Hightown Primary School celebrates active travel in ‘Walktober’

Last week (17 October 2025), more than 250 pupils, parents, and teachers from Hightown Primary School joined together in a giant fancy dress conga line around the school to celebrate Walktober — a month-long campaign promoting healthier and more active journeys to school.

The colourful event was part of the annual Walktober campaign, a joint active travel initiative organised by Southampton City Council and Hampshire County Council and held each October to mark International Walk to School Month.

The campaign, which has been running in Southampton since 2016, encourages school communities to walk, wheel, or use other active and sustainable ways to travel to school throughout the month. Over 30 schools and 12,000 pupils regularly take part each year.

Pupils and their families at Hightown Primary were invited to come to school in fancy dress and take part in the record-setting conga line to highlight the fun and benefits of walking to school. Everyone who took part was rewarded with a free breakfast afterwards.

The Walktober initiative supports school travel planning measures aimed at reducing congestion around school gates, improving air quality, enhancing road safety, and encouraging more families to enjoy active journeys to school.

James Williamson, Headteacher at Hightown Primary School, who came up with the idea for the conga line, said:

“It was great that so many children and parents joined us for our record-setting conga line. It was a great event to help raise awareness for all the benefits of walking to school and substituting car journeys with walking when possible.”

Councillor Christie Lambert, Cabinet Member for Transport at Southampton City Council, added:

“I am thrilled that so many members of the Hightown Primary School community came out to celebrate Walktober. We are committed to working with schools to encourage and enable more families to reap the benefits of active travel which is great for children’s health and wellbeing and the more people taking part, the greater the benefits to air quality and the environment.”

The event was a huge success, showcasing Hightown Primary’s commitment to promoting sustainable travel and inspiring pupils and families to take small, positive steps towards a healthier and greener community.