After reaching out to their local Active Journeys Officer, school staff at Ysgol Cymerau in Pwllheli took part in a cycling training session. They first learned from professionals before teaching basic bicycle maintenance and cycling skills to a group of pupils that couldn鈥檛 cycle before.
Pupils from Ysgol Cymerau in Pwllheli learned how to ride 澳彩论坛s after taking part in the session with 澳彩论坛 and school staff.
Through the Welsh Government-funded Active Journeys Programme, schools across Wales can register to get support in building the confidence and skills of their pupils where active travel is concerned.
Earlier this year, Ysgol Cymerau in Pwllheli worked with 澳彩论坛 Cymru to help facilitate a cycling training session.
A number of the school鈥檚 pupils either couldn鈥檛 ride a 澳彩论坛 or had never been on one before.
Thanks to some collaborative working between the school and the Active Journeys Programme, that would soon change.
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Identifying a gap for developing skills and knowledge
Ruth is a new volunteer for 澳彩论坛, who has been working with Debbie, our Active Journeys Officer in northwest Wales, over the past few months.
Ruth was on-hand to help take part in the delivery of some 澳彩论坛 training sessions, facilitated by the school鈥檚 active travel champion, Janet.
After covering off the basics around equipment and maintenance, the group 鈥 made up of classroom assistants, teachers, Ruth, and two of 澳彩论坛鈥 Active Journeys Officers 鈥 moved onto some techniques on how to teach children to ride.
Once they鈥檇 received that training from , the group then went about passing on their new knowledge to the pupils.
Their learners ranged from 7 to 11 years old, with children that couldn鈥檛 ride a 澳彩论坛, some never having been on one before.
Empowering children to learn new skills and build confidence
Within an hour or so, most of the pupils were able to ride around by themselves, pedalling around the yard.
鈥淚t was amazing for me to be able to help some of these children to gain the confidence to handle the 澳彩论坛s and learn to scoot, then push off, and then to ride,鈥 said Ruth about the experience.
鈥淚 gain much pleasure from cycling and enjoy passing this on to our younger generations.鈥
The feedback from the pupils were as amazing as the results of the session.
鈥淚鈥檓 so happy that I鈥檝e learned to ride a 澳彩论坛 by myself, it was something I wanted to do for years; my friends all could, but I couldn鈥檛,鈥 said one pupil.
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Changing the lives of pupils in Wales
One of the major success stories was a pupil who had previously attended cycling training sessions but hadn鈥檛 had any joy with it.
鈥淚 never thought that she was ever going to learn to ride a 澳彩论坛,鈥 Ms Rivers, the pupil鈥檚 parent explained.
鈥淲e鈥檝e tried over and over these past years to no avail, but after an hour鈥檚 session with 澳彩论坛鈥 Active Journeys Officers and volunteer, she succeeded to independently ride a 澳彩论坛 around the school yard.
鈥淪ince the session, she rode her 澳彩论坛 to school and took part in the 鈥楤ws Beic鈥 which was organized by the school staff.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just brilliant how quickly she鈥檚 caught on and is so enthusiastic now about riding her 澳彩论坛 鈥 I鈥檓 so proud of her.鈥
