Pārāwai School Pump Track Officially Open!
An opportunity for bike safety education and increased physical activity
By Holly Wilson, Social Media and Marketing Coordinator
Pārāwai School's new Pump Track was officially opened on Monday, with lots of excited students eager to give it a go! The official blessing took place during school hours, allowing students to ride for the first time during lunch. Following this, the school hosted an official opening after hours for the community, parents, and whaanau to come and check out the track.
Students brought in their bikes and helmets ready to ride, while others watched, cheered, and handed out high-fives on the sidelines, hopefully feeling motivated to join them.
Between 1990 and 2014, the average time biked by New Zealand’s 5-12-year-olds fell from 28 minutes per week to just 4 minutes per week.
Data from 2021 to 2023 indicates that 0-15-year-olds on average spent 5.5 minutes cycling per week. Needless to say, since the 1990s, there has been a significant decrease in cycling activity with not much improvement.
It is the hope of the school that the new Pārāwai Pump Track will provide opportunities for important education about bike safety as well as help to increase the physical activity and cycling time of its students. The track will also help encourage students to bring their bikes to school by cycling rather than by car.
Moving forward, Pārāwai School is looking into further funding to help provide bikes so that all students can access the track. The Pump track will also be open to the community outside of school hours.
Holly Wilson My background is in social media marketing. I love to create both written and visual content and tell people's stories through my work. I have experience working for small businesses and tertiary education. I love sharing my knowledge to help build profiles and share content that is meaningful, educational, and can make a positive impact.
As the Social Media & Marketing Coordinator at Sport Waikato, I provide all-round support to the Communications & Marketing Team for our social media, content creation, and event planning activities.