Micro Scooter Safety Program

Making Safety #1

The Micro Scooter Safety Program is a fun filled session teaching primary school children how to use their scooters safely.

Increasingly, children in Australia are riding scooters to and from school, as well as in their leisure time. For young children the scooter is often their introduction to the transport world, with many learning to ride a scooter before they can ride a bike.

It's roughly estimated that over half the children in urban Australian primary schools scoot to school throughout the year.

Switzerland, like Australia, has a high proportion of children scooting to and from school. More than 100,000 children have been educated on scooter safety by the Micro Scooter Kids' Safety Day since 2007.

So, to promote active travel and teach young children the skills to keep safe on their scooters, we developed the Micro Scooter Safety Program for Councils or Primary School teachers to enable them to run practical Scooter Safety sessions at their school.

Many NSW schools participated in the program when it was launched. It can be delivered by schools, or organised by your local Council. If you are a parent keen to know more, or a teacher interested in running the program at your primary school, please fill out the Register Your School form and we’ll send you more information.

What happens on the day?

Through a successful, tried and tested curriculum of fun practical workshops and games, children learn safety rules they can rely on to ensure their security amongst road users.

Children learn the functions and importance of the helmet, elbow and knee pads. They learn new practical techniques, such as braking correctly, curving and controlling falls to help prevent injury.

Fun techniques such as leg swapping, balance and slalom manoeuvres are aimed at improving balance and co-ordination which, in turn, further promote the children's safety on their scooters.

All the children are required to wear a helmet. A scooter fleet and helmets can be purchased from Micro Scooters and all training materials are provided free of charge.

The children learn that only by respecting the rules and having the appropriate equipment can they avoid injury and accidents.

For safety tips you can use to get started now visit our Scooter Safety page.

Micro Scooter Safety Program Testimonials

Waverley Council’s Spring Holiday Program

As part of Waverley Council’s Spring Holiday Program, we ran two Scooter Programs over 3 days at Bondi Pavilion for kids looking for a bit of active fun.

Scooter Fun (3-5 years) allowed preschoolers to experience the fun of a three wheel scooter, whilst playing some games & developing their balance, coordination and motor skills.

Scoot Hoot! (5-8 years) gave older children the opportunity to zigzag their way around a slalom course, practice stopping, steering and of course there was time for some fun activities and games. Some children even mastered riding a 2 wheel scooter for the first time!

The kids had a lot of fun and we hope to be able to continue to offer School Holiday programs like these in the future.

Ride2School Day

On Friday 22nd March, we were invited to go along to Crown Street Public School, to set-up a Scooter Safety demonstration and stand for National Ride2School Day.

The school was participating in a big way – they were encouraging all their students to ride, walk, scoot or skate to school that day. In addition their principal and teachers were leading a bike bus all the way down the Bourke Street Cycleway to the school, where they were greeted by the Lord Mayor Clover Moore and the City of Sydney bike team.

It was a fantastic day with lots of healthy, happy and active kids riding, scooting, skating and walking to school. By 9am, there were over 200 bikes and scooters in the playground, many of them decorated brilliantly in the theme of “green your machine”.

The results were impressive. 85% of students took active transport to school. 29% were on bikes and 30% were on scooters. Looking more closely at the results, it seems that the younger years were predominantly scooter riders – which just reinforces our key messages – teach kids good habits about safety and sustainable transport from an early age.

Glenmore Road Public School

On what had originally promised to be a very cold May Monday morning, the sun came out to shine as we ran our Scooter Safety classes at the Glenmore Road Public School in Paddington.

We had some very keen onlookers (both students and parents) as we set up prior to commencing. The great thing about riding scooters is that it is a great way for the family to get outdoors and enjoy a shared activity.

We had two classes of Year 2 students: 25 and then 20. What we usually do in class numbers of this size is split up into two groups and while one group is doing the particular activity or drill the other is observing.

We always give real life scenarios to give reason to the particular drill we are doing. We try to include as much practical road and footpath safety as possible but still have fun doing it.

We incorporate this with our 10 Golden Rules. It is great to see the kids take all of this in and answer the little quiz style questions we have at the end of the session.

We had a great time at Glenmore Road Public School - and the basketball/netball court was a perfect location to run our Scooter Safety Program. Keep up the great work kids!

