Fast times at Cranbourne West: Primary school pupils drive high-powered school project (2025)

Cranbourne West Primary faces plenty of challenges, but the children in the school’s “human-powered vehicle” program are not going to let anything slow them down, racing to the top of the state’s standings in the niche sport.

A human-powered vehicle is simply a recumbent pushbike encased in a carbon fibre chassis and Kevlar shell; very aerodynamic, and tough enough to keep the rider safe when they crash (and crash they do) at speeds of up to 65 km/h out on the track.

The vehicles are not cheap, at about $15,000 each, and Cranbourne West’s funding is below average – even by the standards of Victoria’s cash-strapped state education sector – with the majority of the children there coming from the lowest quarter of the school socio-economic index.

The vehicles and associated gear had to be fund-raised, meaning plenty of weekend shifts on the barbecue outside Bunnings, as well as other fundraising efforts, for senior teacher and coach Chris McGowan, his colleagues, school parents and the young racers themselves.

But McGowan says the benefits to the children – many from troubled or trauma-affected backgrounds –has been well worth the effort.

He reports that progress for the children involved in the program, either as racers or in supporting roles, has been “incredible”; mental health has improved, academic engagement and success are better, and students grow in self-esteem and frequently end up delivering confident talks on the design and construction of their machines.

“It helps them gain some purpose,” McGowan said. “It teaches them leadership skills and teaches them how to be a part of the team, it connects them to school and the community a bit more, and we’ve had a lot of success with so many troubled kids over the journey.”

The program is about to reach a new level, with McGowan, his colleague and assistant coach Sophie Hendricks and 15 students, as well as some parents, heading to South Australia in September to compete in a 24-hour race against the 10 fastest schools from that state.

Only two other Victorian schools, Jellis Park and White Hill primaries, were considered quick enough to compete in the event, which is shaping up as a sort of human-powered vehicle State of Origin.

McGowan, a lifelong Cranny West local who attended the school himself as a boy, is bursting with pride that the program has given his young racers the chance of an interstate sporting trip, something that might be taken for granted in more privileged school communities.

Shell Energy has come on board as a sponsor of the program and will make the South Australian trip financially possible.

But nobody is getting out of their Bunnings sausage shifts.

“We like the kids to learn that they have to earn these experiences, they can’t just be given to them ... that this is the result of some hard work,” McGowan said.