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School’s a walk in the park for students at Governor’s Meadow

Governor's Meadow Walk-a-Thon 150519 { seq} ( Photo John Bugeja) participation by school pupils and parents. In attendance Hon John Cortes

Over 300 pupils from Governor’s Meadow First School took part in a Walkathon around Commonwealth Park yesterday morning, joined by the Minister for Education, Dr John Cortes.

The purpose behind the Walkathon was multi-fold, with the school having encouraged pupils to keep healthy and active over the past two years via various incentives.

Head Teacher Fiona Ferro together with the Deputy Head Ivan Latin and other teachers wanted an exercise that would involve the whole school, the parents and guardians.

The children had been taking part in circuit training, HIIT and Zumba every Friday however, not everyone can participate in these activities. This led the children to conclude that most people can walk and it was the best exercise to bring everyone together.

Governor's Meadow Walk-a-Thon  150519 { seq} ( Photo John Bugeja) participation by school pupils and parents. In attendance Hon John Cortes

Governor's Meadow Walk-a-Thon 150519 { seq} ( Photo John Bugeja) participation by school pupils and parents. In attendance Hon John Cortes

“Linking the park, nature, the circuit is safe and it is a lovely environment to walk in,” said Ms Ferro.

“This keeping healthy and involving the whole school is a catalyst for future keeping healthy and active, not just in what we eat but in our lifestyle,” she added.

Parents, grandparents and other relatives joined the children at the event, “which is a great thing,” said Ms Ferro.

“We as a school think a lot about our community so we have linked fundraising with it so we are collecting money for the GBC Open Day. So not only keeping healthy but also fundraising as well, but the main emphasis is walking and the exercise,” she added.

The event was in two stages with the younger children in lower school, some as young as three, doing their Walkathon first. The upper school, with the eldest child being eight, then arrived at the park and fulfilled their Walkathon.

Each child could do a maximum of eight laps of the park and as each lap is completed, they had a card stamped. “It is very flexible if anyone was tired they could sit down and relax,” said Ms Ferro.

The event also aimed to be environmentally friendly with water that was donated by Saccone and Speed being used to refill the reusable bottles the children were asked to bring or the biodegradable paper cups.

Pics by Johnny Bugeja

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