Three more Hull schools have joined a national challenge to encourage and support more children to walk and wheel to school in the city.
St Nicholas Primary School – part of Humber Education Trust – Longhill Primary and Estcourt Primary have joined nine other schools in Hull in taking part in the WOW – the walk to school challenge from UK charity Living Streets.
Supported by Hull City Council, the scheme launched during International Walk to School Month at Chiltern Primary School, in autumn 2024, and, thanks to further funding from Active Travel England, the initiative can be rolled out to even more schools.
WOW sees pupils record how they get to school using the interactive WOW Travel Tracker, with those who walk, wheel, cycle, scoot or ‘Park and Stride’ to school being awarded a monthly WOW badge.
Other schools signed up to the challenge, include Broadacre Primary, Buckingham Primary Academy, Ings Primary, Newington Academy, Southcoates Primary Academy, Stepney Primary, Thorepark Academy, Mountbatten Primary and Bricknell Primary.
Since launching in the city, 326,760 journeys have been logged on the WOW Travel Tracker. The number of pupils choosing to walk, wheel, cycle or scoot to school has increased by 34 per cent since schools started WOW, with the number of journeys driven all the way to school down 62 per cent.
“WOW has been a real success since launching in the city last year. It is fantastic to see so many children embracing the challenge and making the journey to and from school in a more active and sustainable way,” said Councillor Mark Ieronimo, cabinet portfolio holder for transport and infrastructure at Hull City Council.
“We’d like to congratulate all our new schools who have signed up as well as those who’ve taken part throughout the last year.
“We’d love to see even more schools taking part.
“The challenge is fully funded and therefore free for schools to take part in and our partners at Living Streets provide practical guidance and assistance in getting set up and ongoing support to ensure success.”
Hannah Dale, PE teacher at St Nicholas Primary School, said: “We’re really looking forward to starting the walk to school project and seeing the children’s excitement. We can’t wait to see the positive impact this initiative will have – encouraging our pupils to walk to school, boosting their fitness, and helping the environment.”
Sarah Leaf, head of school, expressed her delight in being part of the initiative.
She said: “At St Nicholas Primary School, we promote a thoughtful attitude towards the immediate and wider environment and the WOW initiative is a fantastic way to encourage active travel and make a positive impact on our pupils’ health and the environment. We are thrilled to be part of the WOW Walk to School programme.”
Eloisa, a pupil at the school, added: “Walking to school is so much fun and being able to earn badges and helping the planet is an added bonus. We are also getting ourselves fit and healthy.”
Both Hull City Council and Living Streets are keen to hear from more schools in Hull who would like to take part in WOW.
Abigail Gibbons, project coordinator for Living Streets, said: “These pupils can be really proud of the steps they’re taking to get active on the journey to school. Together they are helping to reduce traffic, congestion and pollution for whole communities across Hull. I hope they inspire other children and their families to join us and experience the many benefits of walking and wheeling to school with WOW.”
Interested schools can contact Abigail Gibbons for more information
