STA Bikes

STA Bikes is now entering its fourth year. It aims to promote cycling amongst all members of the school community at Sir Thomas Abney Primary School in North London - children, parents/carers and staff. It does this by providing free cycle training to all ages at any level of ability, from complete beginner to people who ride a bike well but are not confident to cycle on London roads yet. Cycle Training Ltd. and the London School of Cycling have done an excellent job of doing the actual training, and STA Bikes is about to start training our own trainers. It also promotes cycling through activities such as Bikers Breakfasts, providing information leaflets to families, and by involving them in the running of the project through the STA Bikes Club. Two parents run the club, and act as role models for other parents by cycling either together with our children or independently, to and from work, shopping, for leisure activities and socially etc. We believe that knowing someone personally who cycles regularly, whom they can identify with, is crucial to help people make the move from contemplating cycling, to actually starting. We spend a considerable amount of time answering questions about our cycling from curious parents and children.

Very early on we discovered that far fewer parents than we had thought could ride a bike. This meant that cycling skills learnt in children's training would be lost as children were unable to practice. We therefore extended our training to a year-long colour-coded 'Rainbow' programme which made it easier for the children to monitor their own progress. Rather than lumping all children together in year groups, we have devised ability groupings. The levels correspond to the colours of the rainbow:

STA Bikes Rainbow programme
red	complete beginners
orange	bike control skills
yellow	advanced bike control
green	introduction to road riding
blue	road riding (including 'discovering' interesting routes and destinations locally such as to Finsbury Park and the Parkland Walk - one of our aims is to introduce families to places they can enjoy cycling to on their own)
indigo	experienced road riders, to cycle to destinations further afield, such as to the Lee Valley Cycle Circuit
violet	seasoned cyclists who have completed the above, and are ready for personal transport plans

Each child receives an individual report on their strengths and weaknesses each term, with recommendations for practice and progression to the next level. The children's achievements are celebrated at whole school Assemblies. Several Year 8 (secondary school) and Year 6 (still at primary school) children now cycle on road daily, either on their own or with their families, as a result of training with STA Bikes.

Last year a total of 80 children were trained, and 15 parents or members of staff, including the Headteacher, and several complete beginners parents. Three years ago not one child cycled to school. Now the cycle racks are almost full on a daily basis; several mothers cycle with their children to school, and several families now use cycling as their primary mode of transport. Whereas initially cycling in school was viewed with misapprehension and fear, it is now an accepted - and indeed demanded!, part of school routine.

A loan pool of bikes has been set up for those children and adults who don't have a working bike. Bikes can be borrowed free of charge for training and practice. As part of the training, trainees learn how to check their bikes to ensure they are safe to ride. Minor problems can be fixed on the spot.

STA Bikes helped set up similar cycle training projects - the Super Nova federation, in six other local schools, and a further four will start this year. Four of the schools were successful in obtaining over £40,000 from the Department for Transport's Cycling Projects Fund. This means that so far approximately 400 local children have benefited from some form of cycle training. In the forthcoming year some 350 children (and possibly nearly double this figure) will enjoy 'hands on' cycle training; and over 1000 will be informed and educated about the benefits of cycling through classroom sessions.

At Sir Thomas Abney school, 80 per cent of children are from an ethnic minority, and nearly half receive free school meals.