http://www.citycycling.co.uk/issue48/issue48page6.html

Cycling to school was banned outright at my school

staggering.

I love the bit about the road outside the school being too busy at the start and the end of the school day….er hello?

As a chair of Governors, I despair sometimes at my colleagues, I really do.

Why doesn’t he just lock his bike up outside the school gates?

agree with UQDS – most schools have about a million signs outside so there is bound to be somewhere to lock his bike

If the head really isn’t that interested, do they actually have any interest in the children there, or do they just want a nice tidy site and balance sheet?

My lad had to pass his CPT before he could ride to school.

I’m a teacher and a school governor and find that story shocking.

Agree with the posts about just locking the bike up outside though, as there’s nothing the school can actually do to stop you riding.

it doesn’t exactly sit very well with promoting and encouraging exercise and healthy lifestyle, does it?

How things changed! When I was at school I was a keen rugbyist but hated football and so my P.E. teachers let me go xc riding instead of course I had to service there bikes during my lunch hour….

in some instances it can be dangerous for kids to cycle and this is not the only school to take this stance.

without knowing the school and the road and access problems you cant really comment.

without knowing the school and the road and access problems you cant really comment.

apart from the bit where they are allowed to when cycling proficiency’s on.

in some instances it can be dangerous for kids to cycle and this is not the only school to take this stance.

Just because others do it, doesn’t make it right. If it’s too dangerous to ride a bike, then the road is too dangerous to have outside a school and so needs closing, traffic calming or whatever.

without knowing the school and the road and access problems you cant really comment.

What about if there was some sort of risk assessment carried out that showed it to be safe? Or if 60 kids were allowed to cycle when they were taking the cycle proficiency test?

no piss pot, no lock, no reflectors, no hi-vis, apart from my white socks 😉 no lights, a bike that was made from bits scrounged of other bikes.

Cycled every day to school, used to race the school bus, cars, dogs, other kids on bikes, the postman, on and off the pavement, over fields, parks, through neighbours gardens, past old industrial estates, that had long gone, past rival schools.

At the the end of school, used to clock watch the seconds, waiting for the bell, then run like mad, try to be the first kid on his bike out of the school gates, tie tied round my head like a weird Indian head scarf, stop at the sweet shop, dump my bike in the pile of bikes thrown outside, search my pockets for my 10p (scavenged/saved/stole/borrowed) to buy my penny sweets…

Loved every second

😉

Shooting would be too good for such a useless, pathetic, no-hopers. I truly despair at how the human race is decending into a pit of whinging, hand-wringing wetness.

Van Halen: in some instances it can be dangerous for kids to cycle and this is not the only school to take this stance.

without knowing the school and the road and access problems you cant really comment.

Looking on Google Maps it doesn’t look that bad. Even appears to be a stretch of decent cycle path nearby.

Couple of primary schools round my way launched an initiative recently for safe cycling routes for kids to go to school. Torpedoed by the police because cycling on the pavement is illegal. Our MP is off to lobby for a change in the law. Not much breath being held.

There is a government target for all schools to have a sustainable travel plan by 2010, this one could be interesting…

It seems that the school would prefer their pupils to be fat and have no road sense instead, I wonder what’s more harmful?

Sam arring at school in the prefered means of transport!

I’m a Bikeability instructor and I need to dispell a myth here. Kids do not pass or fail their CPT, or Bikeability as it is now called. There is a reason for this – If we say that little Emma has passed her test, then she gets knocked down, we get sued. All trainees now get a certificate to say that they have received Bikeability training, not that they have passed and effectively have a license to ride on the road.

With regard to the 60 or so pupils that have ridden on the road during Bikeability, they would have been shepherded by at least 1 adult on a ratio of 6 trainees to 1 adult. If the road was busy at the time, then they would have been asked to dismount and walk on the pavement.

FWIW, I think the school’s problem is the threat of liabilty if anyone’s bike got stolen or if there was an accident on or near the school grounds. It’s fairly common.

With regard to the 60 or so pupils that have ridden on the road during Bikeability, they would have been shepherded by at least 1 adult on a ratio of 6 trainees to 1 adult. If the road was busy at the time, then they would have been asked to dismount and walk on the pavement.

But presumably the Bikeability instructors wouldn’t have accompanied them on their way to or from school?

With regard to the 60 or so pupils that have ridden on the road during Bikeability, they would have been shepherded by at least 1 adult on a ratio of 6 trainees to 1 adult.

not to get to and from the school in the first place.

FWIW, I think the school’s problem is the threat of liabilty if anyone’s bike got stolen or if there was an accident on or near the school grounds. It’s fairly common.

Do other schools not worry about this?

But presumably the Bikeability instructors wouldn’t have accompanied them on their way to or from school?

not to get to and from the school in the first place.

For all we know, the school could have insisted that the bikes were delivered by parents or that anyone riding in was accompanied by an adult. They could even have hired the bikes in for all we know, I’ve seen that happen.

Do other schools not worry about this?

Some schools are certainly less anal. Which is a good thing as I’d never work otherwise.

depressing as well as amusing

“don’t ride to school, kids, you may get run over by a school run mum..”
the fear of lawyers means we lose all sense of perspective and sense sometimes.

Ski, you’re right, they were the best bits of school, racing the bus, drafting it at 35mph, getting done for jumping lights and bombing through the pedestrian areas of town to hitthe steps etc. i loved riding to school and in no way was it ‘safe’. But in no way would i stop a child doing the same (if i had them) or sue a school if they got hurt, what a stupid way to think.

Just because others do it, doesn’t make it right. If it’s too dangerous to ride a bike, then the road is too dangerous to have outside a school and so needs closing, traffic calming or whatever.

close the road. lol – you have no idea.

unless there is sufficient munber of accidents of a certain severity to flag up the road on a councils safety list then the priority for having work done to the road is way down the list. council budgets are tight and only so much work can be carried out. and this has to prioritised somehow. ESCC has in the region os £3m a year for highway works including any new build. this sort of sum really doesnt go far.

also certain classification roads cant be traffic calmed.

trying to stop yummie mummies causing chaos in the mornings near schools is a problem that cant be solved as they all have a inbuilt blind instinct to protect their offspring above any other.

‘it looks ok on google maps’ – it must be safe then. UpQuickDownSlow you are a genius.

As far as I can see its none of the schools buisiness how its pupils travel to and from school (they might want to issue advice,but can’t enforce it). Only that they wont let them bring bikes onto school premesis.Maybe they don’t want to pay for storage facilities.Just lock the bike up outside problem solved.

I have to wonder why he doesnt just ride to school anyway and lock his bike up nearby.

i once rode to school a bit after being banned of the busses for threatening a pedo bus driver and selling matches to a kid who tryed to burn up the bus but any ways thats a different story i was late everyday either from riding down the back of manniewells (dh steps) falling off alot or stoppin at ellisons for a bacon and egg buttie annnnnnnnnnnnd my bike got vandalised because there was supposedly a bike shed the school got a grant for and built but the twunts made it into a bin shed! the cameras where i had to leave my bike were on 3 second intervals before changeing to 6 different veiws the furthest they got with who did it was a boy in school uniform ffs! anyways i got £200 for damage off the school but bins aint moved yet!

ah well thats my life story….

Just shows the way our society clamours for the illusion of safety, in environmentally destructive and socially repulsive metal shells. Fight them everyone, send your kids to school by bike. Cycle Proficiency Training? My Dad did that for me, does that count?