L3 Bikeability & Alternative Curriculum opportunities for KS3 & 4 learners

What if there was a way we could support better physical and mental well-being for young people (11-16) whilst engaging them in education?

Breaking Cycles CIC work with a wide range of people to support better wellbeing and access to education, training, and employment. This draws upon expertise in education, cycle training and therapeutic work. Working with the Bikeability Trust is an important part of our work.

We are working with the Bikeability Trust on a project to widen participation in L3 Bikeability training. L3 is mainly delivered through secondary schools and we are offering training in a wider range of settings as well as supporting schools with linking the training into curriculum offers.

This means that we are able to offer L3 Bikeability training, a range of alternative curriculum resources that link cycle training to the curriculum and CPD training on how to deliver these units. This work has been funded by the Bikeability Trust, so your budget is safe!

As a former SEND/SEMH teacher, who is passionate about cycling, I would like to see cycling feature prominently in the national curriculum. Riding bikes can teach us a lot of lessons as well as improving our emotional, physical and economic wellbeing. As we ride, we are discovering our local geography, predicting patterns in the weather, solving problems in real time. If we become more enthusiastic, we learn about; the history of cycling, engineering, sport and competition, environmental issues, nutrition, textiles (mainly lycra!), computing and more…

I believe that we can use L3 Bikeability training, and the resources we create throughout this project, to enhance the learning experience for a wide range of young people. We aim to create resources that could inform a ‘Cycling Special Week’, an alternative curriculum course that sits alongside traditional lessons or a methodology that could be used to support re-engagement with education or prevent exclusion.

Our project involves:

- Provision of L3 training in your setting.

- Creating alternative curriculum resources, plans and assessment materials that wrap around L3 Bikeability training.

- Working with information, provided by educators, to create certificated unit awards (AQA unit award scheme) that recognise the learning that has taken place.

- Providing on-line CPD training which supports educators with the delivery of the resources we create.

The more educators, and professionals who work with young people, who engage with this process, the better its outcome will be. To be a part of creating something that could be transformational, all you need to do is contribute to a 60-minute consultation. The information we gather will then inform the production of something that will benefit you and the young people you work with.

The majority of the training we provide will take place in Pendle, the Ribble Valley and surrounding areas but we are able to consider working with settings in a wider area including most of Lancashire, parts of Yorkshire and parts of Greater Manchester.

Your setting does not need to receive your L3 training directly from us to participate in other aspects of this project. If we are not able to reach you, we are in a position to signpost your local provider via the Bikeability Trust.

On-line CPD sessions will be provided in September 2023 and will cover:

- Subject knowledge relating to each individual unit

- Practicalities, such as gathering concrete resources

- A brief overview of how to deliver and assess as part of the AQA unit award scheme

- Time for setting specific questions and considerations

Our digital and printable resources, lesson plans and assessment materials will be made available at BreakingCyclesCIC.org once all of the units have been approved by AQA.

Our next step is to speak with as many educators as we can and make sure that we create resources that meet a wide range of needs.

Please book onto one of the three sessions here and feel free to email Phil@BreakingCyclesCIC.org if you have any queries…