Ashcombe Primary School has chosen to be part of an exciting initiative to encourage more children and their families to walk to school. WOW – the walk to school challenge is delivered by Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking, to help as many children as possible experience the benefits of walking or wheeling to school.

The pupil-led challenge enables children to self-report how they get to school every day. If they travel actively (walk/wheel, cycle, scoot, ‘Park and Stride’ or hop off) at least once a week, for a month, they get rewarded with a badge. It’s that simple!

What are the benefits of walking to school?

• Children feel happier and healthier

• They arrive at school refreshed and ready to learn

• Helps reduce congestion and pollution at the school gates

What if we can’t walk to school?

If driving, ‘Park and Stride’ to help your child earn their WOW badges. Park at least ten minutes away from the school and walk or wheel the remaining journey.

If using public transport, hop off at least ten minutes away and walk the rest of the way (recorded as ‘other’ on the WOW Travel Tracker).

Where walking to school isn’t an option, schools are supported to establish a bespoke approach to WOW that works best for their pupils’ needs. This includes pupils becoming WOW Ambassadors, leading assemblies, creating active travel notice boards, and other activities within the school day.

If you have any questions on the adaptability of WOW or have suggestions of how we can improve, we would love to hear your thoughts. Please email walktoschool@livingstreets.org.uk

What is a WOW badge?

There are 11 badges to be earned from September 2025 – July 2026. Each badge has been designed by a pupil as part of the Living Streets annual WOW Badge Design Competition. A new badge can be earned every month if pupils walk/wheel, cycle, scoot, ‘Park and Stride’ or hop off at least once a week.

WOW 2025/26 encourages pupils to Walk with Joy, with badges depicting everything from jumping in puddles to painting.

The badges are made in Cornwall from material that was otherwise destined for landfill, including fridge trays, plastic plates and yoghurt pot off-cuts. For more information, visit: livingstreets.org.uk/recycling

Last year, around 2,100 schools and over 540,000 pupils across the UK enjoyed the benefits of walking to school with WOW.

If you would like to find out more information please visit the WOW website: WOW - the walk to school challenge

There are also lots of other resources for parents to make the walk to school more engaging, please find documents below: