[Closed] House backing onto primary school playing field

So anyone live near a school and care to share their experience?

Iblive right be a primary school but I'm a teacher so never around when its busy, moans about inconsiderate parking ate lost on me!!

The parking will annoy you, afternoons will see people parked up 45-30 mins before the bell

But schools are closed 13 weeks of the year

I wouldn't let it put me off a house

I had a friend who lived opposite the school we went to. When we left school and went to college, so were sometimes at his house during the day, we discovered that someone would park on his drive from about 2:30 every afternoon and wait, engine running, for their kids to come out of the school.

There were houses backing onto my primary school field.

If the ball went into one particular garden, it would be popped with a knife and lobbed back shortly after.

Don't buy it if you hate children and plan to have a quiet retirement there.

I'd have no problem with a house who's garden backed onto a school playing field. I wouldn't entertain one that is going to be affected by school run mummies and mass car abandonment twice a day.
Although watching them park/bounce off each other can be a good spectator sport 😀

Live 100m from a primary school which is too far to be bothered by idiot drivers. 100m is too far from them to walk they tend to just abandon their cars in the road or park on the zigzags

Ok just checked it has gates.

People sitting in cars with engines running annoys me, I started asking people to turn the engine off, mmm.

Ta for suggestions so far.

We live next to a high school, not backing onto playing fields but next to the tarmac playground. Obviously it's been quiet the last few months, but in general it's not been intrusive. The roads do get busier at drop off and pick up time, but we only notice if we are leaving the house at the same time, which really isn't that often as I normally leave before & get back after when in the office, MrsTH works from home most of the time.

Road access to the house is via the next side street to the school gates so you'd think itd be rammed with parents, but it isn't really. Maybe because its highschool, and a higher portion of kids walk/get the bus etc

Unimog

You know it makes sense

I live a couple of hundred metres down the road from a primary school. Providing the land is unlikely to be sold for development, I'd probably view it as a bonus - if Ofsted excellent it makes selling it easier later on too.

We back on to the school playground and the front of our house is near the school entrance.
They way people park at drop off makes me angry at their pure selfishness and the sheer arrogance that their child is more important than all the others they're forcing into the road...grrr, but it doesn't personally impact me as our car is on the drive.
If working in the office and going by car I'm gone before or after drop off times and back after it, so it's not a problem.

Its quiet after 6pm, no noise at weekends, none during holidays etc, but not ideal if you work from home and do a lot of meetings - they are noisy devils at break and lunch times!

Would only put me off buying a house if it didn't have it's own parking.

We live on a cul de sac with a primary 3 doors down, with their car park at the bottom of our garden and a secondary school directly across the road.

As mentioned above its bedlam at each end of the day and when theres an event (parents evening etc), parents are the most inconsiderate parkers, they've all lost the ability to walk and insist on picking little johnny up from as close to the gates as possible!

They will block your drive, they kick off when asked to move.

But outside of these times and in school holidays its lovely and quiet. I dont regret buying our house.

If like me (under normal circumstances) out at work before the chaos and back after it doesnt affect me, 99% of the time its not an issue.

Could the playing fields use a pump track ?

Ask the school what community facilites they provide. They may have 5-a-side on the fields on sunday mornings for instance, or groups using classrooms or the hall in the evening.

And don't underestimate the morning school run. Our village school operates a voluntary one-way system as the roads only allow 1 lane parking, 1 lane moving and no-one will leave parking spaces. Being voluntary, a few insist on driving the wrong way, so everything grinds to a halt. Then the bus or waitrose van comes the wrong way too, queue gridlock for half a mile either way.

They had to start shutting the gates as parents who couldn't walk their kids up the drive were just driving up. One teacher got run over, broken hip. Staff manning the gates would get abused by parents. My wife worked in the office there and would spend every morning dealing with parking issues rather than school admin. The parental abuse drove her to quit in the end.

I'd have no problem living by a school if it was kids only, the parents are a frickin nightmare!

The house would have to be awesome and tick every other requirement box before I bought one next to a primary school.

Ok cheers all, if I got bored I could be a lolly pop man.

Live overlooking one primary school (200m or so) and about 400m from another one (not quite sure why you need so many in close proximity but that’s a different question).

