Road safety and school travel: cycling
Hertfordshire Cycling
Hertfordshire Cycling is the team that manage and run all cycling activity for Hertfordshire County Council. We deliver services from schools-based cycle training to mapping and route planning while helping residents achieve their cycling goals.
We also support initiatives such as Modeshift STARS, the Big Pedal and cycle to school week.
Our aim is to get more people cycling, more often and more safely across the county.
Bikeability and all other training enquiries: cycle.training@hertfordshire.gov.uk
General cycling enquires: cycling@hertfordshire.gov.uk
Training
Level 1 only - skills course – L1CT
Year 3 & 4 (7 – 9 years old)
Consists of two 2-hour sessions usually on consecutive days with an ideal maximum of 12 children, which could be extended to 16 (minimum number 10). There will a cycle check and a series of skills exercises on the playground with integrated theory based on the highway code for young road users. Successful participants will receive a level 1 skills certificate, badge and information booklet.
£15.00 per pupil (not covered by grant funding).
Level 2 (includes Level 1) basic road course – L2CT
Year 5 and above (10 years old by 31st August)
Consists of 5 sessions on consecutive days with an ideal maximum of 12 children, which could be extended to 16 (minimum 10). Firstly a 2-hour session including cycle check and assessment of level 1 skills on playground; then four 75 minute sessions at local road junctions. Children should already be able to ride to level 1 standard.
Successful participants will receive a level 2 on road certificate, badge and information booklet along with a map for cycling across Hertfordshire.
Cost is £25.00 per pupil (normally £50, includes £25 grant funding)
Skills course as for year 3 & 4(Only offered to years 5 / 6 if it is not possible to deliver a Level 2 basic road course)
Level 3 - advanced on-road course – L3CT
Year 6 and above (11 years old by 31st August)
Aimed at children transferring to secondary school to encourage cycling to school.
Several sessions over consecutive days / during a school week. Children normally taken out in threes with one instructor so ideal minimum of at least 6.
Course contents may vary depending upon local roads and traffic features.
- session 1 - cycle check, assessment of road riding ability and dealing with local traffic situations, hazard perception
- session 2 - roundabouts, traffic lights
- session 3 - discussing and riding personal routes to school.
Successful participants will receive a level 3 certificate, badge and information booklet along with a map for cycling across Hertfordshire.
Cost is £25.00 per pupil (normally £50, includes £25 grant funding).
Courses for younger pupils
Beginner Biking - BB
Reception to Year 2 (3 – 6 years old)
- Beginner Biking course is one session
- each session is 1 hour long will be for up to 8 child / carer pairs
- stabilisers should be removed from children's bikes before the start of the course
- parents / carers must understand that they are there to help their child to learn to ride
This course requires a hard-standing area such as a playground or tennis court without nets.
Cost is £60 per hour - this covers 8 parent and child pairs.
Fun Skills - FSK
Year 1 to Year 3 (5 – 7 years old)
- fun Skills course is a one-hour session for up to 16 children who can cycle unaided
- this uses skills-based games to improve the children’s cycling skills
This course requires a hard-standing area such as a playground or tennis court without nets.
Cost is £60 per hour – this covers up to 16 children taking part.
Option 2
By having their own instructors, schools can offer cycle training to their pupils at convenient times and at no additional cost. This would suit small schools who do not have the minimum number of pupils required for a paid course, and also schools where payment for extra activities may deter pupils from taking part.
We recommend that schools have two qualified instructors.
School instructors must be competent cyclists. They will have to attend a 4-day training course before running their own course for children at their school where their delivery will be officially mentored and there after monitored.
The cost of training is £1250 per person under the new standards. The Hertfordshire Cycling team use grant funding to reduce the cost by £500 of the training cost. The training is to an AS level standard and will require between 5 – 10 additional days post training course to complete the required modules.
Please email to check availability as it is very limited.
Other courses available
The team also offer courses through the various cycle hubs during holiday breaks where children can attend if they have missed training in their school or wish to retake training. These cycle hubs are located in Hemel Hempstead, Hertford, Leavesden, Stevenage and Watford. These courses are charged per child at the same rate as for schools.
Our partnership with the Herts Disability Sports Foundation has allowed us to offer school holiday training courses for those with SEND / medical requirements that could restrict them taking part in courses with their peers. For more information and dates for these courses please visit:
Herts Disability Sports Foundation
We also offer one to one training for those that wish to learn to ride, retake training or expand their skills. This is available for all ages and can be requested by emailing the team or via the follow link:
Hertfordshire County Council: Cycle training - one to ones, pairs and small groups
One to one training standardly costs around £25 per session, lasting between one and a half hours. Please note that costs can vary between instructors.
Further information on cycling can be found at www.hertscycling.com or on all social media channels via @hertscycling