School is back and more kids walking
As children return to school, and more are being encouraged to walk, authorities are reminding drivers to be aware of children and slow down.
More than 50 per cent of primary-aged children are driven to school, according to the New Zealand Household Travel Survey (2014), and there is a push in South Canterbury for children to walk, at least some of the way, to school.
Waimataitai School principal Jane Culhane has been encouraging parents to either let their children walk all the way to school, or drop them off a few blocks away, so they can learn resilience and independence.
Since August last year, when she sent a notice home to parents on the subject, she has observed more children walking, resulting in less congestion around the school gate.
Timaru St Joseph’s School has had a successful walking bus for the past decade. The bus is a group of children walking together with a parent supervising them. Sacred Heart Timaru started theirs in 2016.
‘‘We encourage students to get to school actively, even if that is being dropped off at the top of Kelvin St or at any of our bus stops along the way,’’ St Joseph’s principal Carmel Brosnahan-Pye said.
Quite a few Geraldine Primary School pupils walked from within the township, principal Andrew Leverton said, and at Highfield pupils were encouraged to walk as part of their wellbeing, principal Stuart Wilcox said.
Wellbeing and Vitality in Education (WAVE) school travel plan co-ordinator Jane Sullivan said the start of the term was a good time for parents to consider swapping the car journey for their children with walking, scootering or cycling.
She suggested they could start their new regime with one day a week, building up over time to more days.
To make roads safer she asked drivers to be mindful of reducing their speed to 40kmh in school zones where signs were in place, and if dropping children off to park beside the footpath where children can easily exit the vehicle, instead of the road side.
Parking restrictions around schools at the busy times of between 8am and 9am, and 2.30pm and 3.30pm ensured children were not blocked from view so they could cross the roads safely.
Art and cuts and colours have combined for two young South Canterbury hairdressers.
A strong friendship, and a common dream, led Jessie Guthrie-Biggs, 27, and Lottie Doudle, 24, to buy Bloom Hair Studio on North St, in Timaru.
Plans are now afoot to add an art gallery to their business which opened last Tuesday.
Guthrie-Biggs, whose other creative interest is art, said she was finishing ‘‘a couple of collections to put in here’’.
‘‘It’s all of my art that I’ll be putting in to sell but it’s not quite ready.
‘‘Hairdressing and art are great passions of mine. When we took this place on, we thought it would be great to turn it into a creative hub and have the gallery in here so we can do something different.’’
Guthrie-Biggs, who has been in the industry for about nine years, said forming a business partnership with Doudle, in the industry for about four years, was easy as their relationship went beyond the salon floor.
‘‘We worked together in the past, we’re also best friends who have travelled together.
‘‘We’ve always had this great idea of opening a salon together. The opportunity came up so we decided to grab it,’’ Guthrie-Biggs said.
Doudle said she was proud to achieve her dream with her friend.
‘‘I’m proud of us. We are super excited. It’s scary but exciting.
‘‘Everything has just come together really well. There’s a good vibe and energy.’’
The pair advised other young people aspiring to open their own business to ‘‘be brave and take the leap of faith’’.
‘‘Give it a go. We were scared and were umming and aahing but you never know until you give it a good shot.’’