Children got Movin' for the month of March

Children were cheering for Movin'March this month with record numbers participating in this year's initiative.

The month-long event run by Greater Wellington Regional Council in partnership with local councils encourages kids in the region to walk, cycle and scoot to school.

Kirsty Barr, Travel Choice Coordinator at Greater Wellington said participation and feedback from this year's Movin'March has been fantastic.

Almost 34,000 year zero to eight students from 125 schools in the region participated in the free event.

"We've had a lot of new schools come on board this year," Kirsty says.

"Out of 32 schools in Porirua, 19 registered this year. We went from having 19 per cent to 60 per cent participation in the area."

In past years Greater Wellington has surveyed teachers and parents about the outcomes of Movin'March but Kirsty says this year they included students in the feedback process.

"A lot of the feedback we have been getting is that students would like to continue to keep active after the month-long initiative has ended.

"Our goal now is to see how we can support schools in maintaining that enthusiasm throughout the year."

Kirsty said schools have seen changes in congestion and chaos at the drop off points, as well as more interaction with their school communities.

"We've had a lot of positive feedback about how schools are engaging more with whanau - having more interaction with their students' families.

"This is something Greater Wellington would like to continue to encourage in schools throughout the region."

Chair of Greater Wellington's Sustainable Transport Committee Barbara Donaldson says she is excited to see the increase in students joining Movin'March.

"It's fantastic to see whole families getting involved, with parents biking to school alongside their children. This kind of initiative helps set up life-long behaviours.

"As a council we want to encourage young people to be active and healthy.

"We look forward to seeing even more schools jumping on board next year," she says.

Greater Wellington also saw high participation numbers when it came to Movin'March challenges and competitions this year.

New to this year's prize pool is the award for the school in each district which has the highest number of student participation, in relation to the size of their school. Six $100 Prezzy Cards are up for grabs.

Other prizes given out this year range from family trips to Zealandia, Space Place, Staglands Wildlife Reserve and Wellington Zoo to three brand new adult Micro Scooters.