WOW Walk to School
Challenge 2025!
Barley Hill Primary School has chosen to be part of an exciting initiative to encourage more children and their families to walk to school. WOW – the walk to school challenge is delivered by Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking, to help as many children as possible experience the benefits of walking to school. Our Pupil Leadership team launched this new challenge to our pupils in assembly on Friday 10th January 2025 ready for it to begin!
The pupil-led challenge enables children to self-report how they get to school every day. If they travel actively (walk/wheel, cycle, scoot or Park and Stride) at least once a week for a month, they get rewarded with a badge. It’s that simple! Each class will also have an elected WOW Ambassador to support the Pupil Leadership Team to lead this challenge across the school.
What are the benefits of walking to school?
- Children feel happier and healthier
- They arrive to school refreshed and ready to learn
- Helps reduce congestion and pollution at the school gates.
What if we can’t walk to school?
If driving, please use our dedicated ‘Park and Stride’ location to help your child earn their WOW badges. The dedicated Park and Stride location for Barley Hill Primary School is the Cattle Market Carpark – Please park here when driving and walk the short distance to the school gate from this location. If using public transport, hop off at least ten minutes away and walk the rest (recorded as ‘other’ on the WOW Travel Tracker). Where walking to school isn’t an option, we work with schools to establish a bespoke approach to WOW that works best for their pupils’ needs. If you have any questions on the adaptability of WOW or have suggestions of how we can improve, we would love to hear your thoughts. Please email walktoschool@livingstreets.org.uk
What is a WOW badge?
There are 11 badges to be earned from September 2024 – July 2025. Each badge has been designed by a pupil from across the UK as part of the annual WOW Badge Design Competition. A new badge can be earned every month if pupils’ walk/wheel, cycle, scoot or Park and Stride at least once a week.
WOW 2024/25 encourages pupils to Walk with Imagination, with a selection of badges ranging from a Bird's Eye View to Road Surfing up for grabs. The badges are made in Cornwall from material that was otherwise destined for landfill, including fridge trays, plastic plates and yoghurt pot off-cuts. For more information, visit: livingstreets.org.uk/recycling
In the UK, last year, around 2,300 schools and over 600,000 pupils enjoyed the benefits of walking to school with WOW. Will you join us?
Please find more information and useful videos at: livingstreets.org.uk
Let’s swap those school runs for school walks! Good luck to our pupils and we hope you enjoy being active and earning lots of badges!
Thank you for your support
The Pupil Leadership Team and Mrs Plested
