Schools & Colleges

Mountain Biking for educational settings

Cycle Horizons offers tailored mountain bike courses to mainstream and special educational school settings, as well as community based youth services. In particular Cycle Horizons works with young people displaying emotional behavioural difficulties (EBD) across the age ranges.

Research has shown that outdoor activities can help develop Young People's emotional wellbeing. Cycle Horizons best tracks the development of individuals in terms of confidence, self-esteem, self-efficacy and an ability to set new goals for themselves through weekly mountain bike sessions.

MIAS - GEARS Course - ABC / Emfec National Academic Accreditation

We offer the GEARS award format to schools we work with, and pupils can put in for their final GEARS Certificates at the end of each period to mark their acheivements.

On average a GEARS course (Level 1 through 3) can be achieved by pupils in mainstream schools in 3 to 4 terms. Many schools choose ongoing sessions that take longer periods to cover the material to broaden participant skill/knowledge base and continue to provide not just weekly learning but a challenging, fun outdoor sport promoting fitness and health benefits each week.

The Mountain-bike Instructors' Award Scheme ,GEARS Course has three different modules, increasing in complexity at each level:

1st Gear

2nd Gear

3rd Gear

All three modules have been designed for young people with physical / learning / behavioural / emotional difficulties, but do not exclude young people in mainstream, higher or further education.

Pupils are assessed through the following criteria, taking each through to the next level with increasing complexity:

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Brakes

Gear changing

Cornering

Alternating speed

Lifting front wheel

(Third gear - bunny hops)

Distance

Bike anatomy

Tools

Repairs

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Our GCSE Programs

We prepare collate and record data for all major exam boards for pupils wishing to do their PE GCSE in mountain biking. Mountain Biking GCSE units vary in format between exam boards, in terms of delivery, content and acheivement recording so we work closely to the syllabus and with schools / teachers to ensure planned sessions meet the criteria and specifications of the exam board in question.

* Since 2008 we have run a Summer Uni course that certifies 15 - 20 pupils through the AQA exam board each year.

* We have recently developed and delivered successful EdExcel formatted sessions to local schools (from 2010)..

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