If your child goes to one of the council’s schools, they will be offered stage one cycle training in year 6. This will take place in school time and in the school playground.
Training is not offered to children in years below year 6 as experts such as Rospa advise that children under 10 are not ready to cope with traffic on our busy roads.
There is a charge of £20 per pupil for the training. This covers the expenses of providing a week’s training, assessment, booklets and certificates.
Your child will need to have a roadworthy bicycle available for the training. The stage one training takes place in the school playground, using a road layout, and is in school time. Each cyclist has one hour’s training each day for a week. The cyclists are assessed throughout the week and at the end of the course. Your child will receive a certificate at the end of the course setting out his or her progress in the main elements of the training.
This is only a basic, introductory course which takes place in the playground, protected from traffic. We therefore strongly recommend that you ride with your child on quiet roads until you are completely satisfied that they are competent to cycle alone.
75% of the injuries experienced by cyclists who are taken to hospital are head injuries. We therefore make it a requirement that children wear cycle helmets during the training. If your child doesn’t have their own helmet, they can borrow one to wear during the training but we strongly recommend that they have their own to wear when cycling afterwards. Their own helmet will fit them better than one which is borrowed and be safer.
Contact us
Road Safety Education
Street Management & Public Protection
London Borough of Hounslow
Civic Centre
Lampton Road
Hounslow
TW3 4DN
Tel: 020 8583 5039
Email: roadsafetyeduction@hounslow.gov.uk