A number of Yarrawonga College P-12 students recently took part in the Energy Breakthrough.
Two schools in the local area, Tungamah Primary School and Yarrawonga College P-12 have received a $30,000 grant as part of the Active Schools initiative which aims to ensure all Victorian students have the skills, confidence and motivation to be active for life.
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Tungamah Primary School Principal Gemma Whinray said that the 20 – 40 student school is so excited to be recipients of this grant for 2025.
“Our focus is on increasing active travel within our school community, and consequently will be introducing an internal Bike Education program to explicitly teach these skills,” Ms Whinray said.
“We will be constructing a bike track to learn on, and have school bikes and safety equipment available for students to practice these skills regularly on.
“Being a small school and community, we will also extend this opportunity to our local kindergarten to use the track.
“We will be hoping to work with community volunteers to teach our students bike maintenance skills as well.
“To a small school like us, this amount of money is incredible- it’s a lot of chocolate raffles and sausage sizzles to raise this much!
“And it is exciting to be offering these opportunities to our students.”
Several Tungamah Primary School students got active recently with a sailing excursion.
Since the initiative was launched in 2020, up to 500 schools in disadvantaged communities have shared in over $20 million in Active Schools Grants and funding boosts with schools using their Active Schools Grants in previous years to upskill PE teachers, purchase sports equipment, build outdoor learning spaces, make upgrades to playgrounds, install sensory play areas and implement programs such as bicycle education or dance.
The additional five schools in the local region that also received this great included: Wodonga West Primary School, Wodonga South Primary School, Benalla P-12 College, Moyhu Primary School and Wangaratta High School.
The Active Schools initiative focuses on finding opportunities to be active throughout the school day, whether in the classroom, at recess or lunch and getting to and from school.
Member for Northern Victoria Jaclyn Symes said that sports and physical activity help young people in north east Victoria thrive.
“The Active Schools initiative is making sure that our local students have access to healthy ways to improve their health and wellbeing and nurture a love for sport,” Ms Symes said.
Minister for Education Ben Carroll added that the Victorian Government want kids to learn healthy habits at school.
“Even 15 minutes of physical activity can be all it takes to boost the overall wellbeing of our children,” Mr Carroll said.
“The Active Schools Program is a great program to help young people find an activity they love that helps them maintain an active and healthy lifestyle.”
