Students at South Oaks School in Grunthal are using stationary bikes in their classrooms for self-regulation.

Alvera Peters is a Teacher at South Oaks School. She says the stationary bikes work to both calm students down and get them going.

"When our students have a lot of energy, if they sit on the bike for a few minutes they get rid of that energy but on the flip side if they come tired it actually gets their body back on track and their brain back on track. When they are tired they spend a few minutes on the bike and then they are ready to go again so that has been very exciting to see both sides of it."

Principal Dale Martens says the school uses a multi-coloured zones of regulation chart to assess how receptive students are to learning with red being aggressive, yellow being anxious or excited, green being calm, and blue being tired or bored. He notes they currently have three classrooms with stationary bikes.

"We have teachers and students being more flexible in the classroom to meet the student needs. They have more options for movement. It is better for them physically, it is better for them mentally. We are noticing more students getting to green, calm, focused and ready to learn which is what we want."

Zones of Regulation chart for students

Martens notes they have recently been approved for three more stationary bikes through a healthy living grant.

Peters says the stationary bikes have been significantly less distracting in the classroom than they initially thought.

"The bikes are very quiet so they never distract us while they are working and they are high quality so it has just worked really really well. They will set a five-minute timer and they don’t just sit there and bike although that is allowed too if I am doing a lesson in the front they will just listen from here. They often just grab a clipboard and work at something or read on the bike."