The National Standard gets a good mention in my local paper here:
[url]
http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/columnis ... -1-4262407[/url]
National Standard in newspaper column
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Re: National Standard in newspaper column
Why are the Local Authority not offering National Standards Training like almost every other does?
Sounds as if you should be pressing your local councillors if you live in Norfolk.
Sounds as if you should be pressing your local councillors if you live in Norfolk.
Re: National Standard in newspaper column
John Holiday wrote:Why are the Local Authority not offering National Standards Training like almost every other does?
There is a follow-up article which I have seen in the print version of the newspaper, but which hasn't made it to the website yet. Apparently the question was asked of the Local Authority, and not answered.
Sounds as if you should be pressing your local councillors if you live in Norfolk.
I agree. I wrote to my councillor about it but I didn't get a reply. Maybe others will have more luck with their councillors.
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Re: National Standard in newspaper column
The lack of response from the Council is extemely bad.
Something for CTC Head Office to take up?
Something for CTC Head Office to take up?
Re: National Standard in newspaper column
You need to express your views to a chap called Iain Temperton at Norfolk County Council. He is in charge of road safety, and cyclist training is one of his responsibilities. He has taken up a position against the adoption of Bikeability, retaining the in-house system which uses volunteers at schools. I work in Suffolk and we were exactly the same, but we went to Bikeability a while ago and we now love it. If you ask me, it's a bit like kids saying they don't like certain foods when they have never tried them. I think the chief worry is that if they go for Bikeability and the plug is pulled on funding by the Govt. then they will have lost their carefully nurtured network of volunteers. In that case, they couldn't afford Bikeability, but would have destroyed their current system.
Riding a Dahon Jetstream P9 folder, an early 90s Vision R30 above seat steered recumbent, and the latest acquisition, a Haibike Sduro Trekking 4.0 electric bike.
Re: National Standard in newspaper column
xpc316e wrote:...I think the chief worry is that if they go for Bikeability and the plug is pulled on funding by the Govt. then they will have lost their carefully nurtured network of volunteers. In that case, they couldn't afford Bikeability, but would have destroyed their current system.
Thank you for the pointer. I can understand why they might be wary of changing their mode of delivery, even if just about every other council in the country has done so and is happy with that decision. (I would understand more if their volunteers were actually regular cyclists, when in fact many are not, and they advertise with pride that you don't even need to be able to ride a bike in order to be a volunteer for their scheme).
However, none of this excuses the main problem, which is that the content of the training is thoroughly inadequate. There's no reason why you can't use a volunteer network to deliver training which accords with the principles of observation, positioning and communication underpinning Cyclecraft and the National Standards.
The Norfolk instructor manual is here:
http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/view/ncc086466
Am I right in thinking that, at Level 2 at least, it's not quite on the same lines as the National Standard?
Re: National Standard in newspaper column
@stork
I have no personal knowledge of Norfolk's current scheme, but a look through the manual suggests that there are major differences between their offering and National Standards. Iain Temperton is a very keen motorcyclist and a passionate advocate of professional training for motorcyclists, so it is rather odd that they choose to go with volunteers who may not even ride bikes to train their schoolchildren.
All I can suggest is that you write to him, along with as many parents as you can muster, to register your dissatisfaction with what is being done for young cyclists in Norfolk. I suspect that Norfolk will find it increasingly tough to justify their stance against Bikeability as time goes on, but in the meantime it leaves young riders with a raw deal.
I have no personal knowledge of Norfolk's current scheme, but a look through the manual suggests that there are major differences between their offering and National Standards. Iain Temperton is a very keen motorcyclist and a passionate advocate of professional training for motorcyclists, so it is rather odd that they choose to go with volunteers who may not even ride bikes to train their schoolchildren.
All I can suggest is that you write to him, along with as many parents as you can muster, to register your dissatisfaction with what is being done for young cyclists in Norfolk. I suspect that Norfolk will find it increasingly tough to justify their stance against Bikeability as time goes on, but in the meantime it leaves young riders with a raw deal.
Riding a Dahon Jetstream P9 folder, an early 90s Vision R30 above seat steered recumbent, and the latest acquisition, a Haibike Sduro Trekking 4.0 electric bike.
Re: National Standard in newspaper column
Thank you for the comments and suggestions, I'll work on them. I'm meeting the head of my own local school tomorrow to discuss this. I'm hoping that, even if the local authority doesn't change its training, the school will withdraw from it and provide something acceptable instead.
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Re: National Standard in newspaper column(Norfolk)
Having looked at how they are operating,am amazed that an Authority can operate something so far from National standards.
Some of the recommendations are just plain wrong!
Will be interesting to hear of outcome with local school.
Some of the recommendations are just plain wrong!
Will be interesting to hear of outcome with local school.