Walk to School Week May 2008 - listen up and discover a whole new world!
The Walk to School Campaign for May 2008 is focusing on children exploring their local environment through sound and noise.
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Walk to School week will be 19-23 May 2008 (12-16 May in Scotland). This year’s theme will link with Noise Action Week, by exploring the links between noise and walking to school.
Walk to School resources for May 2008 are now being sent out. Orders are still being taken but we cannot guarantee that orders received after 29 April will arrive in time. You can view them by going to See Resources.
You can click here for some inspiration about how to use the theme or read below for the key messages for different audiences:
For Children
We are asking children to become “Sound Detectives” on their way to school. We want them to explore the world around them in a different way – by listening to the soundscape of their streets as they walk to school. It is amazing the number of different sounds you can hear when you take the time to listen. It is also an opportunity to explore the difference between “good” and “bad” noises (for instance police sirens).
For Parents
The walk to school can be a chance for a moment of reflection – taking time to listen to their children, or to the sounds of the street. Too often we are in such a rush that we don’t stop and enjoy the process of getting there!
We also want to tell parents about the negative impacts that road noise can have on their children’s learning. The World Health Organisation found that traffic noise is harming the health of a third of the population in Europe. Impacts include sleep disturbance and disruption of learning patterns in children.
For School Travel Professionals
Walk to School week is an opportunity to make some noise about the successes you have had – to tell the world how important the journey to school is!
Perhaps you could organise a celebration using the themes of street carnival or brass bands. It is time to replace the noise of cars with the noise of children enjoying their walk to school!
For Road Safety Professionals
The noise from MP3 players and mobile phones can be very distracting – both for children walking to school and also drivers nearby. The link to noise could be used to remind people that these sounds can make walking to school less safe.
For Noise Pollution and Environmental Health Officers
Under the Environmental Noise Directive, Noise Action Plans must be submitted to the European Commission in July 2008 for 27 urban agglomerations across the UK. These will set out how the impacts of noise in major cities and from our busiest transport routes are to be managed, in order to reduce the harmful impacts. Walk to School week is a great opportunity to draw attention to these action plans.
For Hearing-impaired Children
As well as being a great opportunity to engage with specialist deaf schools, the link to noise and sound can also be used to look at the needs of hearing-impaired walkers. Many children with partial hearing loss find that traffic noise can make focusing on people speaking very difficult.