We hope to be back there next year to teach the Year 2 students some important skills.

Crown Street Public School

As an inner city school surrounded by busy traffic, this was a perfect school to focus on road safety and pedestrian etiquette. Many students regularly ride their bikes and scooters to school along the popular Bourke Street cycle path, so this was an opportunity to reinforce the importance of safety, wearing the right gear and stopping carefully before all intersections. Our Micro Scooters handled the playground bumps with no problems! A great day!

Alexandria Park Community School

We had a great day at Alex Park Community School, teaching the Stage 1 students some new scooter skills and a lot about road safety – some valuable lessons to keep in mind in the lead up to the Summer School holidays.

Kegworth Public School, Leichhardt

We had a fantastic day at Kegworth Public School in Term 4, teaching the Scooter Safety Program to their Year 1 students. It was a perfect sunny day and they had a beautiful playground area for us to set up our road safety drills. After the initial balance and coordination drills, we practiced stopping safely, slowing down and navigating obstacles. It was great to have very involved teachers as well – and we look forward to running the program for all of their Stage 1 students next year.

The scooter program was terrific. Luke was great and the the kids had a lovely time and took on the important safety messages. I’m sure our Stage 1 classes would like to participate.

Lisa Williams, Assistant Principal

Randwick Public School

In September we returned to Randwick Public School to teach their current Year 1 students all about Scooter Safety, and instill some road safety messages just in time for the school holidays.

Summer Hill Public School

Summer Hill Public School had been very involved in National Ride2School Day this year – with a high percentage of their students riding, scooting and walking to school. Following their involvement in this program, we were asked to run the Scooter Safety Program for their Stage 1 students. All up we ran 8 sessions over 3 days for their Year 1 and 2 classes – training over 200 students.

With so many competent riders, we concentrated on specific road safety drills – slowing down in busy areas, stopping suddenly, and scooting in and out of obstacles.

A great school with a very strong active transport focus!

Bondi Beach Public School

After introducing the program to Bondi Beach Public School in, we were invited to deliver the program to the current Stage 1 students.

Living so close to the beach, many of the kids regularly ride bikes, scooters or skateboards to school which is fantastic.

We spent 3 perfect days outdoors, riding scooters, learning new skills, playing games and putting some road safety into practice with 5 different classes who were very enthusiastic and seemed to absorb it all. A great bunch of kids and very involved and helpful teachers too! We look forward to returning again!

Coogee Boys Preparatory School

This was our first all-boys session – and the boys at Coogee Preparatory School were great students. After spending time learning to correctly fit helmets, elbow pads & knee pads, all were very keen to ride the scooters, practice new skills and drills. Although we ran the program indoors, there was still plenty of space to practice safety stops and slowing down techniques. A great day!

Granville East Public School

Granville East Public School was keen to have the Scooter Safety Program held at their school as part of their ‘Stage 1 Wheels Day’ where a range of activities were planned.

The first thing we always do is teach the students how to fit their helmets correctly, and put on their elbow and knee pads.

We did lots of practical scooter drills and talked through the relevant road safety rules, also focusing on pedestrian etiquette. Everyone grasped the new skills and their smiles were from ear to ear.

McAuley Catholic Primary, Rose Bay

Whilst the students at McAuley Catholic Primary were extremely excited and enthusiastic about riding scooters at school, they were also very well-mannered and showed restraint, patiently awaiting their turn. This made for a really enjoyable day where we all had plenty of laughs and even some time for a few jokes at the end. The day was a huge success, and I believe that every child left the session feeling more confident riding their scooters.

My daughter (Molly in Year 2) really enjoyed the scooter program – and we have purchased 2 scooters – thank you!!

Sasha Malouf

St. Agnes Catholic Primary, Matraville

For the students of St. Agnes Catholic Primary in Matraville, this was their first experience of the Scooter Safety Program.

Year 1 were the first class up and set the platform for a fun day ahead, by cheering each other and constantly providing each other with positive encouragement.

The year 2 class that followed also had a great time and it was clearly shown by their enthusiasm. We managed to get through all of the practical scooter drills and also spent time going through important road safety messages. Everyone did well in the quiz at the end!