I’m very rarely at home when the problem parking might occur so that’s not an issue as far as I’m concerned. And as others have pointed out, those sort of drivers tend not to want to be more than 10m from the gates.

With more working from home now I do hear the school play times but again not an unpleasant background noise. Better than the sound of HGV’s rumbling past.

Finally as above, good schools equals good resale potential. All my local ones get very high ratings so if I ever need to sell then that will definitely help.

I’d say go for it.

Go and stand at the gates at break time, it will give an idea of the kind of noise several hundred screaming kids can make, it may surprise you.

Don't worry, school will soon shut and field sold off to build a thousand new homes under new planning laws.

(but the field would not put me off the right house)

Why don't you ask the seller for their experiences?

I live near a secondary school, far enough away that I'm unaffected by school run traffic but close enough that I get the literal school run as hordes of feral kids come charging past. Biggest problem for me is my front garden is perpetually full of their detritus - crisp packets, pop cans etc. I cleared it out at the start of the year - bear in mind I live in a terrace not half an acre - and filled seven black bin bags. I did it again a couple of months later and filled another three. Bunch of savages in this town.

Concur with above. I lived directly opposite a primary for 8 years. Entitled incompetent arseholes is probably the best way of describing their driving and parking. There was a road narrowing with bollards next to our driveway and every year without fail a parent would run over it knocking down the bollards claiming they didn't see it. The same parent would have been standing on the same narrowing ready to cross to the school gate moments before. Bloody frightening. The lady who parked across our drive on the zig zags then shepherded her son across the road from between her car and the next parked car on the zig zags directly into the path of another parent's car who ran him over then completely lost her shit with everyone inc the headteacher for the accident. It would be funny if it was not so serious.

So the negatives are a raging war outside your house twice a day for 30 mins a time and parents evening and plays etc. Potential lack of access/exit from your own drive during those times. V noisy during breaks and lunch.

On the positive - house price and ease of sale if the school is a goodun and I'd rather overlook a field than be overlooked by another house.

I moved next to a school 3 or 4 months ago and have not found traffic to be a problem.

Serious answer is there will probably be more traffic than you can imagine at drop / collect times more so with primary than secondary, if you can I'd observe it at a busy time to see how much it bothers you.

Ok cheers, funnily enough the house changed hands quickly about 10 years ago at a 20% loss, then current owner 8 years. Clearly someone did not like the noise.

When I walk past the local primary, I see my mate dropping off his kids by car. I tell him, omg u live 250m away what are you doing? So expect more conversations like this...

Iblive right be a primary school but I’m a teacher so never around when its busy, moans about inconsiderate parking ate lost on me!!

I hope you are not an English teacher.

Go and stand at the gates at break time

Hold a bag of sweets and a puppy so you don't look suspicious.

I'm a bit of a softie when it comes to kids, I'd enjoy living near the sound of kids playing.

"school run mummies and mass car abandonment twice a day." (not to pick on who wrote that).

I've been doing the school run for nearly 10 years now between 2 kids, and 2 different schools. In all those years I can't remember anyone parking over someones drive, although this seems to be the cry from the odd person who decided to move near to a school and then got upset because they lived near a school.

What they often mean is that someone has parked on the bit of the public road outside their house, and even though they had no intention of leaving, their exit from their drive would be made very slightly more of a chore because the bit of the road outside their house wasn't clear. One thing that does annoy me at my Daughters school now is people who park on double yellows "Bit I'm only going to be five minutes!!" but that happens everywhere, they do ticket them on mass sometimes.

OP is going into with their eyes open, IME you will find a large increase in traffic and parking from about 08:30 to 09:30, and from 15:00 to 16:00 lots of people like a good long chat before and after dropping their kids off, but outside of those times it'll be like it never happened.

Personally I would not;

Parents dropping off/collecting kids/blocking driveways/generally being inconsiderate/selfish/dangerous
Kids littering gardens if they walk past
Noise
Balls going into garden, kids climbing in to get balls

People people can be annoying, things that makes them congregate are rarely pleasant to be around.

they do ticket them on mass sometimes.

That should shame them into walking a bit further.

Ok just checked it has gates.

Would you get annoyed if somebody parked across them? (If so, think again.)

Loving this forum...

So I just emailed the agent to ask for the owners experiences, thanks good idea.

