Cycling Proficiency 'Test' - WHY????

[captainmummy]

DS2's junior school sent a letter out recently with a form to join a 'cycling proficiency course' - 1.5 hours a day for a week, followed by an 'assessment'. DS2 is not a confident cyclist (or confident at all, really) and I really thought it would be good for him, that he would be a better cyclist if he knew some of the rules of the road. So I paid £15 for the course.

I didn't realise that the 'assessment' actually consisted of a 'test', which he could 'pass' or 'fail'. Of course he failed, didn't he. He apparently wasn't listening and got to a junction in the left hand lane when he'd been told to turn right. (so an assessment of his 'listening' rather than cycling?) and did a few other minor 'wrong' things. The group were called up individually to be told 'pass' or 'fail' and the reasons why - in front of the rest of the group. He was one of 3 (out of about 14) to fail, and when they were dismissed he went off to get his stuff and some of the girls came to tell me that he was crying and how sorry they felt for him - how humiliating is that for him? Anyway, he know feels that he can't ride his bike, as he has failed the test!.

My point is - what's the point of the test at all? I'm still glad he did the course, but if he hadn't done it he would still be 'allowed' out on his bike!

Captainmummy - I have accidentally found this blog and I am shocked by your points. I am a qualified Cycling Proficiency Teacher and an Examiner. The reason why there is a 'Test' is to see how your child performs under pressure. This is a GOOD THING because the roads are so dangerous and if your child is forgetting to do their looks, signals and road positioning then your child SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED on the road because they are UNSAFE and doing a TEST you can see on a ?one to one? if they remember. You as a parent make sure your child walks correctly on the road as you have mentioned ? so why don?t you as a parent make sure your child is SAFE on the road when cycling. It?s unfortunately that parents like you blame Teachers and Examiners for your own failings as a parent to give the first principal of safety to your child.

I am not the perfect parent however, my children have always been taught to wear their helmets, look, signal and do their road positioning since they were little to make sure they were safe and BEFORE I did this all before I because a teacher in cycling.

You don?t have to be a previous cyclist to know how to look, signal and maneuver it teaches you that in your driving lessons and then you are tested under pressure in a DRIVING TEST, so as a driver you should know this and if you cant drive a vehicle, there is nothing stopping you learning how to do it from a arrive alive booklet.

Hey back off a bit CyclingTesterMum.

It is a bit much to say that she is blaming anyone or that she is failing as a parent.

As far as I can see she just feels that the test/assessment could have been handled a bit more gently. I personally disagree and don't think it hurts kids to fail but I think YOUR comments step over the line into out and out rudeness.

Geez, talk about uncalled for!

Hi Morloth - trust me - I am not out of line - I see parents blaming the examiner for their child not getting their cycling badges the first time and I know that I tell the parents that the child is not good enough to have the confident to be told ?you are ok to ride on your own on the road because you are now safe? when they are not ? However, if some parents take more time out with their children on the road then they would see how dangerous the roads are and how unsafe their child really is. I personally see how scared children are on the road when I teach especially when a car approaches them - it is not a laughing matter when the child panics ? and that is from a lesson and not from a test!!!

(As far as I am aware) the children are always told in groups whether they have reached the grade or not to receive their badge. It is sad though, that children do sometimes cry when they have been told they have not reached the grade and I always find that upsetting. Schools do not allocate the space and time for children to be called away one by one to be told their results. (I have actually tried this at a couple of schools - however, as soon as the child reaches back to the classroom the other children asked whether they passed or failed anyway and they still cried). There is a county that does post the results back to the school and the children cry there as well. So I don?t think you can win either way.

This:

for your own failings as a parent

is still out of line and way past the point of rude IMO.

At my DC's primary the DC are not allowed to cycle to school without an adult unless they have passed their CP test.
One boy was thrown off the course for not listening and being dangerous and his mum kicked up a huge fuss, but thankfully she didn't get anywhere with it.
Just tell your OP to try harder next time and not to give up, hopefully he has learnt a lesson from it.

