Your Move Schools: engaging schools to boost walking and riding

The program includes:

• Rewards scheme: schools earn points by completing activities and posting stories on the Your Move website. Earned points can be redeemed on the rewards shop for incentives such as hats, bike bells, stickers and bike skills training – enhancing their active travel journeys.
• Accreditation: points earned also contribute to tiered accreditation levels that are reached over a calendar year. Schools can achieve bronze, silver, gold, platinum or double platinum, which make them eligible for a Connecting Schools Grant.
• Connecting Schools Grant: funding includes packages such as bike and scooter storage, bike skills tracks and bike education sessions.
• Professional development: teacher professional development sessions and student leadership labs build capacity and ownership.
• Digital resources and ongoing support: regular communication tools and resources for school champions to support engagement.

YMS also collaborates with schools and local governments to identify improvements to paths and street crossings connecting to schools to enhance safety and connectivity.

Outcomes and impact

Over 300 schools are registered with the YMS program with more joining each year – including public, private, primary and secondary schools in metropolitan and regional areas. In 2024, around 144 schools achieved accreditation, earning at least 100 points for their efforts to promote active travel. Collectively, schools posted 1,760 stories and completed 2,640 activities. These activities included walk or ride to school days, participation in National Ride2School Day and WA Bike Month, running bike skills sessions and holding classroom exercises like mapping school journeys and exploring local and global transport issues. Through the Connecting School Grant, schools improved students’ bike skills through training courses and installed bike facilities for sheltered and secure storage.

Participating schools are asked to complete ‘hands up’ student travel surveys in terms 1 and 4 each year. The 2024 survey showed a 9 per cent increase in student active travel overall, with an average of 40 per cent of students getting to school by walking or riding.

Recognising that there are practical and policy barriers to walking and riding to school, state and local government representatives developed an Active Travel to School Roadmap. A working group of stakeholders is overseeing implementation of initiatives including a review of planning guidelines for new schools, examining school precinct traffic speed zones and researching parent perceptions.

Investment and funding

DTMI supports YMS through its Behaviour Change programs team, the Your Move website and funding for rewards for schools. Together with the Department of Education, DTMI funds Connecting Schools Grants. In 2024–25, 55 schools shared in a record $387,000 worth of grants for infrastructure and capacity building projects. More than $1 million has been invested in the Connecting Schools Grant scheme since 2018.

Enablers and lessons learned

• School champions make the YMS program possible. Their leadership, advocacy and support to teachers, parents and students sustains momentum in the school community.
• Public primary schools generally show the greatest gains in active travel due to proximity of students in walking or riding distance.
• Areas for continued attention are engaging with parents about safety concerns – they have a big influence on how students get to and from school – and working with local governments to provide safe connections within school catchments.
• Collaboration across state and local governments through the Active Travel to School Roadmap is building supportive policy like new school design guidelines.