YOUR WOW SPRING RESOURCES

We have dispatched all orders of WOW spring resources, including your badges. These should be with you by the end of this week, if they’re not already. We’re excited to reward your pupils  with the Viking, Shakespeare and Bicycle WOW badges this term.

THE WOW BADGE DESIGN COMPETITION

Enter one of the biggest design competitions for pupils in the UK! Our 2023 WOW Badge Design Competition launches on Thursday 19 January. This is an incredible opportunity for your pupils to be in with the chance of creating one of the designs featured on the new badges for academic year 2023/24. With a bit of luck and creativity, your school could win up to £500* worth of FREE WOW resources. That could mean free WOW for your school for a whole year! More information on the theme, instructions, prizes and T&Cs will be announced next week, so keep your eyes peeled!
*Prizes vary for schools that already receive WOW resources through Living Streets funded projects. 

THE SPRING WALK OF FAME 

Following the success of the autumn term Walk of Fame Challenge, we’re excited to announce that the spring term challenge will take place throughout the month of February! 
The Walk of Fame boosts pupils’ engagement in WOW and increases schools’ active travel rates. Taking part is simple; encourage children and their families to up their strides and travel actively to school as much as possible during February. The aim is to top the national and local WOW leaderboards. Find more information and lots of colourful resources, such as posters, certificates and shareables to promote and celebrate the challenge at the link below.
    

TIPS FOR WALKING TO SCHOOL WHEN IT’S COLD AND DARK

We have put together our three top tips for inspiring everyone to walk to school more this winter. Share these with your pupils’ families!

1.    Dress for success – Layer up your warmest clothes – you can always peel them off if you get hot. Check the weather before you leave the house and dress accordingly: wellies, brollies, hats and gloves will be our best friends these coming months. Remember, there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing!
2.    Ease into it – Start the walk slowly to give your muscles the chance to warm up and breathe through your nose to prevent expending excessive body heat through the mouth. If the road is icy, keep your steps small; the bigger the strides, the higher the risk of falling due to decreased balance.
3.    Make friends with dark mornings – Don’t make pre-dawn darkness stop you from striding your way to school. Walk on well-lit routes, maybe take a torch if there are darker sections. Cross at formal/informal crossings (signalised or zebra) or where there is good visibility. 

At Living Streets, we believe children shouldn’t have to wear hi-viz to walk to school. Instead, drivers should be observing speed limits and always paying attention, especially at crossings and in the vicinity of schools. If there is a problem with the way people drive around your school, check out our safer routes to school page. 

Share your WOW stories and pictures with us! 

We’d love to hear how your WOW journey is going. Tweet us @livingstreets or send us an email [email protected] 

If there is anything our team can do to support your school and families, please don’t hesitate to reach out at [email protected]

Happy walking,
Francesca