Students SWIKE to school

Early last Wednesday morning, Joshua, 11, and Esther, 9 stepped onto the eBus for the first time.

But instead of feeling nervous, they were excited, because the St Joseph's School Principal, Chris Bascand, was on board waiting for them.

“A lot of kids want to take the bus but don’t know how to tag on or off, which stop to board from, or where to get off,” says Chris.

“As the bus approaches, I’ve been on the phone with parents giving them peace of mind that their kids are safely on board and on their way to school.”

Chris caught the eBus to school every day last week as part of SWIKE Week, encouraging students to scoot, walk, bike or bus to school to earn house points. The school became an Enviroschool in late 2025, one of the expectations is encouraging alternative transport.

The Emerald Army, a group of St Joseph's students dedicated to promoting active and alternative transport, were stationed at the school gate each morning, recording students who took part in the challenge.

“We have a lot of traffic congestion around our school,” says Chris. “Encouraging kids and parents to find alternative ways to travel to school has benefits across the board, but sometimes it just takes a little push in the right direction.”

Recognising that some families were hesitant about using the eBus service, Chris says it made sense to ride the bus alongside students, helping them build confidence while teaching road safety on the walk to school.

“On Monday we had 150 students participate, and those numbers continued to grow throughout the week, resulting in 832 journeys that were not in vehicles. I really hope parents can see there are alternative ways of getting to school and that their kids are capable of doing it.”