Walk to School
JOIN OUR NATIONAL MOVEMENT OF WALKING CHILDREN
HERE YOU WILL FIND LINKS TO OUR WALK TO SCHOOL INITIATIVES, RESOURCES, STORIES AND MUCH MORE.
Our flagship initiatives for primary schools
WOW - THE walk to school challenge
WOW is a pupil-led initiative where children self-report how they get to school every day using the interactive WOW Travel Tracker. If they travel sustainably (walk, cycle or scoot) once a week for a month, they get rewarded with a badge. It's that easy!
Walk to school week
Our 2023 week-long celebration of the walk to school took place 15-19 May! You can still take part anytime during the school year by ordering your 'Walk with Wildlife' classroom packs now - packs are undated!
Meet our WOW celebrity ambassador, Dr Ronx!
CBBC presenter and emergency doctor, Dr Ronx, will promote WOW and the health benefits of walking to school for the 2022-23 academic year.
Dr Ronx said:
“I’m thrilled to be the new ambassador for WOW – the walk to school challenge from Living Streets. With notable increases in air pollution, rising childhood inactivity and post-lockdown poor mental health, encouraging children to be more active and ditching school run drives for more sustainable modes of transport is imperative."
Why the Walk to School matters
Happier children
It’s been proven that children who do some form of exercise, especially a walk before school, do better in class because they arrive refreshed, fit and ready to learn.
Less congestion
During morning peak traffic times, one in five cars on the road are taking children school, contributing to congestion, air pollution and carbon emissions.
some useful resources
our school run report
We need urgent action on air pollution to protect and promote the Walk to School.
Our report Swap The School Run For The School Walk lays out 21 recommendations for decision-makers at all levels to enable more children to walk to and from school.
parents and carers
If you’re a parent or carer, check out our ideas for ways to get you and your family walking.
And download our Family Walk to School Kit, designed to help parents, carers and children make the walk to school work for them.
school streets
School street closure schemes – where cars are prevented from going up to the school gates at drop off and pick up times – have been successfully trialled in towns and cities in the UK.
Our expertise in supporting better walking environments means we can help with the entire cycle of a School Streets project.
Want to talk to the team?
If you want to talk to us about getting more children walking to school, just drop us a line.
We work with organisations, public sector bodies and companies to improve streets for walking.