Priorities for cycle training

Following on from Tilly's message. . .

Quoted message said:

I have no idea how many parents might request Level 1A or Level 1B
training for their children. I don't expect more than 100. Staff and
other adults wanting training is unlikely to be more than a handful.

Get adults 'on-board'. Some of them will say "Oh gosh! I never realised
- what a good thing" and you may then be able to get support of various
sorts from them. Even if it is only fiddling with paperwork and pumping
up the tyres.

--
PETER FOX Not the same since the deckchair business folded
[email hidden]
www.eminent.demon.co.uk - Lots for cyclists

Peter Fox said:

Following on from Tilly's message. . .

Quoted message said:

I have no idea how many parents might request Level 1A or Level 1B
training for their children. I don't expect more than 100. Staff and
other adults wanting training is unlikely to be more than a handful.

Get adults 'on-board'. Some of them will say "Oh gosh! I never realised
- what a good thing" and you may then be able to get support of various
sorts from them. Even if it is only fiddling with paperwork and pumping
up the tyres.

That's what I hope. Lewisham Borough Wardens have received funding
for 10 people to have training to become instructor trainers. One of
those places is mine. Lucky me!

Tilly said:

That's what I hope. Lewisham Borough Wardens have received funding
for 10 people to have training to become instructor trainers. One of
those places is mine. Lucky me!

Is that the large change in funding you need to have a review of policy?

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

in message <[email hidden]>, Tilly

(') said:

I can manage an instructor pupil ratio of 1:6 for level 2 training (on
road cycling), and instruction takes 3 * 2 hours plus 1 * 3 hours
including a 15 min break. I can count on support from instructors
provided by Lewisham Borough Wardens, so up to twelve children/adults
can be trained at the same time. Level 2 training would only be open
to 9 - 11 year olds and adults.

Tilly, I've no real comment except 'respect' and 'good for you'; but
taking kids out on the street for the first time it is a good thing to
have more than one adult in the party, for example so that an adult can
got to a junction first and marshal the kids across, while another
adult is towards the back of the group and able observe, and to move
forward to intervene if any difficulties arise

You seem to have taken on a /big/ job.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us
;; many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets.
;; Imagination without skill gives us modern art.
;; Tom Stoppard, Artist Descending A Staircase

On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 19:50:01 +0100, Tony Raven <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Tilly said:

That's what I hope. Lewisham Borough Wardens have received funding
for 10 people to have training to become instructor trainers. One of
those places is mine. Lucky me!

Is that the large change in funding you need to have a review of policy?

No. Although I work in a partnership with Lewisham Borough Wardens,
their money is not mine. All they have done is offer to pay for me to
go on a cycle maintenance course and the instructors' course. It
still needs headteacher approval for my release from class and she's
not so eager to let me go on the cycle maintenance course as our
Premises Manager (caretaker), also a National Standards instructor, is
about as expert in cycle maintenance as you can get. He's currently
travelling around Europe on a six month sabbatical having reached his
60th birthday. My full budget to implement the school travel plan is
£5,000 and a £4,260 grant for cycle training. To argue for a change
in policy I'd have to be training pupils at other schools, not too
unlikely the way things are going.

Hmmmm.... Perhaps a change in policy would be required if I started
to train instructors. Presumably I'd be using them to teach the
children, and the policy of using two qualified instructors for any
trip outside school premises may no longer be valid, and need to be
amended to allow for a trainee instructor and an advanced instructor
to accompany a group outside school premises.

Hmmmm.... I'd still say that 4 - 9 year olds should wear helmets, but
perhaps that could be loosened. "Your child should wear a correctly
fitting helmet, if you any reason you do not want your child to wear a
helmet you must put it in writing to the instructor responsible for
the training."

Hmmmm....

Tilly said:

From September I have four hours per week available for cycle
training, two and a half hours in directed time (during the school
day) and one and a half hours outside of directed time (time when I
would be otherwise engaged in planning, marking, assessment or
preparation) to a potential 470 children, aged 3 - 11 years, their
parents and up to 50 staff. How do I prioritise provision?

Hi, Tilly.

How many other instructors are available to help you? A lot of
training works better with 2 instructors, and two instructors working
together can manage more trainees than they can working separately.

Specifically:
For level 1A, I think 1:1 is the only way to go. Most of the time you
need to be on foot, ready to catch them, if not actually holding on.

Level 1b can be done on your own, with up to about 10 trainees per
instructor if you keep them on a tight rein. I have done this on
occasions when the other instructor has been fixing a bike. 1:6 is
definitely more comfortable.

At level 2 (initial on-road), I would not recommend more than 2
trainees with a single instructor. Even then they can do very
unexpected things until the first few drills are completed.

With more than 2, you need to snake them, which needs a second
instructor to block traffic as necessary when moving around, or to
walk between drills, which would be very boring. The good news is that
with 2 instructors you can snake up to 10 trainees - but they may get
bored when doing drills one at a time, so 6 is a better number.

I don't know about level 3. By this stage they should be able to look
after themselves, but I think the best approach would still be one
instructor to two trainees.

IME trainees learn fastest in the 1:2 paired riding, and two 2-hour
sessions should easily be enough to get through level 2. But it is
less nerve-wracking to do the first few drills with a group, so that
they have some idea about positioning and junctions before tackling
paired riding.

I would recommend not spending too much of your time on 1A. Issue a
help sheet for parents, and offer to help if parents try and fail to
get their child riding. Once they can start and stop unaided, let them
do the rest of 1A on their own - it'll come soom enough.

1B you can do in batches. The level 2 lessons need not follow
immediately as long as you note each child's level of competence.

