Students Learn on the Go with Bike Ed Class

News bulletin: 23 Decemeber 2011

When Kensington Community High School teacher Ollie Claydon was trying to come up with an applied learning class to engage his students he noticed some unused bikes around the school.

‘And it just went from there,’ he explains. ‘We put a curriculum together, each student had a bike assigned to them and the students started planning their own routes.’

The bike ed class, which started in July, incorporates a number of disciplines into each weekly ride on a Wednesday afternoon.

‘The students do maths by measuring distances by wheel revolutions, they calculate the difference between routes, it incorporates science with things like how exercise affects the body and literacy when they write about their rides,’ Mr Claydon says.

The students have also become involved in hot debates like the rights of cyclists versus car drivers and how to reduce carbon footprints.

'The class has allowed them to see things from different points of view,' Mr Claydon says.

Since the class was introduced at the school – which caters for students from a disadvantaged background – there has been a large increase in attendance on Wednesdays and a dramatic decrease in the number of suspensions.

‘It has become a focal point of the week. The students have really taken ownership of it. It’s their baby,’ Mr Claydon says.

‘Their confidence has improved, they’re more engaged in all their classes and they’re taking a lot of pride in their work.’