It's a lovely house, well presented, big garden backing onto playing fields, off street parking, gates. Priced at a premium tho.

If no school I would make an offer, I actually like the noise of kids playing. My mother lives 300m from a primary school and I can hear it there.

Sports days, Christmas carol service though every road is blocked for miles around. Cars are on blind corners, siblings in pyjamas in the street, and its a nice village.

I keep you all informed.

Honestly, I wouldn't. The noise is one thing but the parents, roads and parking is another.

I walk my kids to school a few days a week and it never fails to amaze me how entitled some of the parents are. Parking across driveways, blocking pavements, some even block the entire road but it's OK because it is raining and she will only be 5 minutes...

I'd expect;

Parking over the school gates.
Parking in adjacent houses' driveways. Maybe they have permission. Maybe.
Parking right by the school leaving the diesel running, as in right by the gates where everybody waits.

Almost everyone is reasonable about parking if they must drive. Almost.

Away from the manic half hours, it'll probably be quiet. Aside from the kids outside playing that is.

I live directly opposite a primary school (one of the reasons we bought the house). Most of the time it's fine, even pickup/dropoff isn't too bad.  Running engines and people hooning off as fast as they can after dropping jnr off can be an annoyance, but in the main it's ok. Noise not an issue for us, kids playing is a nice sound and being able to see our kids playing with their mates is great.  We don't have a drive to block (nor does anyone else on the street really) so no issues there.  I think it would depend on the school (ours is only a single class per year so quite small), if it was a big primary with a large catchment I would want to have a look at busy times before committing 🙂

I live right next to a middle school and a secondary school (Northumberland's weird 3 tier school system) and the traffic is horrific at drop off and kick out time. The big issue for the residents in my area is that the roads are very narrow and when you get dopey mums in 4x4's parking on both side of the roads there is little room to maneuver.

Ok cheers, I hate road noise so the idling while parked would drive me mad. Also I suspect seeing local kids being driven when they could walk likewise.

My friend works in a school and I m afraid she echoes the sentiments about the parents.

Cheers all, stw at it's best

I live opposite a primary school:

I have a 9-5 so generally I don't see the traffic / school run - although who knows how the 'new normal' will change that from Sept
It's a terraced street so no-one's drive gets blocked, and people can't really park nearby because the residents already use most of the space
The sound of 5 year olds playing in the playground is astonishing. Sometimes I have to go and look out the window to make sure no-one's being dismembered by leopards, because that's what it sounds like. The playing field might be different though!
The sense of entitlement described above doesn't seem to come into play very much! Maybe it's more apparent in certain types of area?
When I was a teenager we used to go and smoke fags / play football / ride bikes around the local primary school in the evenings. I'd be more concerned about that!

So I just emailed the agent to ask for the owners experiences, thanks good idea.

Just a thought on this:

I could be wrong but my understanding is that they're not obliged to answer you but they cannot lie. So if they tell you it's all unicorns and rainbows and it turns out to be hell on earth, you have comeback on it. Though, proving that...

Plus they'll have a vested interest in downplaying any issues as they want to sell. Try knocking on the neighbours' doors instead? "Hi, I'm looking at buying next door and thought I'd introduce myself... oh, and by the way... ?"

"they do ticket them on mass sometimes."

That should shame them into walking a bit further.

This needs more recognition. Well played.

I live about 50m or so from a primary school. Twice a day (when not in holiday / lockdown!) the road gets busy. We have a drive with a dropped curb that goes onto the main road - never really been blocked in (that i've been aware of!) in the past 8 years. Generally the times are not too bad - 8:45 (left for work) and 3:15 (at work), so i'm not normally (lockdown permitting) aware of it. We don't back onto the playing field, but they're not far way, you can hear kids at playtime, but it's hardly an offensive noise. I wouldn't let it put me off a house I liked if it has off street parking.

I lived beside a school for 28 years. I wouldn't do it again...

Ok ta 're vendor commenting on inconvenience.

My concern is with a recession looming any house with a blight that needs selling will get crucified on the offer. The last but one owner took a 20% hit in 18 months of ownership.

I m neutral on it, clearly some people have views either side. I wouldn't want to have to plan my day around the school drop offs, break times etc.

Tbh if I got it cheap I d live with the risk, but wouldn't pay a premium.

What about the noise, kids playing is happy noise.

