Image: Sustrans
Staff from seven different schools in North Wales recently had the opportunity to take part in a training session on bike maintenance skills.
The session was put on through Sustrans’ Active Journeys programme, funded by the Welsh Government. It was run with the support of Beics Antur, a social enterprise based in Caernarfon.
The aim of the session was to teach staff from the different schools different practical skills in terms of assessing and fixing basic problems, so that they could then pass that knowledge onto their students.
A teacher from Ysgol Cymerau, who attended the session, said: “In school, as we encourage the children to bring their bikes, very often we get kids arriving asking for help, for example with something wrong with their brakes and us not feeling confident enough to do anything with the wires.
By sharing and developing basic skills – such as correct use of equipment, how to check a bike before riding it, knowing how to clean and maintain the different components of a bike – the staff can now share this useful information with their pupils, with the parents and carers of the children and young people that attend the school, as well as other people in their communities.
The teacher added: “We have 20 school bikes, bike maintenance for that many can be expensive, but by following the training, I now feel confident enough to go at it with working on gears, tightening or slackening brakes, and fixing punctures.”
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