Here's an extract from the letter that came home from school:
"It is interesting to note that quiet a lot of the children who walk to
and from school would prefer to cycle, but a significant number who
travel by car would also like to cycle to and from school. This could
reduce the number of cars on the road in the morning. WHile we recognise
the very many health benefits of cycling, we would not wish to encourage
children to cycle unless we are sure that every possible safety issue
had been considered."

Very encouraging.

The school is also canvassing views on how cycling might be made safer
for children. The obvious idea that springs to mind is for the school to
run cycling training. I'm going to put this forward at the meeting that
is being held to discuss the matter, but I need to know a few facts first.

How does the school go about organising such training?
How can training be funded? Will the council cough up?

We are in east Kent - does anyone know of any local organisations that
might be able to give me more information?

And finally, does anyone have any other ideas that I could put forward
to the school?

thanks,

But then you knew that ;-)

Ask for assistance from the school in terms of details of the catchment
area and get out at the weekend with one or two amenable kids and a
digital camera[1] and take pictures of particular 'obstacles' [2] that
could be ameliorated and plot out on maps (1:10K, get them from your
local council) suggested safe routes. (This could also be a classroom
exercise, to get the children to think about their routes in and
identify which parts are most troublesome[3])

Educate school run drivers in how to deal with children on bikes (ie
give them lots of room, look carefully to see if there is somewhere
they may suddenly turn right into with no signals etc. and above all,
slow down and treat them as equals on the road.)

And, when it all kicks off, get lots of local paper publicity. Class
shots are loved by local news rags because all the parents/grandparents
and so on buy a copy to see the pic..

Helmets are irrelevant when it comes to safety but they appear to be a
MUST HAVE on everybody's list except the people who know about cycle
safety. :(

Training is far more cost effective - the accident that never happens is
100% survivable and the general public's knowledge of how to use the
roads on a bike is very poor[1] but is fairly easy to remedy.

On this ng are people who have been there - done that - got the scars
regarding:
(a) _National Standard_ training  (Accept no other)  Look on CTC web
site for information.
(b) Making schools cycle friendly

One way to improve cycle safety is to reduce traffic.  Some schools have
a no-car zone for such a distance others stop motorised movements until
after those on foot and cycle have had time to disperse at the end of
the day.

If the school is conducting pupil surveys they might want to plot
isochrones - the time it takes to travel to school say 10min on foot
5min on bike for starters.

[1]I'm in the process of writing up the results of more than 3000 visits
to my test yourself quiz.  Watch this space.

Talk to a Parent Governor about it and get it on the Agenda of the next
Governors meeting (although it may already be there if they are at the
canvassing for parent views stage).

I agree they're not a lot of use on a road in traffic, but for children
learning to cycle, perhaps in the playground, they are an eminently sensible
solution to the problem of low-speed falls that _will_ occur.  Indeed,
that's almost exactly what they are developed and tested for ...

The biggest safety issue is safety in numbers, the more who cycle
the safer they are.

A group of enthusiastic parents and teachers are the most important
thing.

--
si...@jasmine.org.uk (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

--
Tony

I recently gave up driving a school bus due to ignorant, arrogant,
selfish, rude, inconsiderate, bullish, violent and downright dangerous
school run parents parking in the school bus area, pavements, school
pedestrian entrance, private house driveways ........... shall I go
on?

Their loss not mine ........ Now they can't get drivers for love nor
money ..... Ha!

As for slow down and treat as equals .........

The plonk is too harsh.

I am working closely with a school where the parents (and teachers) have been
asking for ways to make it safer for their children. Much of the
pressure is
a result of the traffic levels in the area. It is on the outskirts of a large
town and the roads around the school are being used as a rat-run at the same
time as parents are dropping off their kids in their 4x4s.
Many parents see the rat-runners as the main danger rather than themselves.

I have arranged for cycle training for all Year 5 children to be available
from this Spring. The aim is to raise those cycling in this group from
1% to
50%. It covers nearly 100 children. It is unfortunate that Year 6 will
not be
covered but the school naturally wishes to reap the benefits by having this
year's Year 5 riding to school next year before they go off to Secondary
education.

A prime aim is to reduce the school-run and ease congestion outside the
gates. The school-run problem is often an emotive subject but one that most
seem to understand - even those who are part of it. With this in mind parents
are also being invited to join in the training so they too can help reduce
the traffic.
They are enthusiastic and there are tentative plans to introduce
'Cycling-Buses' once the training is underway. Teachers are also to be
encourged to receive Adult Cycle Training and it is possible a large end of
year ride/picnic may be held in the Summer.

Bikes are to be checked after this next half-term when Dr Bike will visit.
Publicity material on the National Standards scheme will also be going
out to
all parents. The fun, health and safety elements are all being stressed.
It is hoped a local 'celebrity' of some kind will launch the training and
then award the certificates.
Good publicity matters a lot to schools today and cycling is a good vehicle
for this.

The training  is to be built into the School Travel Plan.
LAs can provide funding for things like bike sheds when a Travel Plan is
approved.
If your school does not have a Plan encourage them to develop one.

Funding is to be by the parents themselves in the same way as they pay for
music lessons, although some local authority support is to be sought
(but not
expected). The cost is not seen to be a problem and it does seem parents are
willing to pay for good training.

I am lucky in that I have already trained some the children at the school
privately and they have been telling their friends what fun it all is. The
parents off these children have been wonderful in promoting the idea of
training. I am also lucky that the staff and governors are very supportive
and recognise the benefits from several angles.

Best of all, the school has agreed that the training can take place during
school hours so there is little conflict with out-of-school clubs and
activities.

http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=4196

You should be able to contact  someone qualified to deliver the National
Standards.
Arrange for them (and you) to visit the school and meet the head and
governors - and perhaps the PTA. It will be important to have a plan with
clear aims - reducing traffic, promoting exercise and a healthy lifestyle,
and developing independence. Don't forget that by also taking on the admin
burden you are also helping teachers.

Good luck.

I think the vast majority of the school's intake lives within 1 or 2
miles so it makes a lot of sense. It really upsets me the number of
parents who drive their kids in, and then find that the nearest parking
space they can find to the school is almost as far away as their home...
yet still they continue to drive in...

The local schools joined forces to start up a walking bus scheme earlier
this year, which has been a huge success, so let's hope the cycling
campaign can be equally successful.

Thanks for all the excellent suggestions - plenty to think about there.

--
Tony

Thanks for your thoughts.