New cycling scheme gets nursery kids on their bikes
Children as young as three are being taught to ride bikes independently under a new “no stabilisers” programme being run at Beaconhurst School’s nursery.
Staff came up with the unusual policy in a bid to get Junior Start pupils cycling on their own. The scheme sees youngsters out riding balance and pedal bikes in the playground every day come rain or shine.
It’s been a great success with nearly 80% of pre-school children already riding bikes with confidence - while several pupils from the ante pre-school classes, aged just three and four, are also cycling independently.
Nursery teacher Tracy McKenna, who takes her class out cycling daily, is delighted with the programme’s success - as are the nursery’s parents. She says: “Our aim is to get all our pre-school children riding their bikes by the summer and so far 19 out of 24 pupils are cycling properly and confidently.
“Along with parents and the children
themselves, we established a cycling policy designed to teach children to ride naturally on a bike. “As part of that, we decided no stabilisers would be allowed because they tend to make bikes unstable and actually hinder children’s progress. So we go from balance bikes to pedal bikes with no stabilisers allowed – it’s quite a unique programme and we’ve had great success so far. Our parents are really supportive and many can’t believe their children can ride a bike already.”
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One youngster who has benefitted from the scheme is three-year-old Jessica Marshall from Bridge of Allan. Her mum Gilly says: “We’re delighted with her progress - by doing some cycling daily at Beaconhurst she is now confident and proficient.
“It’s great Jessica gets to practice her cycling skills while at nursery as well as having fun with her friends and we’re really impressed with the cycling programme.”
Mrs McKenna and her colleagues begin by teaching children how to sit in the proper position on their bikes and encourage them to keep practising until they can ride without wobbling. And once youngsters are cycling with confidence, they move to more challenging tasks like cycling in and out of obstacles and over a ramp as well as learning the basics of road safety.
Mrs McKenna adds: “I think a lot of our success is because the children act as role models to each other. “Learning to ride a bike can seem overwhelming but doing it together every day as a team and having fun makes it much more achievable. The children enjoy cycling and it’s a great confidence boost when they realise they can ride a bike on their own.”
“They’re all very proud of themselves and have learnt a variety of lifelong skills, such as perseverance, responsibility, resilience and confidence, along the way.”
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