From Inverness to Stranraer, Buchan to Paisley, learn how schools across Scotland are making big changes to make cycling a central part of life for staff and pupils.
Inverness Royal Academy
Inverness Royal Academy, a comprehensive secondary school, was funded by Cycling Scotland as part of an ambitious project to grow their cycling offering that has increased the number of pupils cycling to among the highest rates in Scotland.
With the catchment area including areas of multiple deprivation, the school and attached community sports hub sought to address a lack of cycling activity within the local community. A number of pupils didn’t have access to bikes or a safe environment to learn skills and gain confidence.
They were especially keen to target inactive young people from surrounding areas of deprivation, providing them with cycling opportunities and bike maintenance drop-in sessions.
In October 2018, the school was funded £2,000 from the Cycling Friendly Secondary Schools fund towards the purchase a fleet of bikes and to stock their old PE store, now a bike workshop, with maintenance equipment. The school started 1:1 cycling activities, successfully renovated the bike shed and has been running family-focused Dr Bike sessions.
In October 2018, the school was funded £2,000 from the Cycling Friendly Secondary Schools fund towards the purchase a fleet of bikes and to stock their old PE store, now a bike workshop, with maintenance equipment. The school started 1:1 cycling activities, successfully renovated the bike shed and has been running family-focused Dr Bike sessions.
This sustained activity and promotion means that 16% of pupils are now cycling to school and PE teacher, Jane Chisholm says that longer-term the school aims to “embed cycling and maintenance into the curriculum to make it sustainable and drive forward a culture of cycling in the school community.”
- The stories of three girls at the school who have benefitted from the programme really stand out: firstly, a pupil who found cycling challenging who worked to build up her skills and finally, after much perseverance, conquering mountain biking in local woods.
- A second young woman struggled with the social aspects of PE lessons but loved being active. She attended taster sessions and Friday coaching, and now has developed more confidence in herself and is more assured in class, giving her a much more positive experience of sport. After the coaching sessions she got a second-hand bike which she brought to a Dr Bike event with her family – and now cycles to school each day.
- The third pupil has found so much confidence through access to bikes: she attended the Velocity Build Bike project, went overnight bike-packing with the Adventure Syndicate and has just completed a Bikeability Scotland Instructor course. Her teacher, Jane says, “one thing that strikes me about this young lady is how quiet she is, but the love of bikes and the opportunity to attend rides out has meant she has grown in confidence.”
Jane continues: “the nurture base, The Bothy, use the school bikes regularly, taking out pupils who struggle with school for emotional, social or behavioural reasons or because things at home are hard. The bikes give them an opportunity to be active, work with others and relax in the outdoor environment.”
The school was awarded Cycling Friendly in January 2019 and are now working towards the award with distinction.
Jane comments: “the whole process of applying to the grant fund and completing the audit for the Cycling Friendly School award has been excellent at highlighting and focussing us on doing things which will have the best outcomes for our pupils. If another school was thinking of becoming Cycling Friendly, I’d say ‘go for it! ‘Think about what you want to achieve first and work back from there!”
St Margaret Mary's, Glasgow
With 82% of pupils falling into Level 1 and 2 on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, many students didn’t have access to suitable, safe bikes and were lacking the skills and confidence to cycle independently. The school wanted students to be able to enjoy the benefits of cycling as part of an active lifestyle and take advantage of world-class facilities, such as the Cathkin Braes mountain bike trails, that sit right on their doorsteps.
In October 2018, the school applied to the Cycling Friendly Secondary Schools fund and was funded £2,750 to purchase new bikes and helmets as well as bike stands and tools that would be used to fix the existing fleet of bikes, getting them working properly for young people to use.
Martin Walker, Principal Teacher of Wider Achievement and fund applicant, says that the new and upgraded bikes have resulted in “a massive increase in the access to bikes”, with 12-16 young people attending the cycling club each week. The school is also linking with the wider community, such as the local youth centre, Go Ride Coaches, and Glasgow Life to promote various cycling opportunities and linking with Bikeability Scotland and GoRide leaders has been integral in getting more students cycling.
The fund is addressing health and social inequalities, as Mr Walker says, “by helping groups of pupils that may not normally have access to after-school sport and physical activity opportunities. There are a number of vulnerable pupils who have benefitted a great deal by coming to the club, in terms of their wellbeing, confidence and fitness. I believe the work we are doing will encourage young people to have the confidence to use outstanding local facilities independently.”
Through the fund, and mentoring support from the Cycling Scotland team, the school has been recognised for its hard work and dedication with the Cycling Friendly Secondary School award.
Martin says of the Cycling Friendly programme: “the fund provides an excellent opportunity to enhance provision for young people in schools to access cycling opportunities. This is backed up by guidance and mentoring to help maximise the effectiveness of the money spent.”
