CALIFORNIA Gully Primary school will celebrate National Ride2School day on Friday, March 25 with several parents, teachers and students travelling to school without a car.
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The day is all about encouraging children to be active and instead of being driven, getting them to ride, scoot, skate, or walk to school, helping them get their recommended 60 minutes of exercise in a day.
California Gully Primary student Chloe Oogjes said she rides her bike to school every day.
"It's mostly for enjoyment but also a lot of exercise because it gets your legs moving, it's also really fun riding to school, and you also get here very early," she said.
California Gully Primary School Principal Andrew Frawley said: "Ride2School today is really a focus on developing positive mental health, it's allowing students the chance to be active first thing in the morning which obviously sets your mind and body up for a day of positive learning".
"I think longer-term it's about developing connections with the community, it's about understanding what's available to you outside of your own little path to school, it's understanding there are so many things around the Bendigo area you can enjoy like the skate parks and bike tracks, etc."
Mr Frawley said normally just under a quarter of the families at the school ride, walk, scoot, or skate to school.
He expects double that number to participate in National Ride2School day, with the hope that it sticks because it's something so achievable and sets positive habits.
The Bicycle Network is expecting 350,000 parents, teachers, and students to take part in National Ride2School Day, which is a free event open to all primary and secondary school students in Australia.
"It's a great opportunity for our community as it is for all other schools as well to allow everyone to connect together, it's been a challenging couple of years," Mr Frawley siad.
"To be able to connect together in a community event like this is really important.
It's about knowing that our kids are able to get to school in a really active and safe way, which is so important, and it just sets them up with good habits inside and outside of school."
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