Mansfield Shire Council: Walk to School Safe Routes, Maps and Signs

In 2014, Mansfield Shire Council’s Sport and Recreation team redeveloped the local Walk to School map and developed a colour coded signage system to support primary school aged children walking to school.

This case study addresses Requirement 3: Deliver local initiatives to support ongoing active travel by primary school aged children

Students from the Merrijig Primary School showing off their
new pedometers.

The walk to school map illustrates seven safe walking routes from all corners of town which helps guide students to school safely. These routes make use of manned school crossings and avoid major roads and intersections.

The map is complemented by newly-installed way-finding signage to assist children to navigate their way to school. Mansfield Shire Council created and installed 14 colour-coded signs to match the colour-coded map. Each sign has an arrow to assist with directions to ensure the children are taking the correct route.

The Council printed 700 copies of the Walk to School map, which were distributed to the two primary schools in the Mansfield township, the local information centre, the Library, Council reception and other community organisations. Council also promoted the map through articles in the local paper and school newsletters, and provided information sheets for parents. The map and Walk to School initiative as a whole was really warmly received by schools, parents and several local mothers groups. All 700 maps were taken up by community members. 

To further help motivate and inspire students to participate in the Walk to School program, grades 5 and 6 students at Mansfield Primary School, St Mary’s Primary School and all the students at Mansfield Shire’s outer lying primary schools (Merrijig, Jamieson and Mansfield Steiner School) were issued with pedometers.

The pedometers made it possible to include the primary schools outside of the Mansfield township in the month long program. Due to their rural locations, students in the schools outside of the Mansfield township areas physically cannot walk to school. 

Instead, the students wore their pedometers while they were at school for the whole month and recorded their steps on the provided stepping chart – tallying them up and awarding certificates at the end of the month. As a way of increasing students step counts, many children would meet their friends at the walk to school drop off areas and follow the walking route to school. 

One challenge of these Walk to School activities was that initially, it was a struggle to find one representative at each school that could be a primary point of contact. Making regular contact with the schools, and asking the schools for feedback on the maps and signs helped build rapport with schools and raise awareness of the project. As the build-up increased to Walk to School 2014, both schools designated a Walk to School co-ordinator. This co-ordinator assisted teachers in distributing and recording the data from the pedometers, distributing the Walk to School maps and educating other staff members on the walk to school program.

This project helped to build a strong partnership between Council and the local schools. It demonstrated that Council is actively looking to work with the schools for a healthier and safer community.  Involving schools in the design of the map and signs created a sense of ownership in the program which contributed greatly to the success of the program.

Download: Wouldn't it be great to see more people walking and less people driving? (PDF, 740KB)

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