Hi - Morloth

for your own failings as a parent

I said this because capainmummy stated that 'My point is - what's the point of the test at all? I'm still glad he did the course, but if he hadn't done it he would still be 'allowed' out on his bike!'

What good parent would ?allow? their child to ride on the road when they have no idea if their child is safe on the road or not ? Then to say what?s the point of a test when you have an expert who will tell you that your child is not safe enough on the road ? and your mum still thinks ?its ok ? you failed but you are still allowed on the road with no additional training!!!?

To me that is a 'failing as a parent' to allow your child to ride their bike and not to know if your child is safe on the road. The roads can be dangerous if you do not know what you are doing ? as unfortunately deaths of cyclist have proven.

You might do a better job of persuading people if you weren't so forceful, though, CTM. Making sweeping criticisms of someone's parenting based on a few comments on a web board is rather unfair.

edam - i understand what you say but i hear that sort of comments so often from parents who say they are so responsible - but parents dont realise how dangerous the roads are for a child cyclist - and i do see parents riding with their children to school and their children are wearing their helmets because it is the school policy, however, the parents are not - and most of the time the answer is - im old enough to know what im doing - although this is true - but, also true, children copy their parents - and what happens - out of school - the kids dont wear their helmets because they copy their parents and they dont have to - its so sad but true - i also now know someone who has injuried themself so badly from an accident because they did not wear a helmet - that they will never walk or speak properly ever again and he was 10 at the time of the accident and he hit a tree.

Yeah, I had concussion from a nasty bike accident when I was 14 (am so old it was in the days before helmets). So I appreciate how important it is. But you'd do more to persuade people if you pulled your punches slightly.

My dd won't be taking the cycling proficiency test as her disability does not allow her to do so, but she does sign up for swimming proficiency tests every summer and if she can't do whatever is required, then she fails. I thought that was the point of any test/badge etc. That you get them when you fulfil the criteria. If you fail, you have to work harder and retake them.

Dd knows that there are lots of water related activities she will only be allowed to do when she can pass the tests. I'd feel the same about cycling if that was on the cards. It's about her safety.

(btw dh had to try 4 times for his driving test. But I feel very safe being driven by him now)

edam ? glad to hear that your accident didn?t have any permanent damage - persuade people - yes you are right - I should be really nice and sweet and remember my p's & q's when writing or talking to people but I guarantee no one will take any notice - I have said nothing in this blog that I have not said to parents or children in person and some listen and some don?t. I think ? I have strong feelings on this because when I teach on the road - I see how stupid (and yes stupid) some drivers are - and I have to jump in front of cars to stop them driving dangerously towards the children. Now children and Instructors are in Yellow bright tabards and we have cycling signs ? and I still get stupid drivers. This week in a 2 hour lesson ? I have 6 dangerous drivers that I had to jump in front of their vehicle and stop them from hitting the cyclist ? so if parents could see that ? they would have different attitudes to the road like I do now, (and so does a Head Teacher who didn?t realize how bad an estate road was until I showed her).

I wonder if those 6 dangerous drivers would have behaviour like that if the child cyclist was on their own with no supervision or tabards ? it?s made me wonder ? that?s why their safety is so dear to my heart that it annoys me when parents don?t realize how scary it can be.

CTN - thanks dor your points, tho I DO take exception to your idea that I am a bad parent because I am questioning the style of this test and course. I did say that I think he is a better cyclist for having done the course, and I think that EVERYONE should take some sort of course beofre they are allowed on the road. BUT not everyone does. I said before that my DS1 (15) is allowed out on his bike - he didn't do the course or the test, It wasn't available to him at his schoool. I bet there is only a small percentage of cyclists out there who have done the course or test.
My ENTIRE point is that I dont; understand WHY there has to be a TEST!!! He is still allowed out on his bike, pass or fail. AND then CTM you wuldn;t have to concern yourself with how a child reacts to having failed....I am sure your 'sympathetic' nature would welcome that.
And it makes me laugh when schools say that a child 'cannot' cycle to school unless they have passed the CO test - how the hell are they going to enforse that? OK they usually have cycle-points where you can leave the bike, allocated by the school, but if you leave the bike in town, or mum takes it back home? WHat are they going to do?

