FOOTING IT

MARK RICHARDSON

Mark Richardson says his 9-yearold twins don’t walk to school as much as they should.

‘‘I’d like them to walk more,’’ says the host of Sky TV’s The

Crowd Goes Wild, ‘‘but my wife tends to drop them at school because then she tends to carry on with her days.’’

Richardson lives in St Heliers with wife Mary and twins Charlie and Annabel. He says the walk to the local primary school takes only about 15 minutes but the twins are not really at the age where they can go by themselves.

‘‘There’s road crossing safety and stranger danger safety and these days we try and eliminate all chances of something bad happening.’’

NIC AND KELLY WATT

Never mind cycling and walking – restaurateurs Nic and Kelly Watt used to take their kids to school on a sledge in London.

Now living in Orakei, Auckland, they say walking is a great recipe for getting kids to connect with friends, parents and grandparents.

‘‘I sometimes use an adult’s scooter which is a fun way to move,’’ Kelly says.

Their son Lucas walks or scoots to his nearby school whereas daughter Kiana’s commute is a little longer. ‘‘We drive her to school daily, but soon she will take the bus.’’

RAWDON CHRISTIE

Rawdon Christie’s family of five, based in Remuera, are the poster children for footing it to school.

‘‘We love the fact that no one gets in the car in the mornings,’’ says the former Breakfast TV presenter. ‘‘I find it very frustrating sitting in solid school traffic so I avoid it as much as possible.

Twelve-year-old Georgie walks 20 or so minutes and Oliver, 13, walks and buses to high school, which takes him about 15 minutes.

Then either Rawdon or wife Jo walks their youngest, Charlotte, 9, the two minutes to the primary school across the road.

‘‘I celebrate the fact that I live in a community, close enough to the amenities that I don’t have to need to get into the car for anything.’’

RENEE WRIGHT

TVNZ weather presenter Renee Wright says getting her three kids to primary school is ‘‘very much a hustle but luckily we do live in walking distance.’’

It’s about half an hour to Belmont primary in Devonport on Auckland’s North Shore.

‘‘We’ve got a nice straight road to school that the kids can scooter on or bike and you see lots of other kids and parents doing the same thing. My kids are so high energy that it is good to do that before they have to settle into class or kindy.

‘‘When it’s raining or you’re under the pump, time-wise, it’s just not going to happen. But if you can, that physical activity lowers everyone’s stress levels.’’

MICHAEL VAN DE ELZEN

Celebrity chef Michael Van de Elzen lives in rural Muriwai, on Auckland’s west coast, and the road to school is a 100kmh zone.

‘‘It’s just not possible for Hazel to ride to school, it would be like making her ride down the motorway.’’

Mum and dad walk Hazel, 5, and Ivy, 3, to the end of their long driveway to the bus, where Hazel catches it to school. Ivy is then walked back and driven to kindy in Kumeu.

‘‘Eventually we want to encourage them to look after themselves and catch the bus themselves. We try to be as proactive as we possibly can about getting them out and active – which includes trips to school.’’

JAQUIE BROWN

Sunday Star-Times columnist and TV host Jaquie Brown says she and her husband work full time, and so work together to get their five and two-year-olds, off to school and preschool on time.

But she’s ready to Foot It. Regardless of the time constraints, Brown is keen to make a difference and make our streets safer when the end-of-school rush comes around.

‘‘I’d like to scooter, make it a fun adventure,’’ Brown says. ‘‘It’s so fun now that they’re getting older, they can floor it on their bikes and hoon around the neighbourhood.

‘‘I have walked to school to pick my son up then scooter home. That’s something I could do for sure.’’

SID SAHRAWAT

Sid Sahrawat and wife Chand have two restaurants, so they value time with their two children, including footing it to school.

Once or twice a week they will walk five-year-old Zoya the 10 minutes it takes to get to her primary school in Auckland’s Northcote.

‘‘Usually I drop Zoya to school and my wife drops Roan to day care, but we sometimes swap it around.

‘‘Walking your children to school is invaluable, you don’t get that same one-on-one time in the car. On those walks we get to talk about what they are studying at school, and they get to see other kids on their way, which is very enticing to them.’’

ALISON MAU

Radio presenter Ali Mau’s kids have always walked to and from school. ‘‘It is a concept that I really wish more parents would get on board with,’’ she says. ‘‘I very clearly remember letting my oldest child walk to school for the first time and how nervous I was to let her out of my sight. So we organised a walking bus in our area and I used to volunteer for that once or twice a week.. ‘‘Most parents know that they should be getting their kids to walk to school but there’s a fear of something happening to them.’’

PAUL FLYNN

Hits radio host Paul Flynn says walking his four kids to school helps them blow of steam.

‘‘It’s chaotic, but walking to school together a couple of mornings a week, can actually get a bit of that craziness out.’’

Flynn and wife Nat live in Auckland’s Greenhithe, and wake up early to get ready.

‘‘We both believe in trying to get cars off the road, so we try and walk two to three times a week, but that’s not always possible. But walking to school is amazing. We both believe in keeping our kids active and giving them plenty of exercise and walking to school is a great way of doing that, and it teaches them really good habits for later in life.’’