Heart&Stroke OneStep is an extracurricular resource featuring pedometers and activities for junior high students that make it fun to be active. It is a resource developed by the Heart and Stroke Foundation for junior high schools in Nova Scotia to support girls to be physically active through walking. Resources are available in both English and French.

Research indicates that only approximately 20% of females in Grade 7 meet the recommended physical activity levels for youth and, by Grade, 11, less than 1% of females report meeting the standard. OneStep is one resource that schools can use to complement existing activities to encourage and support activity among youth.

This project received funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada and Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness and can provide schools with enough pedometers for half their Grade 7 students. The resource is based on the results of research and pilot testing in sixteen schools in winter 2010-2011.

Be a participating school

The purpose of OneStep is to help youth become more aware of how active they are and to build more activity in their daily lives in a supportive environment. The resource is available for junior high schools and can be used by any leader in the school or a designate from the community.

The OneStep resource contains:

• useful information on how to start and maintain an extra-curricular walking initiative
• tools, resources and suggested activities for students
• pedometers for students
• suggestions for linking the resource to existing programming and curriculum in schools to support existing activities

To find out more about the program or if your school can become involved contact us.

Supporting school curriculum

We have also created a OneStep Curricular Supplement based on Nova Scotia curriculum guidelines to help teachers integrate walking and walking activities in the classroom, which we hope to see in classrooms in the fall of 2012.

School Zone safety

“On September 1, 2012 roads are going to get safer around school zones. The government of Nova Scotia announced last fall that effective September 1, 2012, speed limits in school areas will be reduced from 50 kilometres per hour to 30 kilometres per hour.”

Click on the link below for details.

http://www.gov.ns.ca/tran/roadsafety/schoolzonesafety.asp