I strongly recommend matching cyclists by ability and confidence for
the paired riding. On Friday I taught 2 pairs. One went twice as far
as the other, and tackled one of the most frightening junctions in the
borough. The other pair weren't ready for major roads at all.

Colin McKenzie

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Tilly

(') said:

I can manage an instructor pupil ratio of 1:6 for level 2 training (on
road cycling), and instruction takes 3 * 2 hours plus 1 * 3 hours
including a 15 min break. I can count on support from instructors
provided by Lewisham Borough Wardens, so up to twelve children/adults
can be trained at the same time. Level 2 training would only be open
to 9 - 11 year olds and adults.

Tilly, I've no real comment except 'respect' and 'good for you'; but
taking kids out on the street for the first time it is a good thing to
have more than one adult in the party, for example so that an adult can
got to a junction first and marshal the kids across, while another
adult is towards the back of the group and able observe, and to move
forward to intervene if any difficulties arise

Agreed. Two instructors must accompany *any* group out of school
premises on bikes. I used the word *group* deliberately to be vague.
I guess I could get away taking two, possibly three out without a
second instructor, but that would only be in exceptional
circumstances.

Quoted message said:

You seem to have taken on a /big/ job.

Colin McKenzie said:

How many other instructors are available to help you? A lot of training
works better with 2 instructors, and two instructors working together
can manage more trainees than they can working separately.

Hmmm. Reading this puts me in mind of my motorcycle training, many
years ago. After graduating I got a job in central London, and got
a motorbike, so I thought some proper training might be a good idea,
and took the Star Rider "silver" course (the middle of three).
On the last day out, we got the chief instructor as well as our
normal instructor - both on *very* fancy and powerful machines.
When some w***er in a car cut us up, they just nodded at each other,
then sorted him out - most entertaining:-)

OK, not at all the same as training small children, but a nice
illustration of the power of two leaders!

BTW, it was during my time in London that I came to appreciate just
how superior the bicycle really is. Of course I knew two wheels
were far better than four, but I hadn't expected the (pedal) bike
to be so much nicer than the motorbike for commuting, nor that I
would come to prefer train+bike over motorbike for weekends away.

--
Nick Kew

Colin McKenzie said:

Tilly said:

From September I have four hours per week available for cycle
training, two and a half hours in directed time (during the school
day) and one and a half hours outside of directed time (time when I
would be otherwise engaged in planning, marking, assessment or
preparation) to a potential 470 children, aged 3 - 11 years, their
parents and up to 50 staff. How do I prioritise provision?

Hi, Tilly.

How many other instructors are available to help you? A lot of
training works better with 2 instructors, and two instructors working
together can manage more trainees than they can working separately.

I have always worked with at least one other instructor except for the
one time I taught a complete novice. Lewisham Borough Wardens always
come in pairs - only one is an instructor. So long as the wardens are
happy to work with me, there is the potential for plenty of help.
They have funding of £60,000 to be trained as instructors and provide
training to schools throughout their zones, and that does not include
staffing costs. Next term my work colleague returns from a sabbatical
and he is also a qualified instructor.

Quoted message said:

Specifically:
For level 1A, I think 1:1 is the only way to go. Most of the time you
need to be on foot, ready to catch them, if not actually holding on.

I don't doubt you, but I will try 1:2, at least then I'll only have to
explain things once.

Quoted message said:

Level 1b can be done on your own, with up to about 10 trainees per
instructor if you keep them on a tight rein. I have done this on
occasions when the other instructor has been fixing a bike. 1:6 is
definitely more comfortable.

I'll try to keep it to 1:6.

Quoted message said:

At level 2 (initial on-road), I would not recommend more than 2
trainees with a single instructor. Even then they can do very
unexpected things until the first few drills are completed.

OK.

Quoted message said:

With more than 2, you need to snake them, which needs a second
instructor to block traffic as necessary when moving around, or to
walk between drills, which would be very boring. The good news is that
with 2 instructors you can snake up to 10 trainees - but they may get
bored when doing drills one at a time, so 6 is a better number.

First course was 2:4, second course was 2:6, third was 2:5 and the
course now is 2:7. We haven't been out on the road yet. I am working
towards a 2:12 limit.

Quoted message said:

I don't know about level 3. By this stage they should be able to look
after themselves, but I think the best approach would still be one
instructor to two trainees.

IME trainees learn fastest in the 1:2 paired riding, and two 2-hour
sessions should easily be enough to get through level 2. But it is
less nerve-wracking to do the first few drills with a group, so that
they have some idea about positioning and junctions before tackling
paired riding.

I would recommend not spending too much of your time on 1A. Issue a
help sheet for parents, and offer to help if parents try and fail to
get their child riding. Once they can start and stop unaided, let them
do the rest of 1A on their own - it'll come soom enough.

I expect there are several parents who cannot cycle.

Quoted message said:

1B you can do in batches. The level 2 lessons need not follow
immediately as long as you note each child's level of competence.

That's useful to know

Quoted message said:

I strongly recommend matching cyclists by ability and confidence for
the paired riding. On Friday I taught 2 pairs. One went twice as far
as the other, and tackled one of the most frightening junctions in the
borough. The other pair weren't ready for major roads at all.

Thanks. That's given me plenty of food for thought.

On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 20:59:36 +0100 someone who may be Tilly
<[email hidden]> wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

Hmmmm.... I'd still say that 4 - 9 year olds should wear helmets, but
perhaps that could be loosened. "Your child should wear a correctly
fitting helmet, if you any reason you do not want your child to wear a
helmet you must put it in writing to the instructor responsible for
the training."

That's a step in the right direction, better than the current
proposed wording.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government
prevents me by using the RIP Act 2000.