With so many fantastic trails on our doorstep, it is time to get our mountain bikes out and reintroduce our students to an important element of our #PEwithaDifference programme. Mountain biking comes with an element of risk. Whilst we have taken steps to reduce these, there is still a chance of injury, such as your child falling from their bike and suffering from knocks, bruises, cuts and possibly more severe injuries. In advance of students riding, our Head of PE, Mr Coates, shares our Summary of FHS Risk Assessment and Guidelines for Mountain Biking and COVID-19 Update.
What safety measures do we have in place?
Firstly, all bikes are checked pre ride by a member of staff who has been trained through the MIAS bike maintenance course.
Staff are qualified level 2 MIAS instructors, this allows a ratio of 8 pupils to 1 Staff member. (under current guidelines there is a limit of 6 participants per group)
Routes are planned to the ability level of the group.
ALL PUPILS must wear a helmet – provided by school (you may use your own)
Recommendations
Gloves, knee pads, elbow pads. It is recommended that pupil’s have their own as there is a limited amount of these items at school.
Clothing must be appropriate to the conditions. It is often better to have one layer too many and remove this if they warm up.
During the winter months, long armed clothing is recommended, possibly a light outer coat. Also leggings, as long as these are not loose so that they can become caught in the chain causing a fall.
Each bike has a bottle cage fitted, which will fit most standard water bottles. Pupils can bring their own water bottles to use.
Most local bike shops stock the necessary equipment or online shops such as Chain Reaction Cycles have a large stock of items.
Should you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me. We are very pleased that it is time to get our mountain bikes out again!
COVID-19
- In addition to our normal riding procedure, we will limit groups to 6, which includes the member of staff.
- After each ride the bikes will be disinfected (grips, shifters and saddle).
- Helmets will be disinfected after each ride.
- Soft fabrics such as gloves or knee/elbow will be appropriately washed
Marcus Coates, Head of PE