The march from Parliament is held to celebrate and acknowledge the hard work of school traffic safety teams who are out rain or shine to help students cross the road and get to school safely.
Over 1400 students will march from Parliament along Lambton Quay and Willis Street to Wakefield Street and a celebration at the Michael Fowler Centre hosted by Wellington City Council.
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester says the number of students regularly walking to school in Wellington is increasing, making the role of school traffic safety teams more important than ever.
“We have 53 schools with patrols at school crossings and the patrollers help around 14,000 students to cross the road safely. It’s a massive achievement for Wellington and they should quite rightly be proud of what they do”.
Wellington School Community Officer Aaron Dann, who trains road patrollers, says they make a big contribution to keeping our school communities safe during one of the busiest times on the roads.
“School patrollers are out in all weathers, doing a great job keeping their peers safe. Orange Day is an opportunity for Wellingtonians to acknowledge the job they do for road safety and it’s also a reminder that drivers should slow down and be alert when passing schools,” he says.
This year, schools will be competing for prizes such as best banner, best presence in the parade and the hotly contested best school patrol.
The event is coordinated by Wellington City Council and NZ Police, and is supported by Jacobs, Tranzit Coachlines and Pak'n’Save, Kilbirnie.
A rolling road closure will be provided by the Police from 10am – 10.45am. Please follow their instructions, and expect some delays along the parade route.
More information:
What:
Orange Day – March for Road Safety; followed by award ceremony at the Michael Fowler Centre.
When:
Parade 10am – 11am ceremony to be finished by 12 noon, Friday 7 September
Where:
March begins 10am at Parliament, a rolling road closure will be provided by Police as students’ parade down Lambton Quay, onto Willis Street, through Mercer Street to Wakefield Street and Michael Fowler Centre.
Award ceremony taking place in the Michael Fowler Centre, Mayor Justin Lester will be handing out the prizes for best banners and best presence in the parade.
Who:
In the Parade:
- 1355 road patrollers plus another 168 parents/teachers,
- Council staff including two zebras and Police
Orange Day is a joint collaboration between the Council and The NZ Police.
Why:
New Zealand is unique in that it is one of the few countries where children provide road patrol duties. These kids are volunteers, who operate in all weathers throughout the school year. Most Councils and School Community Officers organise some sort of celebration for the road patrollers; in Wellington we have been putting on the “Orange Day Parade” for over 20 years and other Councils including Tauranga City Council have developed their own parade from our example. This also allows the Wellington public to be aware of the scale of volunteers involved in providing this vital service for our community.