Until it's not .

An old guy at the back of my primary school used to put a knife into footballs that went into his garden whilst making eye contact with you. I'm pretty sure that the school was there before he was as the school was pretty old. What a tosser!

We have lived a few doors down from a village primary entrance for almost three years. Traffic 'chaos' never really an issue though appreciate it could be worse in suburban/urban areas with no off street parking. Only ever blocked in once whilst leaving the house in the morning and we told the driver to move.

No problem with the sound of kids playing. We live downwind and it's never really that loud and only registers from inside if the window's open. Sounds from further away tend to carry more and are more annoying, like mystery drum kit neighbour.

Never had a problem with litter.

Biggest benefit is the quiet during school holidays, evenings, weekends. Fewer neighbours to make noise, play music outside, only overlooked from our immediately adjacent neighbours etc. Fewer cars coming and going from neighbors and friends etc. A far cry from our old new build which was overlooked by about seven houses.

My first flat in Cardiff was next to a primary school, a decent one too. Got fed up of my car being vandalised (wing mirrors ripped off) and lots of scratches from the kids and parents brushing past so moved as soon as my tenancy was up for renewal. The chaos at dropping off/picking up time was unreal, saw one or two fights between parents!!

I wouldn't live next to a school, but then I don't want kids or particularly like them so wouldn't look in an area close to a school.

I live next to the school, as in the entrance is at the end of my terrace 2 doors down. Not a school, all of them, the local super campus. Nursery to high school.

Traffic can be manic from around 0840 to 0900 then slightly less so from around 1440 to 1600 but it's not awful. It would work better with a one way system as one side of the road is parked on but by and large most folk play by the rules. Might help that the local PC wanders round in the morning. The worst we get is pavement parking further up the street and the occasional twunt that thinks a dropped kerb is to facilitate substituting the pavement for the road. Noise has never been a particular issue but agree kids can be right noisy beggars!

Rubbish honestly isn't that bad but we're right at the back of town away from takeaways and such so not much of that crap makes it up here. Obviously it depends on where you are.

I wouldn't be put off in the slightest, if you want an honest opinion check the local Facebook group, also gets a good measure of the locals.

It all depends IMHO. My old primary school had a large playing field for its size. A friend of the family lived in a detached backing onto the school playing fields and I don't ever remember it being mentioned as a problem. The single-storey school building was at least 100 foot away or more. However, about 10 years ago the school at least doubled its size and new buildings were built. I would imagine that now the loss of amenity and overlooking is more of a problem.

My old secondary school had even more massive playing fields and I don't think any houses backing onto it were inconvenienced.

Backing on to a playing field does not mean people will be parking in front of your house.

Sorry if I've missed this info but is the entrance to school near the house?

Also is it a school only playing field or is it open to other people after schoolfinishes?

If its school only then imo that's a nice outlook for the back of your house.

Don't forget that we voted for playing fields to be turned into housing estates.

Primary 50m from my house I'm a secondary teacher.
No cars about when I leave home or return and quiet when I'm on holiday. So if you're away by 0830 and back after 1600 it'll be quiet. After school clubs etc are not all kids.

we Lived next to a Primary for 9 years, both our kids went/still go there.
The school try to manage parents and parking and know it can upset locals.
TBH it's not the parking that really annoys, it's only really an issue for two ~40 minute windows on weekdays. It's only a small minority of parents that insist on driving right up to the school, some will park further away and walk, those that live nearby will walk.

But the thing that was worst during school run times was impatient parental driving, angry, beeping and heavy Right feet as if being an arse would actually get them somewhere faster, and somehow ignoring the fact that there are kids about...

We moved last year, only round the corner, so we're now an extra street or so further away with no direct driving route right up to the school gates, it's a wee bit further to walk but not much longer time wise and much less traffic at 08:15-08:45ish... Guess where the slightly cleverer parents park?

Ok cheers all, house is 2 doors away from the village primary school. House backs onto schools playing fields.

Next door, ie, adjacent school, nice big detached but sold q cheaply v others in road. The one for sale sold at a loss v quickly 10 years ago, but current owner 10 years.

So a bit marmite really, I q like the open outlook, kids noise on playing field, theres a playground round the other side. Nice big back garden where I d be pottering with fruit trees and raised beds.

