St John’s Anglican College Joins Active School Travel Program

For the first time ever, St John’s Anglican College in Forest Lake joined Brisbane’s Active School Travel Program, which asks families to encourage their children to walk, or use a bike, scooter or skateboard to go to school.

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The school joined more than 170 others and over 143,000 students who have participated in some way since the program kicked off in 2004. To celebrate its 20th anniversary this school year, organisers hope to have 30 schools and thousands more students taking part.

Martin Brownlow, Head of Junior School at St John’s, said he hopes the program will promote an active and healthy lifestyle for the school community.

“We wanted to join the program to promote an active and healthy lifestyle for our school community,” Mr Brownlow said.

“We are extremely cognisant of the fact healthy bodies promote healthy minds and the Active Schools Travel Program was the ideal opportunity to further strengthen this for the students at the College.

“We were very aware that not many schools in the area were involved, so we saw this as an opportunity to collaborate, lead and support other schools to see the benefits and also join the program.

Photo credit: Brisbane City Council/Facebook

Besides St John’s Anglican College, another Forest Lake school, Grand Avenue State School will commence the program once more for the three-year curriculum.

The program teaches students about the health and environmental benefits of active travel through a three-year curriculum. On average, schools see a 16 percent improvement in the number of students using active transit after completing the program.

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LM Adrian Schrinner said that their goal at Council was to create programs that inspire residents to improve their travel habits, which helps reduce congestion, create safer streets, and cultivate closer communities.

“Whether it is walking, cycling, scooting or anything else in between, we want to see Brisbane families ditching their cars and heading to school in a more active way,” said Cr Schrinner.

For more information about Active School Travel, go to Council’s website or phone the contact Centre during business hours on 07 3403 8888.

Published 19-February-2024