Cycle training for children aged 9 and over to help build the skills and confidence to ride a bike safely on the road.

Bikeability

Bikeability is a national cycle training scheme. It’s like cycling proficiency, but better. It’s about gaining practical skills and understanding how to cycle on today’s roads.

Booking

All BCP Council schools are offered delivery of free Level 2 (Residential Road Cycling Training) courses for their entire Year 5 and Year 6 group, with secondary schools also being given the same opportunity for their older year groups. Funding is provided for schools to access Bikeability training for their pupils for free and we offer courses both during and after the school day, working with the schools to fit this around the school day for their greatest convenience.

The school day is the best environment for children to learn these very important on road cycling skills and the children's mindset during the school holidays is not always conducive to being able to concentrate fully to safely understand and respond to the seriousness of the training involved. Therefore, we are not planning to run any more public Level 2 Bikeability courses until the summer holidays, when we may run a very small number of courses.

We would therefore ask that you contact your child's school to find out when they are holding their Bikeability Level 2 Residential Road Cycling Training and if they have not yet booked this with their Bikeability School Coordinator, to contact us.

Level 2 Bikeability Course – learn how to safely cycle on the road

The course is for children who:

• are aged between 9 and 16 years
• can ride a bike one handed so they’re able to indicate and look over their shoulder
• have their own bike and helmet
• have permission from a parent or carer to take part
• live or go to school in Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole

You can book your child on this course even if they haven't completed a Level 1 course first, as long as they are a confident cyclist with the following skills:

• can look over their shoulder whilst cycling
• ride one handed so they can signal
• brake effectively
• manoeuvre their bike

This course is designed to teach your child how to cycle safely on the roads. It is not a course for a child who cannot yet cycle confidently. Please ensure they have the above skills before booking them on this course.

During the first hour of the course, before taking them out on the road, we will check that your child can cycle proficiently by checking they have all the above skills and are safe to take out on the road. We will also check your child’s bike is roadworthy and their helmet is fitted correctly. This will take place in a secure playground area.

We will then take your child out onto the local residential roads surrounding our training location. This will give your child a real cycling experience that equips them with skills to deal with traffic on short local journeys, such as cycling to school or the local shops. Our Level 2 course will encourage and develop safe cycling skills, develop positive attitudes towards road use, increase knowledge and understanding of the road and traffic environment and give riders the confidence to use their bicycles on local roads.

Your child will learn how to:

• start and finish a journey
• pass side roads and parked vehicles
• make left, right and U turns
• understand where to position themselves when cycling on the road
• be aware of everything around them whilst cycling
• explain decisions made during cycling and thereby demonstrate understanding of a safe cycling strategy.

Children who have successfully completed our Level 2 course and are an experienced and confident cyclist can progress to our Level 3 course. Please discuss this with your child’s instructor or call the office on 01202 127 867 to discuss if they are ready for their Level 3 course.

Assessment will take place throughout the course, through practical learning experiences. Children will receive a certificate and badge at the end of the course, but this will not be a licence that guarantees they are safe to cycle unsupervised on the road. This Bikeability course provides children with basic safety skills and experience of the main manoeuvres associated with cycling on quiet roads. The decision for your child to cycle unsupervised after the course will be the decision of parents/guardians.

If you cancel more than 48 hours before the start of the course, you can either book onto another alternative course or if preferred, you will receive a refund.

If your child is eligible for free school meals, you will be able to access the course free of charge. Please email bikeability@bcpcouncil.gov.uk to provide proof of this eligibility and a member of the team will be in contact to discuss how we can make this provision. Please state the date, time and location of the course you would like to book together with the name of your child so that this can be arranged. 

If you have a query regarding our courses, please call the Bikeability Team on 01202 127 867/ 01202 123 982 or email bikeability@bcpcouncil.gov.uk.

If your child cannot yet cycle, discuss with your child's school if they are running one of our Bikeability Learn to Ride courses. These courses are only held in schools.

Instructors

Our instructors are all fully qualified to the national standard, DBS checked and trained in first aid. They also receive annual safeguarding training.

Contact us

bikeability@bcpcouncil.gov.uk

When you book your child on a course, you’ll be given a number to contact us and mobile telephone numbers for your child's instructors on the day.

Sometimes emails may get caught in the junk or spam folder, so check these if you’re expecting an email from us.