Front has gates and off street parking, big semi so loads of light and set back from road.

So lovely house, nice rear outlook over playing fields, priced at a premium. I 'll sleep on it.

Thanks all comments, and no frozen sausages, dog worrying, unimog, nationwide trails.

Used to live a few hundred metres up from a popular secondary school.

the biggest danger to the kids were their own parents. Pretty much everyone else in the street/village knew the risks, bar a couple of knobs as usual, but the parents were a nightmare. There was no pavement so all the kids would wander up the road en-mass as kids do but it was the parents who were speeding, passing them too closely, on the their phones etc etc.

then there was the litter, I did take particular offence to the village shop making money from selling kids junk food and energy drinks but to then make no effort to clean up the mess as all the empty wrappers and cans it was discarded up the road or on the farm land.

For me i am afraid it's a no. Purely because of the actions of parents and a minority of the kids who drop litter but then probably went on strike to attend a Greta Thunberg rally...

Check that school out. Maybe speak to the school. The horror stories above don't match the small rural school where i work. 4 out 0f 57 kids walk there. The rest are well over a mile away so not :-)driving isn't an option. Drives ways are never blocked. Bit of daft parking on a bend but there is still plenty of room. Parish council won't have yellow lines. All schools are different.
Another possible advantage. When i was contemplating teacher training 30 years ago a mate who was a year further on recommended primary schools. Much more in the way of yummy Mummies. Sadly it is mostly stale grannies now but you may be lucky!
Generally flash 4wd means nicer cakes at events and if you want to get involved with the school you would have some fun. And cake.

Would only have bothered be back in the days I worked nightshift, tbh I'd never really be there at pick up and drop off times, and if I was, I'd just ignore it as it's really not worth getting worked up about.

There was a guy near my daughters school who I saw having actual fights with dads on a number of occasions, he was obsessed, his life must've been a misery, but all within his control.

and a minority of the kids who drop litter but then probably went on strike to attend a Greta Thunberg rally…

Life must be hard in your bitter and twisted world!

Apart from the genuine arseholes, don’t blame the parents for all this parking all of the time.  We tend to park two streets away and walk, but - pre lockdown - you need to appreciate most of those parents needed to get to/ back from work and are rushing around a narrow window of time.    Gone are days of “housewife with time on her hands” for the majority.

In balance I’ve seen people come out of their house determine to get into a punch up over a car parked outside their drive whilst in their dressing gowns and with no intention of leaving soon.  They are just spoiling for an argument because they Are either too entitled or don’t like the noise, these are the people that should never have moved near to a school.

I wondering with less of a need to catch trains or go to an office a some of this will calm down, as the narrow window of schools drop off time will be removed for many parents.

you need to appreciate most of those parents needed to get to/ back from work and are rushing around a narrow window of time.

Rubbish. If you're rushing, it's your own fault, appreciate this my arse.

An old friend of my mum's lived near the village primary. She had the same mum parked outside her house every day smoking, waiting for her kid. She kept flicking fag ends on the pavement outside the house. So my ma's friend started collecting them. One she had a couple of weeks worth, she gave them back by tipping them in through the window! 😜🚬🚗👌

200 yards from the school entrance and directly opposite the playing field (there's an alleyway that joins the two), hence different locations.

As above, around 0830 and again at 1500 it's bedlam for 20 minutes. The rest of the time it's no issue at all. Maybe a couple of other times a year at school play or parents evenings there's a bit more traffic, but if you don't need to drive up and down you road at those times, and can accept an occasional evening of 'Oh, there must be something on at the school' then I wouldn't let it put you off at all.

The local kids football club uses the playing field at weekends. The parents for that are far more considerate parkers, but that might be because a friend is Chairman and drums it home in all newsletters. I even got admonished by a parent one day - I'd come back from the builders merchants with a load of stuff in the car and parked across my driveway to unload it, before I was even out they'd rushed over to tell me I couldn't park across someone's drive. I showed her my wood and we were soon on good terms hammering away at my erection.

Grew up opposite a school.

All of the above. It goes from being silly quiet to silly busy at the drop of a hat usually at predictable times.

Often incidents either parent-parent or car-car.

Soon as I was no longer attending that school parents moved.

I wouldn't move near a school out of choice....if you have kids- choosing as I have to not live near the school you'll have to accept that you need to get the kids to school and plan accordingly rather than rushing around stressed and causing agro at the gates.

