Extending the PE curriculum - Bikeability training
Despite the tough weather conditions, Year 6 enjoyed working with the Cycle North team in January. Cycle North are a delivery partner for the charity Bikeability, whose mission is to teach as many children as possible how to ride bikes safely and confidently.
It all begins with Learn to Ride sessions for those children, who do not know how to ride a bike without stabilizers. The children are taught to push and glide on their bikes, until they achieve better balance, at which point, they start to use the peddles.
Most children in Year 6 can already ride a bike; therefore, they are ready to complete the Bikeability Level 1 course (which is done on the playground). Children practice the pre-cursor skills to road cycling: setting a starting position, checking over the shoulder, using the “own the road” position and learning how to signal their intention to turn at junctions.
Most Year 6 children are then able to complete Bikeability Level 2, where they learn to cycle on the local, 20mph roads. They often cycle past Allerton Grange High School or down to Roundhay Park to practice cycling safely on the roads. This supports their independence and means they are considerably safer when out and about on their bikes.
“I learnt how to ride safely on the roads, by understanding when I had priority and when I did not.” Renoir (Year 6)
“I learnt to ride my bike again, because I hadn’t cycled since I was seven, and I had just forgotten how to do it. It took me ten-minutes.” Manni (Year 6)
“I learnt to do hand signals while cycling. I did this on the playground and now I am feeling much more confident.” Daro M (Year 6)
“I have been learning to cycle on the road. I learnt the dotted lines mean give way. I learnt to stop on them and how to start again properly.” Haadi R (Year 6)
“I now know the primary and secondary safety positions, when cycling on the roads. This means cars won’t overtake me at junctions. This means I feel confident to cycle to school independently.” Gabriel R
The instructors were fantastic, and they have helped all the children improve dramatically in their time with us. We look forward to working with Cycle North in the future, including with some Year 6 pupils who have qualified to complete Level 3 Bikeability training in June 2026.