Maroubra Junction Public School

We spent 3 days at Maroubra Junction Public School teaching all of the Stage 1 students scooter skills and important road safety messages.

One of the teachers had seen the program in action at a previous school, so was keen for the students at Maroubra Junction PS to take part.

It’s a large primary school, so we ran 7 sessions in total.

Even though the weather was rather cold and rainy and we had to run some sessions indoors, all of the students soon warmed up and enjoyed being able to ride scooters on the school grounds during school time. A great bunch of kids!

Rozelle Public School

After running the program at Rozelle Public School in, it was great to be invited back again to teach the current Stage 1 students all about scooter safety. This complemented the units the students were studying as part of the curriculum on ‘Push and Pull’ and ‘Transport’. Once again the students at Rozelle Public School were enthusiastic, well-mannered and a pleasure to teach. Thanks to the teachers for being so involved and assisting on the day.

Ascham School

Our visit to Ascham School in the last week of Term was our first private school and our first all-girls group!

It had been raining outside and the basketball court was still wet, so we moved inside to the spacious gym to run the program.

Many students were regular scooter riders, so we spent time discussing the safety gear and how to correctly fit elbow pads, knee pads and helmets.

We also practiced slowing down and using the jump off method to come to a complete stop, reinforcing the need to stop and stand beside your scooter when you come to a driveway, road or intersection.

Overall a great session teaching a very enthusiastic and well-mannered group of Year 2 students all about scooter safety!

Annandale Public School

As a scooter instructor I travel to many schools and at most schools some of the younger students are quite new to riding scooters.

However at Annandale Public School the majority of students were very competent on scooters and that made for a fun scooter session!

We were able to practice more advanced skills whilst still focusing on road safety with the ultimate goal to prepare the students for riding their scooters safely to school.

Marrickville Public School

The teachers at Marrickville Public School were very eager to have the Scooter Safety Program at their school and went out of their way to accommodate us and make sure everything on the day ran smoothly.

The students also made this easy as they turned up with a very positive attitude to learn how to ride scooters safely.

There were also several parents who stayed around to watch and were very impressed with the program. We all had a great day and we are looking forward to returning to this school in the future!

Our Lady of the Rosary, Kensington

Over two weeks we introduced the Scooter Safety Program to all of the Year 1 and 2 students at Our Lady of the Rosary in Kensington. As a trainer who has taught many different groups, it was a delight to teach such well-mannered children. They were all so polite and eagerly awaited instructions, which resulted in a very well structured training session. In return the students were rightfully rewarded extra fun time at the end, to ride the scooters and practice all of their new skills.

The students were excited to have participated in this worthwhile program. No doubt the skills taught will assist them in the future. A great way to instill safety with scooters.

Graziella Greco

St.Brigid’s Primary, Marrickville

The wind was howling and the rain was torrential, but that wasn’t going to dampen the enthusiasm of the St. Brigid’s Year 1 and 2 classes participating in the Scooter Safety Program.

We set up in an undercover area and our space was reduced but the children were so well behaved and so attentive that the scooter safety session ran smoothly as usual.

It took a while to put on all of the safety gear, but we discussed the importance of it and what might happen in you don’t wear protective equipment. The class was split into two for the safety drills and each group cheered each other on with such positivity. We all had so much fun that the poor weather was insignificant.

Bondi Beach Public School

We had a great couple of days at Bondi Beach Public School and we managed to get some teachers (and deputy principals!) riding scooters and taking on board the golden rules of scooter safety.

When scooter riding it is always a good idea to make sure the area in which you are riding is free of debris and rubbish.

The front wheel of your scooter can get caught on certain object so have a quick tidy up before you start riding each time.

Bronte Public School

Even though December is a very busy time of year in schools with many events such as final assemblies and end of year concerts, Bronte Public School still managed to make time for some valuable Scooter Safety lessons. All stage one students (Years 1 & 2) participated in our fun-filled program, to educate students on the safest way to ride their scooters.

I’m sure many will be taking to the footpaths these holidays and hopefully they will put these new skills into practice!.

Thank you for bringing the Scooter Safety Program to Bronte Public School. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to be instructed on how to ride scooters correctly. The instructors were fantastic and very experienced. All the students had a great day and couldn’t wait to go home and practice the skills they learnt.

Denise Tyras, Teacher