Bardsey pupils awarded for encouraging people to get on their bikes

Pupils from Bardsey Primary School have been presented with a special prize for coming top in this year’s Leeds City Council Bike Week competition.

Budding journalists from schools across Leeds were invited to submit articles or blogs describing how their school promotes cycling and how they encourage pupils to cycle to school.

The winning entry from Bardsey Primary was an excellent presentation which involved contributions from the whole of year 6. It included exciting descriptions of all the bike friendly activities which the school have been involved in this year including; a display of mountain bike skills by champion pupils, T shirt and bike design activities, Bikeability training and creating a piece of land art for the Tour de Yorkshire. The school also introduced a reward good behaviour by allowing their pupils to scoot and cycle for an hour in golden time.

The school organised for the road outside the school to be closed in May so that they could hold their own “Tour de Bardsey” which saw the whole school get on their bikes and take part in uphill cycle races.

As the winning school, Bardsey received a prize of £200 in vouchers to spend on bikes or cycling accessories and the year 6 pupils were treated to a morning of fun cycling activities provided by the council’s Influencing Travel Behaviour Team. The runner up prize of £100 of vouchers went to Westgate Primary in Otley.

Councillor Richard Lewis executive member for regeneration, transport and planning said:

“We were very impressed by the quality of entries from all of the schools, especially the excellent presentation by Bardsey Primary. Competitions like this help children really think about the benefits of cycling for everyone and encourage even more people to give it a try.”

Councillor Lisa Mulherin, executive member for children and families, said:

“Leeds, as a city, has really embraced cycling over recent years, with massive support being shown for events like Tour de Yorkshire and the Grand Depart. We want to instil in our children the importance of cycling for a healthy and active lifestyle as well as creating a more pleasant environment for them, and future generations to grow up in.”