Dear Parents and Carers
We are proud that so many of our students choose to cycle to school each day. It’s healthy, it minimises traffic on our congested roads and it makes use of the cycle paths throughout the town. I am told that there are very few schools nationally with as many students choosing to cycle and we try to support this. We have plenty of spaces for students to lock up their bikes and we often feature safety to and from school in our assemblies. I would, however, ask for your support with delivering a couple of key messages.
The first is earphones. We have a rule on earphones at school: students must keep them in their bags, in fact we stop students at the gate to ask them to remove them. Worryingly, there are students who cycle to school with one or both earphones in. They are robbing themselves of their hearing and are therefore far more vulnerable to accidents.
The second message is awareness. The cycle lanes are narrow and the paths crowded. As students approach the school, quite a lot of the pedestrians are small children on their way to Coten End as well as our own students. In most cases, our cyclists are considerate and keep to the cycle lanes but there are exceptions. There are also students who don’t pay enough attention at junctions and sometimes cause cars to stop suddenly.
In both cases, please discuss with your child how they conduct themselves on their bikes. Most are great, but a few are increasing the risk of injuring themselves or somebody else. And I would be grateful if, in the same conversation, you could make sure they wear a cycle helmet.
Thank you for your support.
Andy Perry
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