Walking School Buses

Dear parents/caregivers,

Walking school busesWe’d like to introduce Walking School Buses for Amesbury School children.  By walking to school, children get fresh air, enjoy the activity of walking and have the opportunity to :

-  Learn how to safely negotiate the roads
-  Develop independence
-  Talk and socialise with friends and neighbours
-  Arrive at school refreshed and ready to enjoy the school day
-  Ease traffic congestion and improve safety around our school

About the walking school busA walking school bus usually has at least one adult “driver” who walks along an agreed route, collecting all children waiting at designated “bus stops” and walking them to school.  After school, they walk back along the same route.

Are you interested ?
We would like to gauge support for setting up a walking school bus for our school.  We would be grateful if you would complete this short survey  http://goo.gl/forms/yL7n0t9hMb by Friday 27^th February 2015.

We will start the walking school buses as soon as there is enough support to do so.  The service will be free and a co-ordinator will organise parent volunteers to act as leaders.  There will be a maximum of eight children per adult and, while it’s a great thing to do, you don’t have to volunteer if you’re unable to.

Children can use the bus every day or on whatever days suit the family.  Routes will be established along the roads most used by our students, depending on the level of interest shown by parents and their willingness to volunteer as leaders.

Meeting
We will hold a meeting at the school in the next few weeks to discuss parents’ responses to the survey and our proposed walking school bus scheme.  You will be notified of the date via email, and your attendance and input would be very welcome.

You will contacted with more details if you can’t make the meeting but express an interest in the walking school bus through the survey.

Angela Natali (Matilda's mum) is the co-ordinator and is happy to answer any questions and would particularly enjoy hearing about the experiences of parents and caregivers who have had involvement in other walking bus programmes. Angela can be contacted on 0212724321 or angela.natali@vuw.ac.nz