Roads

Medway Council’s policy is to offer cycle training to all children from Year 6 onwards. The training is free of charge and takes place over one week (two hours per day). Most of this training is done in school time and where possible summer holiday courses are offered.

Training takes place on the road where the children, wearing high visibility jackets, are taught observation, signals and all the manoeuvres to help keep them safe.

Cycle training programme

Day 1 - Bike check and off-road training:

• Learn how to check that the bike is roadworthy: looking at the size of the bike and its brakes, tyres and chains.
• Practice cycling in the playground, which will involve learning to look behind, signalling and braking.
• Highway Code and Safe Cycling booklets will be issued for homework.

Day 2 - On-road training:

• Check the bike.
• Training on the road, including turning left and straight on manoeuvres.
• Highway Code homework sheets.

Day 3 - Further on-road training:

• Check the bike.
• Training on the road, including the manoeuvres already learnt and turning right.
• Highway Code homework sheets.

Days 4 and 5 - Assessment:

• Check the bike.
• Practising all the manoeuvres while being assessed.

Please note

The cycle training service is an assessment of the cyclist's ability to be safe to ride on the roads. The students should have a good ability to ride a bike and some road knowledge before attending the course. The course is not aimed to teach them how to ride a bike but to equip them with skills to ensure they are safer while riding on road. If you wish for your child to be taught the basics of how to ride a bike please visit the CTC (www.ctc.org.uk) or Cycling England (www.cyclingengland.co.uk) website for more information.

Occasionally children are asked not to continue on the course or are assessed as unsafe and will need further training. All children who are asked not to continue or are deemed unsafe are told the reasons why.

If you need further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact the Road Safety Team.

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