Children jump feet first into competition
Children at Conon Bridge Primary School will today (Thursday 15th June) receive an award for putting their best foot forward in a recent pedometer competition in Ross and Cromarty.
The competition, which was sponsored by The Highland Council and run in conjunction with Walk to School Week (22nd – 26th May), was aimed at encouraging children to take more active travel choices to and from school. The eight schools that took part were Conon, Cromarty, Culbokie, Bridgend, Munlochy, Ullapool, Gairloch and Strathpeffer.
Children were issued with a pedometer at the start of their school week and asked to count their steps during the next four days. Class six of Conon Primary collected a total of 1,240, 075 between them averaging a total of 16,250 steps per child per day.
Highland Council’s School Travel Coordinator, Ailsa Campbell said: “This far exceeds the recommended 10,000 steps per day for a healthy child, and demonstrates how healthy and active the children have been. The competition coincided with the schools health promoting week, so it is likely that the many activities organised by the school in this week has helped them to achieve such an impressive result.”
Presenting the Golden Boot Award, Councillor Angela Maclean congratulated all the pupils and said: “Walking to school is such a healthy and rewarding activity. Children enjoy the company on the walk and arrive refreshed and ready for the day. It also helps the environment by reducing car pollution. Fewer cars on the road will result in fewer road safety hazards, so it really is the best travel choice to make. I hope that all the children taking part in the competition this year will continue to walk to school regularly.”
The children will hold the Golden Boot Award for one year and will have the opportunity to compete to retain their title again next year. The winning team have also been given a pedometer each to take home, in the hope that they will continue to be active and healthy.
For further information please contact: Ailsa Campbell, School Travel Coordinator, The Highland Council, TEC Services, Integrated Transport Section, 3 Ardross Terrace, Inverness IV3 5NQ tel: 01463 702 673