A school is introducing bike number plates...

comments.. where....
on the article ?

scurries back to look again....

I like it when they start by saying "I own a bike and I think its ok." Like they are now an expert.

On the BBC site

bike piles :)

Ouch.....

A short step up from saddle sores. Be careful out there folks

Worryingly, the real nonsense is found when you order by 'Highest Rated'.

The actual entirety of the complaints seems to be:

wheelies

clipped wing mirrors.

That's it. No actual injuries or damage.

The kids should stuff roman candles down their bars and re-enact Pearl Harbour with whistling rockets.

#cyclingtoschoolinthe80's.

is this actually legal?

Many schools enforce things such as uniform for the journey to and from and seem to the think that is legal, this isn't very different to that. There is usually some kind of home/school agreement which students and parents are required to sign up to which would cover this kind of rule.

Clearly the problem here is not having a bell.

The school needs to not have a bell as the headmaster!

I suspect that this wouldn't be enforceable in any way. If your child is not in the care of the school at any moment, I very much doubt that they can dictate what they wear.

Christ

1 Attachment

safeguarding should be every school's number one priority

If they gave a fuck about that then all schools would get rid of ways to identify the kids, both as individuals and as members of a particular school, as soon as they are clear of the gates.

The Jewish school that has 3 layers of security between the street and the classrooms but then puts the kids in distinctive uniform when they are most vulnerable on the journey on their own confuses me greatly.

He must be a joy to live next to. He should really move to West Sussex and join the Stop Velo South action group...

Goodness me, why did the Beeb open up comments on this? Presumably thinking (correctly) that the mouth-breathers would pile in with their usual drivel and bump up the website hits or whatever. I need to go and read the Guardian's 'Upside' (recommended for positive news stories) or something similar to balance out the negativity.

I did the test a little more than 40 years ago, and the one thing that stuck with me was "holidng this badge up at a lorry bearing down on you will not stop it hitting you" which was a decent lesson. I do remember loving the course and was very keen that my children did it. Some schools are very risk averse and interfere-y about how children travel to school. We allowed our two to travel to primary school together without us (about a mile's walk away, or half a mile and a bus). We thought (and think) that this was a decent way to teach some independence but many teachers and indeed other parents sought to dissuade us. Proper cross I was.

If a school implements a policy like this it's very hard for a single student/parent to fight against it. Maybe it isn't legal but taking the school to court will cost silly money and take years, meanwhile the kid has a problem day to day.

Comments are such an evil pull. You know you shouldn't, but then get drawn in, and then...gaargh!

It's clear to me what's going on here. The heads a PR GENIUS. An otherwise under tge radar school is now going to be on the 6 o clock news tonight and again at 10. He'll be interviewed on BBC and ITV Breakfast show and his school will become super popular amongst parents choosing the safe, caring option. Head teachers career will take off. Eventually he'll be an Ofsted inspector, then a dep of ed policy maker and then prime minister. God save us.

So pupil A nicks pupil B's label (or forges it) and rides like a cunt & gets reported. Pupil B gets punished and their parents go apeshit at the school (rightly so) for punishing their little angel for something unprovable that happened outside school. Then loads of the little shits follow suit, copying pupil A...
=> this either ends up with scrapped policy or the school says all pupils can no longer ride to school. Fucking A.

Agree with you ^ @MetalMelly - it's all PR bollocks from a headteacher desperate to make a name for themselves (my kids' headteacher is the same, headline-grabbing type and she's a smug arsehole to boot).

Yes, I'm just wondering if all that needs to be tested in court sometime.

Something to counter this bit of shithead-ery.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45639136

^ one letter away from being a wonderful name.

this was in the news (though not as prominently) a few months ago. Why's it resurfaced?
... also I got 93% in my cycling proficiency test, circa 1972

Puky! My three's bikes from 2017

two Pukies and an Ilsabike

1 Attachment

It's also often only an aversion to new risks so with travel to/from school the risks created with car use often are maintained while risks associated with the prospect of students cycling are challenged with much greater scrutiny.

I know a school that during the 00s built a flight of steps in an entrance redesign to make it more difficult for a parent cycling a child in with her recumbent and a child seat. After seeing that I kinda accepted that some schools will do anything to discourage cycling.

The biggest harm of this is not so much the day in and day out cyclists but fair weather cyclists and kids+parents who for a few days over the summer might cycle but won't as it's too much faff dealing with the school for just the odd ride. It can be very damaging as those odd rides are what can turn into habits after they experience how short/easy the cycle can be.