New schools join the BikeOn Bikes in Schools Program for 2013

nz_byk_bikes_in_schools_dec13Congratulations to the schools that have joined the Bikeon NZ School program in 2013.  

Kids at these schools are given the awesome opportunity to learn, and subsequently, love to ride which has a knock-on effect flowing into their attendance in other sports, their schoolwork and of course their overall health and fitness.

  • Kaikohe East School - the 240 students now have a wonderful fun school bike track to ride their 60 bikes around. After the ribbon was cut, local resident and former Olympic and Commonwealth cyclist Laurie Byers led the children around the first lap of the track.
  • Bridge Pa School in the sunny Hawke's Bay. Bikes in Schools at Bridge Pa School has been fully funded by the good people at Hawke's Bay DHB as part of their efforts to build healthy communities.
  • James Street School. Cycle Action Whakatane managed the project with wonderful support from some local groups and organisations.
  • Onepoto Primary School in Northcote, Auckland. The tracks, named Te Ara Tika (The Right Path) include a 550m loop track around the school, a skills track with eight 'challenges', and a pump track.

nz_byk_bikes_in_schools_dec13_2Bikes in Schools is a complete biking package implemented within a school that enables all students to ride a bike on a regular basis.  The full package includes a fleet of new bikes, a bike helmet for every child, combination of riding, pump and bike skills tracks, bike storage facility (where needed), and a bike coach to introduce the programme and teach basic riding skills.

All the bikes and helmets are owned by the school and remain on the school property. The tracks are built within the school property. The storage facility (eg. converted shipping container or bike shed) is also owned by the school.

You can read about the New Zealand Bikes in Schools Program here and keep up with their blog here.