A wonderful milestone has been reached in our school - we now have fabulous bike shelters which accommodate 38 bikes and 20 scooters!
Acquiring the shelters has been a real community effort with financial support coming from a number of sources - the School Travel Plan Fund, Tameside Council and Sustrans. Many people gave their support, including Chijioke Ebezie (Tameside Bike Shelter Officer), Greg Hutchinson who managed the project (from Astivirant Cycle Shelters) and Suzanne Elson and colleagues from Sustrans (UK's leading sustainable transport charity who help with practical projects so people can choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment).
Once the construction of the shelters was completed they soon filled up. To encourage some of our older children to cycle confidently to school we enrolled the help of the British Cycling Federation. Charlotte Connolly, cycle training officer with the federation, organised a Bikeability Course for us in liaison with Tameside Council.
Children from Year 5 spent the week learning and polishing their cycling skills, ending the week being able to cycle confidently on the roads and manoeuvre safely around traffic. The trainers worked so well with the children enabling all of them to achieve a Level 2 Bikeability Award.
To improve the security of the children's bikes we enrolled the help of our neighbourhood police in the form of Ian Chappell and his colleague. They spent a whole morning marking children's bikes and scooters with their address details. This information will be logged onto the police database, providing much greater security for the bikes. This initiative has been greatly welcomed by parents. Any new bikes and scooters will be stamped when the police return to our school during National Sports Week.
More children will now be able to participate in the "COW" Scheme (Cycle Once a Week) in which the children are rewarded for leaving the car at home and cycling to school instead.
Our school already has "Healthy Schools" status and the Eco Award, but this cycling initiative will help to develop the awareness in children of the real impact they each can have on both these areas. All the children are thoroughly enjoying travelling to school on their bikes and scooters. Butchelle, a Year 5 pupil, summed it up in a nutshell - "I feel it's a great fun way to keep fit and at the same time help the environment".
A huge thank you to all concerned!!!
