About Active School Travel
Our Active School Travel (AST) program is a free program for Gold Coast primary schools. Schools that join the program receive a suite of resources including free toolkits, incentives and support to enable students, parents, carers and teachers to:
- re-mode by swapping the car for walking, wheeling and public transport
- reduce car trips by carpooling or combining trips
- re-route to take a slightly different route to avoid congested roads
- re-time school-related trips, consider dropping children earlier or picking them up later.
Active travel is the best way to get to and from school on the Gold Coast. When school communities actively travel, children feel empowered, there is less traffic on our roads and less pollution in our environment.
The Active School Travel team are currently recruiting schools to join the program in 2024. If your school is interested in joining the Active School Travel program, please contact the team at activeschooltravel@goldcoast.qld.gov.au.
What's new
The Active School Travel team are currently recruiting new Primary schools and High schools to join the program in 2024!
If your school is interested in joining the Active Travel Program, please contact the team at activeschooltravel@goldcoast.qld.gov.au
ART-AST
Congratulations to our ART-AST competition winners and finalists for 2023!
This year the competition received over 820 entries from schools across the Gold Coast which shows how passionate our youngest community members are about active travel. Thank you and well done to everyone who submitted an entry in the competition for your outstanding work.
The winners and finalists were chosen by Gold Coast Olympian Sara Carrigan OAM. Sara has a passion for cycling and active travel and is an ambassador of the Active Travel program on the Gold Coast.
The three category winners received a Garmin VivoFit and a $500 Gift Card for their school, and their artwork will be showcased in the 2024 ART-AST Calendar.
Junior winner
- Summer S, Grade 1, Mudgeeraba Creek State School
Junior finalists
- Aubree M, Grade 1, Upper Coomera State College
- Star J, Prep, Southport State School
- Hamish C, Grade 1, Marymount College
Intermediate winner
- Ami Y, Grade 3, Arundel State School
Intermediate finalists
- Chloe O, Grade 2, St Joseph’s College Coomera
- Hamish S, Grade 3, William Duncan State School
- Yuri Y, Grade 3, Arundel State School
Senior winner
- Eva N, Grade 6, Ashmore State School
Senior finalists
- Kaya F, Grade 6, Caningeraba State School
- Zachary, Grade 5, St Joseph's College Coomera
- Sienna C, Grade 6, Mudgeeraba State School
Benefits of active travel
Since our program's inception, thousands of families have been walking and wheeling their way to school, having fun, making friends, and helping the environment.
Our active travel communities enjoy:
- healthier children
- safer school zones
- increased concentration in students
- making friends (students and parents)
- learning life-long skills
- a connected community
- resources and skills to empower the community
- reduced traffic around school
- helping the environment.
See our Active School Travel program snapshot(PDF, 646KB)
Hear from our junior active travellers about what they enjoy doing when getting to and from school.
Get involved
Principals, teachers & school staff
The Active School Travel program is an educational program that empowers children and school communities to get moving safely. The program fast tracks skills so that students can safely walk, wheel and BUS IT to school while also learning about the environment, health and wellbeing.
Structured educational programs that expose children to practical traffic situations include:
Riding Rulz bike skills
The Riding Rulz bike skills program for Year 5 and 6 students aims to encourage students to ride to school and to have the skills, confidence and experience to ride safely. The training provides children with invaluable riding skills and lays the foundation for independent travel choices.
Police Citizen Youth Club bike skills
Bike skills training for Year 4 students is held at Ashmore PCYC. Year 4 students benefit from an excursion to learn basic bike skills and important road safety information.
BUS IT Bus skills workshops
The workshops aim to build students' road and bus safety skills, confidence, and proper bus etiquette and include a Surfside bus ride.
Research suggests that children who start their day by walking or riding to school find it easier to concentrate for up to four hours after their journey.
If your school is interested in learning more about the Active School Travel program, please contact the team at activeschooltravel@goldcoast.qld.gov.au
Parents & carers
Actively travelling with your children helps create lifelong memories and time for important conversations. Parents and carers play a critical role in influencing children's positive road behaviour when engaging in active school travel. Even making a change once a week can make a significant difference to school-related congestion.
If your child is enrolled in an Active School Travel school, you may also consider joining the school's Active School Travel Committee (ASTC) to help lead and promote the program within the school community. Contact your school to see how you can help.
Nationally, there are a number of events you may wish to participate in too, Day for Daniel, National Ride2School Day and National Walk Safely to School Day.
