The staff and pupils of St. Marys Killenaule, Co.Tipperary have come up with a unique way to run their WOW days through the introduction of the ‘Wonder WOW’. This school began travel in September 2010 where pre-WOW surveys indicated that 39.2% travelled green to school (64/162). Their first WOW back in March 2011 was a huge success where over 70% opted to either walk, park & stride or carpool to school, a figure which was maintained throughout the school term. As the WOWs progressed it became apparent that some classes, no matter how hard they tried could not win the Golden Boot, this led to great dismay in some classes. In order to address this issue the Green-Committee decided that some amendments had to be made to maintain enthusiasm across the school and to offer everyone the chance of winning. The first amendment was the introduction of % improvement from the first WOW. A few weeks later they realised that they might need something further to shake it up. To achieve this they introduced a point system whereby children that wore their high-viz vest en route to school would win a point for their WOW card. Each change created further determination amongst the classes.

St. Marys Central School got right back to business for European Mobility Week in September 2011 with the re-launch of the WOWs and the new ‘it’s your WOW’ idea. ‘It’s your WOW’ is where different staff members take control of a WOW in rotation. This was a fantastic idea as it further enabled whole school participation, new ideas and also took the initiative beyond the Green-Committee. To ensure the success of this initiative the Green-Schools Coordinator came up with the idea of creating a WOW pack. This is a folder which contains simple instructions for teachers on what has to be done, some blank wow cards, a generic poster to add your results to for the Notice Board, and a set of stickers for each travel mode. As with the previous year the school found it difficult to maintain enthusiasm in what was now a regular event with similar figures being achieved every Wednesday. They got their thinking caps on and again they found something new to shake up their WOW days....in the form of a ‘Wonder WOW’. Wonder WOWs or Random WOWs are where any day can be a WOW day, if a teacher finds the WOW pack on their desk in the morning it’s a ‘WONDER WOW’. This has added a completely new dimension to travel choices in Killenaule where any day in the month could be a WOW day. After several amendments to the WOW days Killenaule NS have finally cracked it. The Last ‘Wonder WOW’ on 1st February saw remarkable results where over 75% travelled sustainably.

St. Marys Killenaule recently won an award from the South Tipperary Co. Council for their Work on Green-Schools Travel and are now looking towards their fourth Green-Flag. Well done Killenaule NS!