Primary school program The TravelSmart SA education program combines a one-term curriculum resource Travel Diary package giving students and members of the school community an opportunity to learn about their travel habits with a view to making sustainable and healthier travel choices.

Why involve schools?

1. To raise awareness among primary age students of the impact of the car on the environment, the community and their health.
2. To highlight the positives of sustainable travel options such as walking, cycling and public transport.
3. To encourage students to identify opportunities for their family to make small, sustainable changes to their travel habits.

Curriculum materials

The TravelSmart SA education program offers middle and upper primary modules.

Teachers are provided with activity guides detailing

• materials needed for the activity
• notes on the lesson
• class discussion points
• learning outcomes
• a description of the student activity.

Most activities include student activity pages. The modules offer learning experiences in a variety of learning areas and encourage the development of a broad range of key concepts and skills.

The materials focus on the community and the physical and social environment in which it operates. Students investigate personal and family activities and travel habits within the local community. These relate to their family’s work and leisure activities.

Students are encouraged to explore options available to them and to compare their travel patterns with others. The benefits for reducing motor vehicle use should be seen by students in terms of the impact on both the community and the environment.

Understandings

It is hoped that students gain a number of significant understandings about their social and physical environment. In particular they will be able to identify what is important and relevant for themselves and their community.

Understandings include

• individuals are responsible to their community - through knowledge of travel alternatives, individuals can be empowered to change
• recognition that small changes by many can have a large scale impact on improving the local community’s social and physical environment
• the benefits of living in a TravelSmart SA community
• personal benefits are achievable when individuals reduce the impact of the motor vehicle, for example, improved health, lifestyle and reduced costs
• identifying present travel habits and how these can be modified to provide for a better social and physical environment
• using a variety of travel options to provide opportunities for improved level of fitness
  the problems or successes of the future may have their genesis in today’s decisions
• recognition that environmental issues are both global and local.

School support

• Copies of the TravelSmart SA Resource for each participating teacher.
• TravelSmart SA Education Workshop with TRT vouchers provided for release.
• On-going support from the Transport SA Education Consultant.

Travel Diary package

The success of diaries as a tool for changing behaviour has been proven both locally and internationally.

As a component of the TravelSmart SA Education Program, all students and their families are invited to complete TravelSmart SA Travel Diaries for a period of up to 7 days.

The Travel Diaries are returned to Transport SA. We prepare personalised information ‘packs’ about sustainable travel options such as walking, cycling and public transport, which are returned to participants.

To help Transport SA provide the best information possible a small survey follows after families have had a chance to read the information and perhaps try some different ways of travelling.

Future directions

To make the resource easier for teachers to use Transport SA will be linking the current materials to the SACSA Framework (planned for late 2002)

A junior primary module is being planned due to increased interest from Junior Primary teachers.

How to become involved

Please contact us if you would like your class or school to be involved in the TravelSmart SA Education Program or you would just like more details.

'TravelSmart to Win' is funded by Transport SA and the Australian Greenhouse Office, an agency of the Australian Government'