Keep Safer School Travel Going in Your Community

On The Move programs and events can help more students make the shift to walking or wheeling for their school journey. School based On the Move action plans can bring ideas to life and can engage parents and caregivers, schools, and municipalities in activities that make the journey to school safer and more enjoyable for students.  

How to move ideas to actions with On The Move? 

Working with the support of the Health Unit, your school committee can collect data to get a good picture about what is currently happening at your school site related to safety behaviours, travel routes within the walking zones, and current travel behaviours of students and families at your school. 

We will work with your On the Move committee to help create an action plan with priorities that work for your school community. Actions can be taken within five areas of focus: Education, Encouragement, Engineering, Enforcement, and Evaluation, with Engagement and Equity at the centre of any planned activity. 

We can support you along the way!

What You Can Do

Collaboration is key to moving your plan to action. The success of activities selected by the school On the Move committee relies on participation from school families, the surrounding community, municipal decision makers and staff and school boards. 

Parents & Caregivers

Find out what is happening at your child’s school to make the school journey more active, safer, and enjoyable.

What you might notice:

• Newsletters, email blasts or events promoting bicycle safety, walking to school, and traffic safety
• Announcements about new crosswalks or speed reduced areas for driving around schools
• Accessibility and safety enhancements such as ramps, colourful ground markings, secure bike/scooter racks.

What you can do: 

• Give feedback on surveys and questionnaires on changes you would like to see that would make it easier for your family to support walking or wheeling to school. 
• Learn more about how to develop skills as a family related to biking or walking safely to school.
• Look for opportunities to join your child on their school journey or arranging with them to travel with a group. Perhaps drive to a location five minutes away from the school and walk/wheel that last bit of the journey as an option in your morning routine.
• Attend events at your school or in your community such as Bike Rodeos, Walking School Bus weeks or School Streets days.
• Ask about contributing to temporary infrastructure improvements planned by your school or municipality. Some projects involve temporarily constructing safety features or painting roadways with colourful markers or stencils to slow traffic and improve safety around the school.

How we support you:

• We work with your school committee to keep on track with the On the Move Action Plan for your school.
• We provide health information about injury prevention and the benefits of physical activity.
• We help plan and attend school and municipal events related to safer school travel.

Schools & Educators

If your school has started to get On the Move, you may have noticed some changes, or you may have been asked to be involved in certain school-wide activities. 

Your encouragement of your students to have a more active school journey is key to changing the culture of your school where walking and wheeling to school can become the norm. 

Your involvement can lead to classroom-based activities that support student health within the appropriate curriculum goals. 

Your engagement from data collection to evaluation in the On the Move program helps students and families to embrace the opportunities to make physical activity a part of their daily routine and to make their school journey safer and more enjoyable.

• What you might notice:
  • Being asked to collect data in your classroom through a hands up survey (1 week)
  • An invitation to participate in an On the Move school committee meeting or event
  • Nominating students to be involved in On the Move activities, events, or student-led projects 
• What you can do:
  • Complete the hands up survey and encourage students to have their parents or caregivers complete the home survey.  
  • Promote classroom activities and school-wide initiatives related to On the Move.
  • Look for curriculum activities that support skills and knowledge related to On the Move priorities for your school.
  • Attend or support the school committee meetings or On the Move events. 
• How we support you:
  • Provide meeting minutes from On the Move school and regional meetings
  • Website supports through an Ideas Lab for classroom and school activities
  • Support of our Public Health Nurses to plan events or provide resources for activities

Municipalities

Municipalities play a vital role in infrastructure improvements, speed reductions around school zones, participating in school level data collection, On the Move activities and by-law enforcement in support of  priorities identified in the school committee’s On the Move Action Plan. 

What you might notice:

• Requests for improved bike lanes, new laybys or parking areas available within a 5 min walk of the school. 
• Plans for a deputation to municipal council for project funding or a change of bylaws.
• Invitations to participate in On the Move events such as a Bike Rodeo, or a speeding and parking education campaign with bylaw officers and police involved during pick up and drop off times.

What you can do:

• Provide insights to the school On the Move school committee about how best to achieve their infrastructure or procedural goals through the municipality. This may involve sharing information about municipal priorities, budget cycles, or planned projects.  
• Support activities that align with your municipal planning documents that prioritize safer infrastructure for walking and cycling around schools. 
• Encourage elected officials to attend events and to participate in the school’s data collection days to help raise awareness about the current situation, ongoing challenges and the positive impacts walking or wheeling to school can have on the local community beyond the school. 

How we support you:

• Support and help prepare any deputations to council with On the Move school committee members. 
• Provide feedback to municipal land use planning documents through the Simcoe Muskoka On the Move Advisory Committee.
• Access to On the Move branded communications assets from social media messages to wayfinding signs to help raise the visibility of the program in your municipality. 

Helpful Resources 

Our resource library can help with ideas, promotional items or event planning to keep your school community

Contact Us

To learn more about current Simcoe Muskoka On the Move activities or for new requests and resources, email us at  [email protected] and we will get back to you within five business days.