• Parents and pupils learn how to cycle together

     

    Partner Sustrans
    Scheme Bike It

     

    When Sustrans’ Bike It came to Little Heaton primary school to promote cycling as a viable mode of transport to and from school for pupils, parents also got the opportunity to learn how to cycle and maintain their bikes with help from Sustrans’ Bike It officer Nes Brierley.

     
    Nes works with schools in Rochdale and Stockport, and has started running parents groups in many of them. This was set up so parents could get involved in cycling with their children. Little Heaton’s headteacher Lindsay Addington found this a good idea, saying “I feel in order to engage the children in activities like Bike It, the parents must be involved as well."
     
    At Little Heaton, many of the parents were lone mothers who told Nes they had little experience or knowledge of bike maintenance, helmet fitting or bike riding. Nes decided to hold a meeting for parents who were interested in attending parent-specific workshops to identify their needs.
     
    After the meeting, Nes ran a bike helmet fitting session and purchased cost price helmets for parents who were otherwise unable to afford them. Further sessions included bike maintenance and cycle confidence. Nes felt that it was important the children were not present during the workshops as they distracted their parents, and so arranged for them to attend the school’s ‘after school club’ during the parents’ workshops.
     
    Nes says: “By sharing knowledge and skills that they can pass on to their children, they can organise community bike rides, cycle skills and bike maintenance workshops.”
     
    Nes then ran a cycle to school day in November with a ‘bright bikers’ theme. Every pupil (cyclists and non cyclists) wore the brightest and most clashing coloured clothes they could find. The day was a great success, as usually no pupils cycle to school at all, but on that day the school saw many pupils and parents cycling in. Lindsay Addington said “I really enjoyed the Bike It sessions, and so have all the pupils and parents.”

     

    Result: After setting up parent-specific sessions to learn cycling and maintenance, parents can now cycle with their children and help maintain their bikes. Nes is now setting up similar parent’s groups in the other schools that she works in to achieve the same result.




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