Miranda North Public School had a strong bike culture but wanted to further support their students to ride safely to and from school, so they embarked on a journey with the local council, Transport for NSW and the P&C.

It started with reviewing the safest routes for their students to travel safely to and from school. Transport for NSW made some great changes to support this and the Sutherland Shire Council plans to upgrade the paths outside the school.

Meanwhile, the school didn’t put the brakes on. They enrolled teachers in road safety education professional learning, developed resources for their school, raised community awareness through safe active travel days and ran information nights for their P&C with their local Road Safety Education Officer. Bike racks were procured and Work Health Safety and School Infrastructure assisted in creating a safe space to store bikes in school.

The wheels of change kept turning and 2 years later Sutherland Shire Council supported an eight-week Cycling skills program for the school’s students in Years 5 and 6.

This was incorporated into their PDHPE program developed by the teachers and supported by bike education activities from the online resource Safety Town.

It was a wonderful opportunity to teach bike skills, the benefits of active travel and road safety awareness in a real-life context.

The principal, Ross Angus commented, "It is also a sign of students having an impact on their teaching and learning opportunities, as it was the students who voiced their keen interest in riding bikes initially.”

The school is planning to survey families and students about the ongoing impact of this bike education program.

The health benefits are enormous and with the school on such a busy road easing vehicle congestion for students who can safely travel to and from school safely by a bike is a win for all. Ride on!