Green-Schools' National Walk to School Week is up and running...or should that be walking...All this week schools are encoraged to get on their feet and step it out to school.
Walk to School Week is a celebration of walking, active transport, and sustainable solutions to congestion outside schools around Ireland.
The Green-Schools Travel Programme works in partnership with schools to promote active, sustainable travel on the journey to school. Green-Schools Travel Officers will be working with schools promoting active travel, carrying out walkability audits, and delivering climate workshops in schools. These are focused on giving students and the school’s wider community the tools to change habits, build better ones and create a school environment that is accessible and enjoyable for all.
There are lots of great resources for teachers at Green-Schools Ireland
The highlight of the week is Walk on Wednesday (WOW), when schools are encouraged to record the number of students and staff walking or park & striding to school, and be in with a chance to win some prizes for their school.
Speeding, idling engines, poor driving behaviour and footpath parking all impact the journey to school. A recent report by the EPA* has highlighted the impact of poor air quality on urban communities and the Green-Schools Speedweek report in 2021* made clear how few people adhere to speed limits outside schools in Ireland.
Get your No Idling toolkit here!
Walk to School Week is the first of four annual week-long call to action events run by the Green-Schools Travel Programme in the school year. Clean Air Week follows in November, followed Bike Week in May, and Scoot to School Week in June. Walk to School Week is facilitated in nearly 500 schools directly by Green-Schools Travel Officers and in almost 2,000 more schools awarded previously for their sustainable and active travel efforts.
