Events and Challenges for primary schools
Your school can take part in various active travel challenges throughout the year run by My Journey and our charity partners Living Streets, Sustrans and Energise Me. Visit our school's calender to ensure you know what's planned in for the year ahead.
Clean Air Day Scooter Challenge - Southampton Schools
Monday 17th to Friday 21st June 2024
Entering the challenge gives your school a chance to win a range of prizes.
Look at our challenge webpage for information and files to download to provide a fun way to encourage active travel on the school run.
Click here for more information.
World Book Day:
Here are some ideas for you to help make World Book Day linked to active travel and air quality:
- Why not read our online Air Quality books for Key Stage 1: A Wild Walk to School and Key Stage 2: A Right Royal Adventure? If you are interested in more resources linked to air quality education, please do visit the My Journey website.
- There’s also a range of PHSE-focused Susie the Childminder books, many with activities to go with them, written by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service including a new book entitled: Susie the Childminder and the Pandemic. Don’t forget to read Journey to School and Travelling Back in Time to School while you’re at it!
- Last but not least, there is a great range of books about Flying Fergus to enthuse your pupils to take up cycling. Check out the teachers' downloads here.
The Big Walk and Wheel (renamed from the Big Pedal), 11 March- 22 March 2024
Sustrans’ annual Big Walk and Wheel (was The Big Pedal) is the UK’s largest inter-school walking, cycling and scooting challenge.
Each spring, schools compete to see who can get the most pupils, families and staff members to arrive on two wheels. The more that do, the greater the chance to win some fantastic prizes from bike and scooter storage to cycle stunt shows by the UK’s best riders. The competition is weighted according to the size of the school, so everyone has a fair chance to win!
Walk to School Week: 20-24 May 2024
Walk to School Week is the Living Streets initiative which invites children and parents from around the UK to unite for one week of walking to school. To find out more about Walk to School Week and resources for schools, visit the Living Streets website.
The Hampshire Countryside Service have lots of walks to try in Hampshire and there are interesting routes nearer Southampton on the Go Jauntly website and app.
Clean Air Day
Clean Air Day is a great opportunity to raise awareness about air pollution and make the air that we breathe cleaner and healthier. This year we are running Clean Air Day primary and secondary school competitions on the theme of people-friendly streets.Click here for Clean Air Day resources and information about our competitions.
Walktober: the month of October
The My Journey team encourage schools to take part in International Walking Month each October. Walktober is a challenge held each October to celebrate International Walk to School Month. School communities are asked to walk, wheel and use other active and sustainable travel as much as possible throughout the month. Walktober has been run annually by Southampton City Council's Travel Planning Team since 2016.
Please contact the Travel Planning Team at SCC for details on this year's event.
rachel.oliver@southampton.gov.uk
Daily activities and challenges
Daily physical activity plays a key role in developing happier, healthier and stronger pupils and staff. There are many ways to build some extra physical activities into the school day.
The Daily Mile - a free and simple children’s health initiative that involves nursery and primary school children running or jogging for 15 minutes every day. Please visit thedailymile.co.uk/resources for a range of free resources to help implement The Daily Mile.
Active Bursts - Active Bursts are physical activities that give pupils a brief break from learning to increase their focus in class. Energise Me have lots of ideas and free resources of ways to engage pupils in physical movement during, or in between lessons. There are activities to try in the classroom and outside. Please visit energiseme.org/active-bursts.
The Golden Mile - The Golden Mile is a safe, simple and measurable way to improve health and physical activity. Every pupil can get involved by walking, wheeling, jogging or running around their track within the safety of the school grounds. Visit premier-education.com/the-golden-mile for more information.