Cycle to School Week – Skills, Confidence and the Opportunity to Ride

Cycle to School Week is a chance to celebrate children and young people travelling to school by bike – but it’s also an opportunity to look at what we can do to make cycling a realistic choice for more families.

Here at The Cornwall Bicycle Project, our Bikeability instructors spend a lot of time working directly with children and young people, helping them develop the practical skills and confidence they need to cycle.

But recently, those conversations have also been taking place away from the bikes.

Our instructors have been meeting with local councillors and MPs, Perran Moon for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle and Jack Yelland, Reform UK Councillor for St Austell Central and Gover sharing their experiences of delivering Bikeability and talking about why cycle training – alongside creating opportunities for children to actually use those skills – is so important.

Bikeability is about more than passing a course

Every week, our instructors see the difference that developing cycling skills can make.

For some children, Bikeability is their first experience of cycling confidently away from a playground or traffic-free environment. For others, it is the point where they begin to understand how they can use their bike for an actual journey.

They learn how to observe, communicate, position themselves appropriately, recognise hazards and make decisions.

But completing Bikeability shouldn't be the end of that journey.

We want young people to have opportunities to put those skills into practice.

And cycling to school can be one of those opportunities.

Could cycling to school become a normal part of the week?

We know that cycling to school isn't going to be possible for every child or every family.

Distance, road conditions, suitable routes, confidence, access to a cycle and practical family arrangements can all affect whether travelling by bike is realistic.

But where it is possible, we'd love to see more children being given the opportunity to use the skills they've developed.

That might mean cycling every day.

It might mean cycling once a week.

It could mean riding part of the journey, travelling with a parent or friend, or gradually building towards making the journey more independently.

It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

Why these conversations matter

As Bikeability instructors, we can teach children how to ride confidently and make informed decisions.

But encouraging more young people to make everyday journeys by bike involves a much bigger picture.

That's why conversations between instructors, schools, families, councillors, MPs and other organisations are valuable.

They provide an opportunity to share what we are seeing on the ground: the enthusiasm young people have for cycling, the progress they make through training and some of the barriers that can prevent them from continuing to cycle once their Bikeability course has finished.

Ultimately, it's about connecting skills with opportunity.

This Cycle to School Week – give it a go

Cycle to School Week is a great opportunity for families to think about whether all or part of the school journey could be made by bike.

If your child has completed Bikeability, why not ride the route together?

Talk about the decisions they are making. Look at the route, junctions and potential hazards. Let them show you some of the skills they've learnt.

And if the full school journey isn't suitable, perhaps there is a shorter journey where those skills can start being used.

Every ride builds experience.

Every journey builds confidence.

And every young person who discovers that their bike can be more than something they ride for fun has taken another step towards being able to choose cycling as a way to get around.

At The Cornwall Bicycle Project, we'll continue delivering Bikeability, working with our communities and talking to local decision-makers about the importance of giving young people both the skills and the opportunities to cycle.

Because learning to ride is only the beginning.