Resources
Registered AST Schools
Registered Active School Travel schools follow a structured program facilitated by the City of Gold Coast. If your school is interested in learning more about the Active School Travel program, please contact the team at activeschooltravel@goldcoast.qld.gov.au.
Access to registered AST school content is via the AST Online resources Hub, contact your AST Engagement Officer for assistance.
AST Fundamentals Program
For schools who are not yet registered with the Active School travel Program but would like to start learning more about active school travel, please find some educational resources below:
AST fact sheets
Road safety fact sheets
Our new road safety fact sheet brochures offer advice for families to support their children in learning and practicing road safety, and basic principles children can follow when actively travelling around roads.
AST case studies
Active travel stories
Professional Gold Coast artist Amelia Batchelor created legacy murals for Arundel State School, Jubilee Primary School, Mudgeeraba State School and Coomera State School to celebrate their second year of participation in the City of Gold Coast Active School Travel Program.
Amelia worked in consultation with each school to design and install a mural that not only encourages children to travel actively and safely to and from school but also reflects their school surroundings, and school values.
VCAST video competition
Hear about the Active School Travel program from our VCAST video competition winners, Clover Hill State School.
The program has had highly successful results. Participating schools achieved a 30% increase in active travel involvement in 2021 and one school achieved a 76% increase in active travel across the life of the program.
Each year as part of the program, participating schools develop a video to promote their journey on the program.
Watch our 2022 video entries:
Caningeraba State School Active School Travel
Mudgeeraba Creek State School Active School Travel
St Andrews Lutheran College Active School Travel
Road safety for Active School Travel
Road safety around schools is everyone’s responsibility. Understanding and following road safety rules in and around school zones helps to keep our school communities safe.
Traffic and parking rules in school zones help to optimise traffic movement and make school zones safer places for children.
The City of Gold Coast is responsible for enforcing parking rules, and offers community education programs to support safe active travel, including road safety skill programs for primary school age students.
Download our School zone road rules brochure(PDF, 477KB)
Road safety awareness builds important life skills essential to everyone. To protect them for life, children should begin road safety education from an early age and continue to be reinforced through to young adulthood and beyond.
STOP, LOOK, LISTEN & THINK
A helpful strategy that supports children to cross the road safely.
- STOP one step back from the footpath or shoulder of the road if there is no footpath
- LOOK in all directions for approaching traffic
- LISTEN in all directions for approaching traffic
- THINK about whether it is safe to cross the road – when the road is clear, or all traffic has stopped. When crossing, walk straight across the road. Keep LOOKING and LISTENING for traffic while crossing.
Our active travel schools
We have so many schools that we have worked with to make Active School Travel a success, we want to give a shout out to these schools!
View schools
- Commenced in 2023
- Ashmore State School
- Coomera Springs State School
- Gainsborough State School
- Gilston State School
- Highland Reserve State School
- Picnic Creek State School
- Pimpama State School
- Tallebudgera State School
- Commenced in 2022
- Nerang State School
- Norfolk Village State School
- St Joseph’s College
- William Duncan State School
- Worongary State School
- Commenced in 2021
- Arundel State School
- Coomera State School
- Foxwell State Secondary College
- Jubilee Primary School
- Mudgeeraba State School
- Southport State High School
- Commenced in 2019
- Caningeraba State School
- Clover Hill State School
- Mudgeeraba Creek State School
- St Andrews Lutheran College
- Upper Coomera State College
- Completed in 2018
- Emmanuel College
Commenced in 2016, completed program in 2018:
- Surfers Paradise State School
- Coomera Rivers State School
- Currumbin State School
- Completed in 2017
Commenced program in 2015
- Coombabah State School
- Elanora State School
- Helensvale State School
- Merrimac State School
- Oxenford State School
- Pimpama State School
- Completed in 2016
Commenced program in 2014
- Robina State School
- Highland Reserve State School
- St Brigid's Catholic Primary
- St Francis Xavier Catholic Primary
- Varsity College Primary Campus
- Miami State School
- Completed in 2015
Commenced program in 2013
- Guardian Angels Primary School
- Southport State School
- Labrador State School
- Park Lake State School
- Tallebudgera State School
- Completed in 2014
Commenced program in 2012
- Mudgeeraba State School
- Norfolk Village State School
Contact us
If you are interested in learning more about the Active School Travel program, please contact the team:
Phone: 07 5581 6767
Email: activeschooltravel@goldcoast.qld.gov.au