Cycling Proficiency Award, 1980

The following report appeared in the Royston Crow on 13th June 1980:
It is thanks largely to a couple of ‘mums’ that Meldreth schoolchildren are becoming more and more conscious of cycle safety.

And on Friday ten children from the village Primary School received their Cycling Proficiency badges and certificates from County Councillor Percy Powles.

All the children of the school listened to Oliver Garvey, Senior Assistant, County Road Safety Office for Cambridgeshire, praise the children for passing their awards, and particularly the two mothers – Mrs Carole Pye and Mrs Madeleine Dennis.
“Without volunteers such as Mrs Pye and Mrs Dennis it is impossible to give the correct instruction to all the children,” Mr Garvey told the Crow.

“But the thing we should be even more proud of is that all ten of the children who took the course passed.  This really does reflect the high standard of instruction,” he said.

“But the thing we really do want to stress is that this certificate is only the minimum safe standard requirement, it is not a licence for the children to go out on the road and do what they want.  It is now up to the parents to exercise parental control before letting their children go too far,” stressed Mr Garvey.

Mrs Pye and Mrs Dennis have both attended intensive training courses in order to prepare the children for their test which includes practical riding on the road, theory work based on the Highway Code and a Safe Cycling Book and ensuring their cycles are in good condition.

“It is a very satisfying feeling to know that the help we are giving the children makes them so much more aware of road safety when they are on theeir bikes and that they are much more aware of everything,” said Mrs Pye.

Ron Harding, headmaster of the school, said it is even more important that children living in Meldreth are made aware of the importance of cycle safety as when they leave the Primary School, most of them go to Melbourn Village College, and some even further to Bassingbourn, and a lot of them prefer to cycle each way.

It is hoped to arrange two more courses in the near future for some of the older children.