Cycle training records broken in 2021
Chorley SSP celebrates a record-breaking year of Bikeability training
As we join in with the national Celebration of Bikeability Day on 10th December, we are looking back on the triumphs and tribulations of cycle training in 2021 here in Chorley.
This has been a challenging year for the whole country, not least for everyone involved in schools. Most of our schools welcomed pupils back for a single day in January, before the country was plunged into a new lockdown, most pupils learning from home and not returning to school until the second week of March.
Usually in the chilly months of January and February our Bikeability team’s focus is on delivering our Balance Bike programme in the relative warmth of school halls. Bikeability Balance is delivered to pupils aged 4-6, in Reception or Year 1 classes. It develops cycle handling and awareness skills and builds confidence ahead of future cycle training.
By the time the lockdown was lifted and pupils returned to school in March, we found ourselves with a half-term’s worth of Balance delivery to catch up on, plus a fortnight’s worth of our “core” Bikeability Level 1 and 2 that had also been postponed.
Bikeability Level 1 and 2 is the core training that all pupils at Chorley schools are offered in Year 5 or 6. After honing their skills on the playground, our expert instructors take the children out onto quiet local roads, to experience “real” cycling and grow in confidence with every turn of the pedal. It’s a key part of the curriculum at all our primary schools in Chorley, and we always do our best to ensure that every child has the opportunity to take part in Level 2 before they head off to their high schools.
Thanks to the amazing, flexible teachers and headteachers at our partner schools, and our hard-working and dedicated team of professional instructors, we succeeded in fitting 6 half term’s worth of Bikeability training into 4-and-a-bit half terms. More than that – we have delivered the core Level 1 and 2 Bikeability training to more young people than ever before – almost 1200 pupils have taken part in 2021! Alongside that we have at least matched our best ever numbers for Bikeability Balance, and taught more non-riders than ever before to balance and pedal on 2 wheels through our Learn to Ride programme.
Despite these record-breaking participation numbers, we know that there are a number of pupils who left Primary school in July 2021 without having had the chance to take part, in particular those that were isolating when we were working with their classmates. Therefore, we have been working with all the high schools in the borough to reach these pupils and have already delivered catch up courses at some of those high schools. If you, or your child, fall into this category, then please speak to the Head of Y7 or the PE Department at your high school and ask to be included. Alternatively email [email protected] with your name, current school, and former primary school.
Bikeability is the Government’s national cycle training programme, funded by Department for Transport and the Bikeability Trust.
