Victoria’s City of Stonnington Council has continued its commitment to health and safety by supporting a program that encourages local children to walk or cycle to school and gives parents peace of mind.
The Tag On system, recently introduced at Stonnington primary schools, rewards children with House points based on how they travel to school, and sends an email to parents letting them know their child has arrived safely.
Tag On is the brainchild of local software company Helix DSR and was originally introduced at Malvern Valley Primary School in 2017.
Since then the number of schools using the system has grown to 14, including four other Stonnington schools – Lloyd Street, Malvern and St Mary’s primary schools in Malvern East and St Joseph’s in Malvern.
On a recent visit to Lloyd Street Primary, City of Stonnington Councillors Kate Hely and Nicki Batagol were treated to a demonstration of Tag On by students who have just started using the system.
Tag On is proving very popular with several students commenting they loved the new system because it gave them more independence – saying, “I wasn’t allowed to walk to school before but now I can because my parents can see when I arrive.”
Council has committed to support the Tag On initiative for eight years, and will fund the equipment and ongoing maintenance of new and existing systems.
Earlier this year, all schools in Stonnington were invited to take up the offer of the Tag On system and a new round of offers will be made to schools later this year.
Schools interested in learning more about Tag On are invited to contact Council’s Transport Planning team at transportplanning@stonnington.vic.gov.au or to see how the system works visit www.tagon.net.au
How Tag On works
Tag On consists of a kiosk with touch screen and data transfer (RFID) reader.
Students are given their own data tag which they use to ‘tag on’ at the kiosk when they arrive at school.
Then, using the touch screen, they select how they travelled to school and, based on their answer – walk, ride, car or public transport – House points are awarded.
At the same time, an email or SMS is sent to parents letting them know their child has arrived at school.
