Thousands of students across the Sunshine Coast will ride, scoot and walk to school for National Ride2School Day.
Local kids will join 350,000 students across Australia, who will roll into school grounds on Friday, March 20.
Golden Beach State School will this year join the nation’s biggest celebration of active travel and host a ‘bike bus’ convoy to celebrate healthy travel and road safety.
The new Golden Beach Bike Bus will be a supervised group ride, departing from the Caloundra Powerboat Club, collecting students at Fraser Park before following the coastal pathway and crossing Landsborough Parade into the school.
Queensland Police Service officers will lead the ride, joined by Sunshine Coast Lightning netballers, along the scenic route of Pumicestone Passage.
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The day also marks the official launch of the school’s RideScore Active Schools Program, an incentive-based program aimed at increasing active travel to and from school.
Councillor Terry Landsberg said National Ride2School Day was the perfect moment to celebrate Golden Beach State School joining the RideScore Active Schools community.
“Ride2School Day is a fantastic reminder of how simple daily routines like riding or scooting to school can make a huge difference to a child’s health and wellbeing,” he said.
“It marks the perfect day to expand the award-winning, world-leading active travel program that uses smart beacons and app notifications to give parents peace of mind by alerting them when their child arrives or departs school.
“RideScore is also a Sunshine Coast innovation delivered in partnership with We Ride Australia and has grown significantly since its early trials.
“Research shows the program boosts children’s confidence, independence, resilience and social interaction, while reducing school zone congestion and CO2 emissions.”
This year, RideScore expanded to three new schools, bringing the total to 14 participating Sunshine Coast schools.
Golden Beach State School principal Greg Ferdinands said the new ‘bike bus’ was a great way for students to build road safety skills and confidence while making the journey to school social and enjoyable.
“One of the best things about both programs, Ride2School and RideScore, is how much fun it makes active travel,” he said.
“When our young people start the day active, they arrive more focused, energised and ready to learn.
“Kids love earning rewards, tracking their progress and engaging in a bit of friendly leaderboard competition, it turns the ride to school into something they genuinely look forward to.”
The state government has committed more than $464,000 into improving pathways and crossings in Golden Beach.
RideScore encourages daily physical activity and school readiness, reduces school zone traffic and improves safety, supports children’s confidence, resilience and cognitive development, and it is free for families, funded by the Sunshine Coast Council Transport Levy.
Participating schools include Baringa State Primary School, Brightwater State School, Buddina State School, Caloundra State School, Chancellor State College, Golden Beach State School, Coolum State School, Currimundi State School, Meridan State College, Nirimba State Primary School, Pacific Paradise State School, Palmview State Primary School, Peregian Springs State School and Talara Primary College.