CORY - a swimming 'badge' is a totally different thing - my ds's all swim, and the badges they get are an indication of how far they have come. it's not a 'test'. They get the badges when they can do something, not a fail when they can't.

Swimming badges are a test, which can be failed. I failed one when I was younger because I was having a bad day and I couldn't get the brick off the bottom. I passed it a few weeks later.I have seen children fail because they couldn't swim far enough underwater. My son nearly failed his because he didn't listen to the teacher and changed strokes when he shouldn't have.

You now know your son is not safe on his bike, therefore needs extra help.
As to my children's school banning children who have not taken their cycling proficiency. Parents have to sign a form allowing their child to ride to school by themselves otherwise a parent has to accompany them and in that case take the bike home with them.

Even my son's secondary school asked us to sign a form for him to cycle to school and leave his bike in the bike shed. He has passed his cycling proficiency but he only cycles to the station.

The point of these forms are to make parents think twice about how safe their child are on their bikes.

you are lucky you have these courses in your area

Hi Captainmummy

The reason why some schools do not allow children to ride their bikes to school unless they have passed the Cycling Proficiency course is because when a child leaves home (some counties and parents) assume that the responsibility for their child is then the responsibility of the school. Therefore, if a school allows a child to ride to school they have to make sure they are upto road standard safety. This is because unfortunately if something happened to the child (bad or fatal) the school would have to take into account their actions on allowing children to ride to school and they can be called liable.

You will be amazed at some schools allowing children to ride to school from the age of 5 and then take their Cycling Proficiency in Year 6 only ? daft.

There are some secondary schools that does not allow children to ride their bikes to school unless they bring in their cycling certificate to prove they are safer cyclist.

You are correct that your child is a safer cyclist now he has been on the course. What he has learnt new will stay with him for ever, whether he realizes it or not. But for the time being his concentration and confident made be questionable still (I have seen children doing wrong turnings on a test ? however, their concentration on that turn may on be part of the problem. Sometimes they do a wrong turn because of nerves ? sometimes their road positioning is incorrect and then turn in the wrong direction. However, any test is not pass or fail on one turn alone. If your child does 3 out of the 4 turns perfect then they can pass ? or the examiner may ask them to repeat the turn and if they get it correct then they will pass. The whole test is taken into account.)

There are lots of schools that don?t do cycling at all ? however, there are lots and lots external courses that have been around for years (mainly at Leisure Centre?s) for children and adults to do intense courses to be safer cyclists.

Unfortunately in this country, Pedal cycling and Motorbikes under 50cc are allowed on the roads with no training at all ? this is scary ? and this is why there are so many accidents around of young children.

If your 15 has never been on a Cycle Proficiency course ? then please urge him to find one because I guarantee that he will benefit from it. In the years I have been teaching I have never met a child that could ride the road in a complete safe manner (there are children that were good and some very good but not road safe) ? however, after the course and one on one test ? I can now say there are lots of safer cyclists.

I agree that ds2 is a better cyclist for having done the course - I just take exception to the fact that he 'failed' in a test that is completely optional, and was given the results in such a way as to knock any confidence on his bike out of him. I have received a reply from the council that runs these courses, and the gist of it is that it is a new course. The old system was just the course, i think, no test, which I think would be just as good if not better. This is not becuase I think my child should never fail, but because it was an unnecessary fail. They suggested that he retake, but why should he? I think he is OK on the road, and they can't stop me allowing him out. It's like the swimming - ok you might not be able to get the brick off the bottom, but it doesn;t mean that you can't go swimming!
The idea that the school is liable from the time the child leaves home is, frankly, laughable. I think any school would argue (rightly) that the child is in the responsibilty of the parent until that child is on school grounds. After all, that child might just as easily be run-over, or stabbed, or fall off a scooter, or hit by a meteor. How on earth would these be the schools fault? Ridiculous.

