National Standards??

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andmoreagain
Posts: 2
Joined: 28 Aug 2012, 8:03pm

National Standards??

Post by andmoreagain »

I know we have moved on a long way from cycling profiency but....

The provider I work for normally sends 2 instructors out with 12 kids and gives us 7.5 hours to do Level 1 & 2. The number of kids who achieve level 2 works out at about 90% (this is not a target, just what it averages out at over the county, over a year with 12 instructors teaching about 3,00 kids.)

I was chatting to an Instructor in London and they work to a maximum of 8 children to 2 instructors, with 8 hours to work on Level 1 & 2 and their pass rate is closer to 50%!

Clearly there are very different things going on throught the country.
Vorpal
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Location: Not there ;)

Re: National Standards??

Post by Vorpal »

Or it just may be different challenges.

I expect that someone teaching in London is more likely have to deal with children who have much less experience with bicycles and the road environment. It also depends on how the children are enrolled in Bikeability. One school I taught at, all of the children were encouraged to enroll. The head even had a pool of bikes for kids to use, in case someone arrived without his/her bike, or it wasn't road worthy. Our pass rate there was about 60%. At other schools, we'd only have the few, keen children out of several classes (and often 100% pass rate)

We had 2 instructors for every 12 children, and 8 - 10 hours (depending on the school day, schedule, etc.) per course (level 1 & 2). We had one village where the pass rate was seldom above 30%. Why? There was one busy main road, a couple of cul-de-sacs, and almost no pavements. Many of the children lived in circumstances where walking or cycling was intimidating enough for an adult. So, they couldn't practice, and many only ever rode their bikes when mum or dad drove them to the country park.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
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