Witney school wins exercise app competition Street Tag

Street Tag, a free smartphone app, was launched in Oxfordshire in October, with the county having the highest sign-up rate in the country.

In total, 95 schools signed up to join the Oxfordshire schools leaderboard, which had 4,340 players.

Those players walked 285,700 miles, covering 318,453,192 steps.

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The Oxfordshire league was won by The Batt CE Primary School, as the Corn Street school racked up 14,698,105 points.

Mark Peacey, deputy headmaster at the school, said: “It has been fantastic to see the whole school community, young and older, sporty and less sporty, united in wanting our school to do well on the leaderboard but, more importantly, enjoy being outdoors and exercising as a family.”

Street Tag turns physical activity into a game and converts steps or exercise into Street Tag points known as tags.

The app can even sync with Fitbit devices.

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Funded by Oxfordshire County Council as part of its active travel plans to increase exercise and improve air quality, Street Tag is aimed at children, parents, schools, leisure venues and community groups.

It involves the use of outdoor spaces and school staff by turning streets into a giant virtual playground matched by guidance by the interactive smartphone app.

Lawrie Stratford, the county council’s cabinet member for adult social care and public health, said: “The enjoyment with which Oxfordshire’s school children and communities have adopted Street Tag and the fun it offers has been very encouraging.

“The game has been a very helpful boost to the county’s children.

Councillors have clubbed together to use their Priority Funds to repair the surface in Sheep Street Bicester. ..Front L-R: Dan Sames and Les Sibley. ..Back L-R: Lawrie Stratford and Michael Waine...02/07/2019..Picture by Ed Nix.

“Despite the challenges of the lockdowns, exercise remains a vital part of our efforts to stay fit and healthy.

“Indeed, there is still time to join in the fun and rewards that Street Tag offers as we move into season two of the game.

“Your daily walk or other permitted exercise can be a great way to win Street Tag points and tags and compete against your peers and rival communities, but we do ask players to keep to current Government guidelines on permitted movement during the pandemic.”

The first season of the game ran between October to late December.

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Players can earn Street Tag points from physical activities, both indoor and outdoor – walking, running and cycling by scanning virtual tags.

The top three leading schools in each district are rewarded with £50 for parent teacher associations.

Meanwhile, from October to January 15, there was an Oxfordshire community leaderboard.

In the Oxfordshire community league, over 630 players joined, walking 10,470 miles over 13,168,519 steps.

Schools can sign up for season two of the competition by email or filling an online form.

To sign up to the community leaderboard, install the app, create a team and join.

The highest scoring communities within each district are rewarded with sports equipment and Amazon vouchers.