I think when it comes to ds3 doing a cycyling prof. course (and let's not forget, this was voluntary!!!) I would def. think twice, and maybe look for a course that didn't 'test' them, I'd rather pay for one that taught them.

Hi Captainmummy

Can I ask - was the course that he done called "bikeability" and what that means - he and the instructors cycle to different t-junctions - because nationally this is the new cycling course that we are all heading towards to do. Because that has a test too.

I do understand where you are coming from that you think it is unnecessary for a test - but the tests (honestly) gives the child a little more pressure - because the roads are dangerous - if they feel under pressure from a test that is a good thing (honestly) ? then when a car comes towards them in a dangerous manner - they are able to cope better because they know what it feels like to be under pressure and they will not panic so much. However, it was unfortunate that your child cried but that does happen. I don?t know how harsh your child was spoken to by the examiner and I hope that they were not severe because if it was it?s out of order ? however, I tell children one to one in the nicest possible way ? I don?t tell them that they have failed (never) I tell them that they need extra time on the course and they will get there ? and always when they come back for their retake they have ALL passed with flying colours and are definitely more confidence and that?s with a 2nd test. However, some do still cry (but that child could cry for not getting a part in a play). However, while doing this blog I found another blog on Mumsnet and was horrified to find a child had failed a written cycling test and passed the practical and that I have never heard of before and that is definitely out of order.

There are some parents that do blame schools (it?s unfortunately true ? I?ve been a parent governor and I was amazed at what some parents expected the school to do before the child arrived at school). Also I do know of a school that had to stop cycling altogether because of it.

The only way you are really going to know if your child is a safe and a good cyclist ? is by watching him at various t-junctions. So watch to see if he remembers his ? safe starts (3 looks), safe stops (1 look) , minor to major turning left (3 looks) , major to minor turning right (min 3 looks including lifesaver look) and then finally minor road to major turning right (5 looks) and that his road positioning is correct and all signals in the correct locations. (Also don?t know if he has been told this but make sure he ALWAYS put his back brake on before his front brake ? this will stop him from going over the handlebars in an emergency) ? Good luck and please try and get your child to do the retake with the test ? he will definitely be pleased that he did it and will be really proud of himself that he did it ? maybe not today but one day he will in the future.

Just smiling - my daughter was the only one who failed the cycle profiency test at primary school and we were shocked. I can reassure you that this is not the end of the world - she went on to pass her driving test at 17, got 5 unconditionals for uni and is a pretty amazing all rounder !

My dd didn't take her cycling test at school and never cycled to school. Whilst at secondary school she was cycling around 100 miles on roads per week and both her bike handling and road sense were and still are very good.

I think sometimes the dc need more bike handling skills first before even learning how to cycle on a road. Once they are confident at the former then introduce the latter.

So many children out on bikes don't even have their helmets o correctly they will be lucky not to break their neck on an accidental fall

I had to pass my cycling proficiency before my parents let me cycle to school alone. I too failed first time and was devastated. I didn't do the "emergency stop" right. I crashed into everyone else. Ah well.

I don't think it's a huge deal. It's OK for a 10yo to learn that there are some things, eg when whether you live or die depends on you paying attention, where it's OK for there to be a minimum acceptable standard and you can pass or fail and not get a certificate for doing the best you can.

I passed second time around after a second course of lessons having learned that sometimes you really do need to pay attention when someone is trying to teach you something.

This is an eight year old thread! What is it with people reanimating zombie threads today?

And I imagine the OP's child doesn't have an issue with passing the cycling proficiency test anymore