The school now has a long-term vision: aiming for the new equipment and the cycling activities leading to more young people and staff choosing to cycle to school for years to come.
Buckie High School, Moray
Before engaging with Cycling Scotland, cost and logistics of hiring bikes was a major barrier.
Buckie High School, based in rural Moray, has over 700 pupils on the school roll. In 2018, Buckie applied for and received a grant of £3,900 from the Cycling Friendly Secondary Schools development fund to purchase 11 bikes, which has provided a variety of opportunities for the pupils at the school and thanks to the development fund, cycling activities can be offered with little or no cost implications.
The provision of bikes, as well as other measures the school has taken to promote cycling, has clearly had an effect: in the past year, the proportion of pupils cycling to school has more than doubled. Highlighting cycle routes in the area that pupils can access has helped increase pupil’s confidence getting to and from school.
Stefan Wojcik, PE Teacher at the school, describes some of the opportunities that this fund has helped facilitate: “The school now run an SQA cycle award for S4 to S6 pupils and senior core pupils also have the opportunity to cycle during class time. S3 pupils have also used them during activity days, and primary 7s during an organised cycler roadshow during their transition day.”
The barriers of access to bikes and opportunities that previously existed have been addressed by the fund, and a variety of cycling events including a cycle roadshow, Cycle September, girls-only bike rides, SQA courses and led rides for a range of abilities have been possible as a result. Pupils have experienced increasing confidence with Bikeability and Essential Cycling Skills training becoming part of the curriculum. Staff members have also had the opportunity to attend and pass the Cycle Trainer and Cycle Ride Leaders course.
Buckie High School was awarded as a Cycling Friendly School in November 2019, and Stefan describes the impact of the programme as being “at the beginning of a journey, with a lot of exciting opportunities are on the horizon. I personally feel this funding has opened up so many opportunities for pupils and staff this year and can’t thank you enough for all the help.”
Stranraer Academy, Dumfries and Galloway
Stranraer Academy applied to the Cycling Friendly Secondary School development fund in November 2016 and was one of 23 schools successfully funded by Cycling Scotland. The school received a grant for £3,000 to increase the number of pupils and staff cycling to school and embed cycling in the daily life of the school.
Engagement with pupils showed that not all pupils have access to bikes or the skills to maintain them. The school used the funding to purchase bikes that can be used during school activities and loaned to pupils and staff, and part of the grant was used to purchase maintenance equipment and training of staff and pupils.
The bikes are now used daily and the number of young people cycling to school has risen. Each class uses the bikes so there can be up to 30 pupils using them each period, up to eight periods a day. The bikes are also used by teachers for an after-school cycle club and maintenance classes are now offered with teachers and pupils involved. Teaching staff are working towards becoming cycle ride leaders to take pupils out on group rides during PE - and the photo below shows cycling as part of the school's mini triathlon event.
In recognition of their efforts, the school was awarded as a Cycling Friendly Secondary School in June 2017.
Looking forward to the future, Stranraer Academy is looking to increase their fleet of bikes so that whole classes will be able to cycle together and, with cycle leaders, use the bikes more widely. There are also plans to engage with local primary schools and housing associations.
Cathkin High School, South Lanarkshire
With support from Cycling Scotland, Cathkin High School in South Lanarkshire has taken steps to ensure access to bikes for its pupils, passing along important skills along the way.
The school's Health and Wellbeing Faculty Head, Susan Lafferty shared that, “about three years ago, we took a group of pupils out to Millport as part of an annual rewards day. There was quite a bit of interest and we had great fun cycling around the island. But it sparked a thought, why can’t we do this more often?”
Eager to give pupils a more regular opportunity to get hands on with cycling, Cathkin High applied in conjunction with nearby Rutherglen High School for Cycling Scotland support to acquire bikes, new cycle storage, and bike maintenance facilities on campus.
With 25 new bikes and a brand new storage unit - with bespoke wooden racks designed and installed by the school's own Technologies department staff - the school's relationship with cycling has been transformed. Five feeder primary schools in the local area have also been able to benefit from access to Cathkin High's bikes to facilitate Bikeability Scotland training sessions run by parent volunteers.
Shortly after receiving the bikes, a group of pupils from Cathkin High became the first in South Lanarkshire to achieve Bikeability Scotland Level 3. Pupils are also encouraged to help maintain the fleet of bikes as part of an SQA maintenance programme, helping embed even more skills and confidence to take forward in life.
The school expects its recent investment in cycling will continue to grow, with plans to expand activities to allow more pupils to take part and encourage students to make this life skill a part of their day-to-day lives.