Cycling to school

[snorri]

I have heard of a case where a pupil cycles to school supervised by a parent or guardian (who cycles with the child) but because the pupil has not passed a Cycle Proficiency test he/she is barred from taking the bicycle on to school premises. The child is not yet of age to undergo Cycle Proficiency training, so the parent must take the childs bike home in the morning and return with the bike in the afternoon to accompany the child home.

Has anyone experience of similar, and what was the outcome?

 

[summerdays]

I definitely remember there being cases of that in the press - I think the parent ended up locking the bike up outside the school. (Me I would be tempted to lock it to the school gates if I was in a confrontational mood - but probably not the best way to go about it)

Years ago our head teacher was proposing to do the same thing when I was involved with the school travel plan. As they only had Bikeability training in the summer term in Year 6 it would have meant that the new shed that we were in the process of getting funding for could only be used for about 6 weeks of the year.

At the time the we had support from the council Safe Routes to School's officer who wrote to the school.

What is their argument against having the bike on the school premises - as the school have no right to say how the school pupil gets to school each day, they are not responsible for their safety - which was one of our head's arguments. It may be more difficult to argue if it is to do with not having a safe place to store the bike in school - for example one of the bikes near the beginning was tampered with by another pupil (the brakes), until a fence was installed around the shed to prevent pupils going in the shed during the day.

How young is the child?

 

[funnymummy]

At my son's school they can cycle in at any age as long as accompanied by an adult, once they have passed the CP/Bikeability they are then allowed to ride in unaccompanied.
There have been a couple of occasion where children have ridden to school without a helmet. The schools cycling rules clearly state one must be worn, so they have been told they can not ride in unless the have one.. My friends son was one of them, he chose to get a helmet - but to my knowledge he has never actulay worn it, it just hangs off his handlebars! Several other kids quit cycling in 'on principle'

 

[summerdays]

At my son's school they can cycle in at any age as long as accompanied by an adult, once they have passed the CP/Bikeability they are then allowed to ride in unaccompanied.
There have been a couple of occasion where children have ridden to school without a helmet. The schools cycling rules clearly state one must be worn, so they have been told they can not ride in unless the have one.. My friends son was one of them, he chose to get a helmet - but to my knowledge he has never actulay worn it, it just hangs off his handlebars! Several other kids quit cycling in 'on principle'

No rules as to who can cycle to my children's' Primary school and whether they should be accompanied or wear a helmet. There isn't even a rule to say they should lock their bikes ... just a sign saying they leave their bikes at their own risk - so some are unlocked.

 

[snorri]

Thank you for these responses.

I am not directly involved, this was a subject that came up at a meeting of my local cycle campaign organisation and I just thought I would seek views nationwide!