Active schools

Join a network of schools participating annually in Ride2School Day

In 2024, Ride2School Day was held on Friday 22 March. Council supported 12 schools in a variety of ways to encourage student uptake in the event, including:

• Access to $400 in funding through our Active Travel Rebates, which was used on initiatives such as:
• Covering the costs of healthy breakfasts at South Melbourne Primary School and St Kilda Park Primary School
• Awards for students with the best decorated bikes and scooters at Port Melbourne Primary School
• Visits from Council’s Smoothie Bike, with Council covering logistics and costs of ingredients to make over 100 smoothies each at Middle Park Primary School and St Mary’s Primary School
• Awarding of two brand new bikes and helmets at Middle Park Primary School and Albert Park College
• Visits from our community partner Back2Bikes in the lead up to the event to undertake free maintenance sessions for students, parents and teachers at South Melbourne Park Primary School.
• Covering the costs of a coffee cart to encourage parent attendance at the St Mary’s Primary School bike parade
• Assistance in developing active travel programs

Promote active travel to students with Council's Walk & Wheel Program

Council's Walk & Wheel program is structured around a four-week period where students are encouraged to walk, ride or scoot to school as much as possible, with participating students' habits recorded daily by teachers.

The program can be tailored to the needs of each school and integrated into the school curriculum. Timing of the program is up to the school, as well as which classes participate, how awards are determined and how funding is used to support the program.

Council can supply the following services to support the Walk & Wheel Program:

• Printed Active Travel Trackers to record information on how students get to school throughout the month (1 tracker per class)
• Active Travel rebate of up to $400 to support the program. Council encourages schools to consider hosting a kick-off event or celebration event.
• Prizes for classes that have the high participation across the school, prizes include (but are not limited to):
• A visit from Councils Smoothie Bike
• A ‘Golden Shoe’ trophy which may be awarded at an assembly
• Assistance in facilitating excursions to local facilities
• Schools are invited to collaborate with Council on identifying prizes that suit their students. In recent years, Council has provided down balls, gift vouchers and play equipment as prizes.
• Resources including printed posters, worksheets, activities and council staff to support the program
• Assistance in utilising resources for education purposes, including advising on the benefits of active travel for integration with the curriculum
• Certificates for each student that commutes to school actively 20 times throughout the month, as well as assistance in awarding certificates and prizes at an assembly

Access $400 in funding to support active travel in your school community

All primary and secondary schools in our City are eligible to apply for a $400 Active Travel Rebate twice a year from Council. If you have an idea for an activity or initiative which encourages active travel to or from school, we encourage you to apply.

Examples of how some schools have used their rebates include:

• Supporting Ride2School Day events with prizes and activities for students
• Program support for our Walk and Wheel Program
• Active travel prizes, such as ‘Lucky Ticket’ prizes awarded by school crossing supervisors

Receive up to $2,000 in support when delivering projects

Local schools can apply for an Active Travel Matched Grant, valued at up to $2,000 each, to be used for any approved purpose which supports active travel to school. Funds received through this grant must be matched by the school.

Some common projects include:

• Bike and scooter parking facilities
• Bike education programs
• Active paths (wayfinding footpath graphics along designated routes to school)
• Purchasing of bikes/equipment for use by students
• Any school who would be interested in exploring developing a ‘Bike Library’, please reach out! We would love to investigate this sort of project, which is growing in popularity across Australia. Find out more at City of Kwinana. 

Enable parents and staff to teach children the skills they need to ride safely and independently

We can cover the course fees for your school's representatives to undertake this instructor training through Cycling Safe. Up to six Council-funded places are available per year, with a maximum of two per school.

More information about this training, including course dates and locations, can be found on Cycling Safe.