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Walking school bus

Did you know more than 80 per cent of trips made to accompany children to school in Melbourne are by car?

The Walking School Bus Program (WSB) has been running in some Bayside Primary Schools since 2004. Walking School Bus is also referred to as the ‘Active Travel’ program.

Participating schools in Bayside include:

Beaumaris North Primary School

T: 9589 5449

Brighton Beach Primary School

T: 9591 0888

Cheltenham Primary School

T: 9583 1614

Elsternwick Primary School

T: 8534 6100

St Joan of Arc Catholic Primary School

T: 9592 3840

Sandringham Primary School

T: 9598 1488

Sandringham East Primary School

T: 9598 1704

Walking School Bus FAQs

How does the Walking School Bus Program work?

The Walking School Bus Program relies on volunteers, to walk children safely to school in a group.

Each group of children walk on a 'route' to school. The routes have been chosen by the school community according to where interested families live.

Each route is audited by Councils Traffic Engineer for safety. For example: overhanging trees, obstructions along the path, signage.

Each route has a minimum of one adult volunteer for every eight children. Which means two volunteers may walk up to 16 children on a walking bus route to school.

Who are our volunteers and how do I qualify to become a volunteer on the program?

Most of our volunteers are parents directly connected to the school that runs the program. While other volunteers are grandparents or local residents.

Volunteers must be over 18 years of age, have an approved Working with Children Check and attend one of our free compulsory training sessions to become a supervisor of children.

Volunteers are required to be in good health, to maintain a walking speed to deliver children to school on time, clearly view and read street signage and hear approaching vehicles.

As children are limited in their road safety skill development the key role that volunteers have, are to assist in the improvement of children`s road safey sense. To reinforce the key pedestrian safety message, Stop, Look, Listen, Think (SLLT) procedure.

How long is each route?

The route length may be anything from 800 metres to 2.5kms. The average route length is 1.5 km.

How much time does it take to walk on the route to school?

As each route is different, it may take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes with an average 20-30 minute walk one way. The time is takes to walk is dependent upon the age group of the children.

How often does the walking bus run?

The volunteers determine how often the Walking School Bus walks, according to their availability and how many volunteers are registered.

Each route may operate from 1-5 morning per week.

There is no afternoon bus.

What does Active Travel mean?

Active transport is defined as physical activity undertaken as a means of transport and not purely as a form of recreation. Active transport generally refers to walking, cycling and scooting for travel to and/or from a destination, but may also include other activities such as the incidental activity associated with the use of public transport. As stated by VicHealth.

Benefits of participating in active travel are:

Reduced traffic congestion
Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
Increased physical activity for individuals
Increased community connection
Increased road safety skills for participating children
Increased opportunity to socialise with others
Increased alertness and stress relief
Cost savings

Key annual active travel event days for schools

Ride2School: promotes cycling, walking, scooting and public transport to school every March.
National Walk to School Day: promotes all modes of active travel to school in May.
Walktober: a whole month of walking for everybody. One week dedicated to encouraging children to walk to school as art of International Walk to School, October.

Useful links

For further information please contact the schools directly or call Bayside City Council 9599 4438.

Page last updated: 21 Jun 2010