AN Appleton school has placed second on a national leaderboard of active schools.

For the whole of October, youngsters at The Cobbs Infant and Nursery School walked to school as many times as they could as part of a walk-to-school challenge.

Nationally, 43 per cent of five to 10-year-olds are driven to school – however, just three per cent of journeys recorded by pupils at the Wood Lane site were car trips.

And it has now been revealed that the infant and nursery school was one of 10 schools on the national leaderboard for the WOW Walk of Fame for October 2022.

Sarah Taylor, headteacher at The Cobbs Infant and Nursery School said: “Pupils at the school really enjoy walking to school and the Walk of Fame challenge is a great incentive.

“I’m delighted to see that their hard work and enthusiasm has paid off and is being celebrated.

“The teachers here have noticed the positive change when pupils walk to school – and I’m sure that it will encourage them to keep walking!”

The Walk of Fame helps boost pupils’ engagement in WOW and increase walking rates at schools.

With a few challenges scattered across the school year, the Walk of Fame supports pupils’ health and wellbeing while reducing congestion and pollution around the gates.

A generation ago, 70 per cent of primary school-aged children walked to school, now it’s 49 per cent.

Living Streets is working to reverse the decline in walking rates.

WOW schools typically see an increase in walking rates by 23 per cent with a 30 per cent reduction in cars driving to the school gates.

Stephen Edwards, chief executive of Living Streets said: “It’s fantastic to celebrate the achievements of The Cobbs Infant and Nursery School as part of the WOW Walk of Fame.

“Walking to school helps children to meet the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day needed to stay fit, healthy and happy and it can also reduce congestion, air pollution and road danger outside the school gates.

“It’s great that pupils at The Cobbs Infant and Nursery School are benefitting from walking to school.

“They are an inspiration and I’m sure that they’ll encourage other children and their families to follow in their footsteps.”