57th Parallel Challenge #57in17

57th Parallel Challenge The Challenge is simple. Can the school (staff and pupils) make our way around the World along distance of the 57th Parallel using our own energy? That’s just under 40,000km or 24,850 miles.

57th Parallel Challenge The Challenge starts on 1 January 2017 and ends on 31 December 2017. The school actually sits around the 56.5th Parallel but we’ve rounded it up. To do this we are going to use the Strava App as it is an accurate method of measuring distance.

57th Parallel Challenge What is Strava? Strava is an App and website used to track activity via Global Positioning Satellites (GPS). It is a great training App to measure progress over time. Allows you to see if you’re getting faster. Allows you to compare against others. But, it’s not only for those who do lots of miles and serious training. It’s also just a good way of seeing how far you’ve gone. It allows mass participation and fun with friends.

57th Parallel Challenge What activities can we do? Strava allows you to record the activities listed below.

57th Parallel Challenge How does Strava work. It’s fairly straight forward: You can use it with various devices but most people simply download the free App to their phones. You can also connect it to your Garmin, Fitbit, Tom Tom, etc.

57th Parallel Challenge What do we do next? Once you’ve created a Strava account, simply join the Club. We’ve created a school “Club” called Grantown Grammar School which allows us to accumulate all of our activities together. If you don’t join our Club, there’s no way of the school seeing what you do and it won’t count towards the Challenge.

57th Parallel Challenge When can we do this? When can we do this? During any appropriate school activities: Sports during normal school day. During Outdoor Ed Geography walks History walk to War memorial Science walks to pond dipping JMA etc, etc, etc When can we do this? During personal time: Walking/cycling to school. Walking the dog. Out for a cycle with friends or family. Hill walking Ski touring DofE Etc, etc, etc When would we not use it? It’s not really meant for leaving on throughout the day as you go from class to class. It’s designed for when you do activities.

57th Parallel Challenge But what about: A few pupils raised concern about the cost of Strava. There is an upgrade version of Strava but the main App is free. Staff who use Strava don’t feel the upgrade is worth it unless you are doing very serious training. To work, the phones “Mobile Data” must be switched on. Most contracts have a Mobile Data usage limit so it is worth checking this. Mr Ross, who cycles 2 or 3 times a week as well as Orienteering and Hill Walking, uses less than 45MB of his 2.7GB limit per month on Strava. “I don’t always get a mobile signal”. Strava works off GPS. You don’t need a phone signal. It uses a lot of battery. It can do especially if you leave it on for a long time. Mobile phones shouldn’t be left on in school anyway which is why you would only Strava your activity when staff say it is appropriate.

57th Parallel Challenge But what about (cntd): Safety: Strava is an open forum if you set it up that way. However, you can lock down who sees and doesn’t see your activities. The school ”Club” is locked so you have to apply to use it – simply by joining the “Club” and awaiting the response – which means no one else can see our collective activities except members of the school Club. The activities in school time are risk assessed. Any activities people are doing outwith school time are their own activities which they chose to do. I can’t work out how to use it: A number of staff and pupils are regular Strava users. Ask them for help if you can’t work anything Ask for help before the Christmas holidays so that everything is okay to make a start on 1 January 2017

57th Parallel Challenge Anything else? It’s completely voluntary. If you don’t want to do the Challenge, don’t. The more pupils and staff who join the Challenge, the further we’ll collectively go. Have fun with it. As a school group, we do a lot of activities. This is just designed to record and recognise what we do in and out of school. It’s also good to set ourselves a collective challenge and see just how far we can go.