Kaponga Primary School’s bike track has seen the community coming together on the path to improve the wellbeing of tamariki.

Principal Shane Downs saw the wants and needs of his students and community had moved beyond only traditional team sports and recognized that a bike track would be a real asset. With plenty of space to work with the community rose to the challenge to create a 430 metre track.  While biking has always been important at the school, with regular cycle skills training from the Police Education Officer, an increase of heavy traffic on the roads made their traditional school bike day to Hollard Gardens a more dangerous prospect. Children also seemed to have less access to their own bike.

‘I’ve done this for the community, not just for our school. Given our space, we knew we could either go small or really big. We went really big!

Since the track opened the impact on student activity has also been huge.

“So many kids are out there being active in different ways – groups of girls love walking around the track. We have a number of students who have behavioural challenges, this track is highly engaging for them – they love it. We are using it for part of our cross-country training, alongside other activities.”

It’s clear that the track is a winner right across the school’s age groups.

“I like the jumps because I get to go fast and clear it. I like the turns because you stay on the track,” says Evan (7). Ten-year-old Zakh says the track is a great place for jumps and just “hanging with friends” while Josh (11) says its great fun on the jumps “because you go high!”

But the track’s impact goes much further than jumps or skids and is continuing to develop for all its users. A recent grant of $7,666 from the Tū Manawa Active Aotearoa fund administered by Sport Taranaki allowed the school to buy 20 bikes for children to use during the day

Track design work is also continuing.

‘We have found that some kids aren’t fond of the jumps, so we’ve created bail out zones. We are further developing other challenges with seesaw aspects and beams within the track – something we noticed on a trip to a Wellington school. Our needs continue to change in other ways so we’ve held off on ordering the bikes. Students of different ages are using it at different times – we are getting a better handle on what stage of bikes we’d be best to purchase,” Shane says.

A number of project groups have sprung up at the school to support the track and build on the positive energy it provides. One group is producing signs for the track while others are playing their part around the school developing a sanctuary garden, building bird houses, planting native trees or establishing a community kai garden. Now there are plans for a scooter pad, connected by a jump over the track to the concrete courts which work perfectly for scooter wheels.

All this has been made possible through tremendous community in-kind support and grass roots fundraising together with a Toi Foundation grant of $25,000. Sport Taranaki Healthy Active Learning Advisor Mattie Thomas says there is plenty of scope to build on progress.

"It's awesome to work alongside a school where the principal places such value on providing quality opportunities for tamariki to be active for their wellbeing."

Read more about the bike track in the Stratford Press

Article added: Monday 12 December 2022