A Doncaster charity is doing its bit to get children on their bikes ahead of the UCI Road World Championships and the opening of the town’s very own community cycle track.
Active Fusion has organised a free Ready Set Ride training workshop on Thursday, September 26 for teachers to improve their confidence and competence in teaching children to ride their bikes.
The charity’s mission is to provide children with greater opportunities to get physically active and they hope the session will enable more children to get involved with the exciting events coming to Doncaster.
Teachers who have already taken part in Ready Set Ride training have spoken about their experiences.
Liane Kelly is a reception teacher at Manor Lodge Primary School in Sheffield. She said: “As a teacher, I think cycling is really important to learn not only for the physical benefits, like reducing obesity, but also for stress levels to boost children’s emotional and mental health. Learning to cycle can also have a huge influence on developing school readiness and young people’s ability to learn.
“Teachers are not confident to support children to cycle and research from children’s charity Youth Sport Trust has found that 43 per cent of teachers say they do not have the skills or confidence to support children learning to ride. As one of the 43 per cent who was not confident in how to teach children to cycle, it was something I desperately wanted to change and make my responsibility.”
“It has improved participation in physical activity and inspired children to become more active outside of school,” she said. “We have seen groups of children start to cycle to and from school and hopefully, we have enthused children about cycling for life.”
British Cycling and HSBC UK, in partnership with children’s charity the Youth Sport Trust, developed the HSBC UK Ready Set Ride programme in schools with the aim of ensuring that every child in the UK is given the opportunity to learn to ride a bike. Ready Set Ride breaks down learning to ride a bike into three easy to follow steps which can be done at school or at home with parents. It is delivered through a series of online videos, an easy to understand, bite size resource pack, and is supported by fun games and activities to develop a child’s skills both on and off the bike. All digital resources are available to download for free.
Pic credit: YST & British Cycling
