Published: Wednesday, 9th September, 2009 2:04pm

PILOT TO GET KIDS FIT LAUNCHED

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A NEW health initiative could be rolled out in all Barrhead schools - if it is deemed a success.

Last week, Go Active was launched in St John's primary school where the P4 to P7 pupils will pilot a project which rewards youngsters for making healthy travel choices.

The kids are being encouraged to walk or cycle to school and if they do they will be rewarded with certificates and prizes such as a free swim at Barrhead Sports Centre or after school sports classes.

Go Active is part of East Renfrewshire Council's Go Barrhead! which encourages residents in the town to use healthier and better travel choices.

The classes involving Go Active will all have a specially designed wall chart and each pupil will receive a tick for walking or cycling to school.

And when a youngster hits 30 ticks they will receive their vouchers to use for a swim or sports class.

St John's Head teacher Catherine Dillon-Ruddy is confident the project will improve the health of her pupils.

She said: "Everyone at St John's is delighted to be involved in this exciting project.

"We're very much committed to the idea of being a health promoting school where healthy eating, healthy living and being physically active are all at the heart of what we do.

"Involving parents in planning more effective journeys to school is an important part of that process and I'm sure that this project will help us develop as a school community in many different ways."

Environment convener Councillor Eddie Phillips agreed with Mrs Dillon-Ruddy.

He said: "It's sometimes easy to talk about being greener in the way we travel and about being healthier in the way we live, but Go Barrhead takes a very practical approach to putting those ideals into action and where better to start with our youngest citizens.

"Involving pupils means that parents become involved themselves and I'm sure we'll see an uptake in approaches such as 'park and stride' as this project really takes off at St John's to boost healthy lifestyles across the board."