rate of cycling among children has declined in the past decade. Children under 15 are Australia's most prolific riders, making up 52 per cent of people who ride a bike at least once a fortnight, according to the most recent census data from 2009. In 2000-01, the figure was 60 per cent.

Dr Tranter highlighed that children do not think of cycling as exercise or transport, but as a way to play and explore. Children driven everywhere risk developing health problems in later life, and also miss out on early skills in observing traffic and learning resilience.

The Ride2School program plays an integral part in increasing children's active travel and reducing traffic congestion around schools.

Rocco and Wilani Smit regularly ride to sports and school with their children, Iliro and Inica, using off-road bike paths. After riding into the Melbourne CBD Breakfast on Ride2Work Day, they talked to The Age about the importance of instilling a riding culture in their children.

Ensure your local school is part of the Ride2School program and registered for National Ride2School Day, Friday 22 March 2013.

Content taken from 'A biker-logical approach urged for safety' by Adam Carey, The Age, 18 October 2012.