Rubbish. If you’re rushing, it’s your own fault, appreciate this my arse.

Why, because people have to work, employers insist(ed) on 9am start times, or enforced their pound of flesh from you making sure that having 30 minutes off work in the afternoon before returning was penalised by having to work to 8pm?

Thats a standard line from the person that moved next to a school and doesn't take the time to appreciate a working family's challenges.

I bet you can't stand the pigeons walking over your perfectly striped lawn either.

What are you on about? I don't stay near a school, or have stripes on my lawn. If you're rushing, then it's no one else's fault but yours, that's a fact. You chose where you live, you took the job, and every chance you moved there for the school.

People living near a school need to chill, but to call them entitled, and yet say it's not parents fault is embarrassing.

Nice bit of selective repetition for your own benefit.

and yet say it’s not parents fault

I didn't say that, I agreed there's always arseholes on that front, and there are.  Its not ALL parents either.   I also didn't say ALL people that lived near a school, here's my text for the hard of reading:

In balance I’ve seen people come out of their house determine to get into a punch up over a car parked outside their drive whilst in their dressing gowns and with no intention of leaving soon.  They are just spoiling for an argument because they Are either too entitled or don’t like the noise, these are the people that should never have moved near to a school.

Quite clear in both cases I'm quoting the idiots that fuel the fire of these issues - who exist on both sides.

that’s a fact.

Its also a fact the life revolves - in the main - around people having children, children needing an education and people needing to work.  To post here an imply that none of that could be happening and that to keep people driveways clear we should all be so considerate not to do all three - together at least - is just an obstinate naivety.

You know what, you're right, enjoy your day.

Backing on to a playing field does not mean people will be parking in front of your house.

Live 100m from a primary school.

Love to hear the playground noise during a school day.

Even the neighbour's drive to drop the kids off FFS - no idea where they park!

Anyway - in Scotland school grounds are open for the community 24/7.

Houses right next to the school get occasional issues with kids playing basketball all hours and having yoof-standoffs. Hearing a ball battering against a bike shed can get a bit tiring too.

On the bright side, a school playing field is less likely to be built on.

Do it.

Idling engines will become less of an issue over time as the majority of cars sold now have stop/start and in a few years the majority will have some form of electric propulsion as well. Might be a decade till it starts making a noticeable difference thou

I live right next to a middle school and a secondary school (Northumberland’s weird 3 tier school system)

Nothing weird about 3-tier.  And it's high school, not secondary.

We are 5 min walk away from a pair of first schools (one is Catholic) and a middle school, and the high school is 15 mins walk away.  Prudhoe, if anyone is bothered.

The closer you get to the first schools, the worse the parking gets.  The middle school, parents park on the road outside which gets tedious but you learn to go home the other way if you are there at the wrong time (FWIW, this is also next to the Catholic church, and those ****ers are even worse on a Sunday).

High school not too bad, as catchment area bigger so buses bring most of the kids in.

I showed her my wood and we were soon on good terms hammering away at my erection.
This needs more explanation I think . .

 

You chose where you live, you took the job, and every chance you moved there for the school.

Ahhh yes, how could we forget, everyone has all the possible options to choose from, employment of your choice on flexible terms is readily available to all, life is utterly predictable and there's no such thing as "circumstances" to contend with...

Anyway, I prefer living closer to a school in some ways, the area tends to be a little nicer with less retail an pubs so close by, it's normally quieter at the weekends/evenings and I happened to have a routine that worked well enough around the schools busy times. I appreciate this may not be the case for all...

Thanks all, I have slept on the idea. I could live with the school 100m away but would expect to pay a discount, not a premium. So really up to the vendor, house only went on mrket yesterday so early days.

I ll keep you all updated, really appreciate the tips.

In balance I’ve seen people come out of their house determine to get into a punch up over a car parked outside their drive whilst in their dressing gowns and with no intention of leaving soon.

Perhaps it was someone else in the house that needed to get off the drive but they were just finishing getting ready to leave so the person in the dressing gown was requesting that the drive was not blocked? Things are not always black and white.

I showed her my wood and we were soon on good terms hammering away at my erection.
This needs more explanation I think . .

Was she called Samantha?

Perhaps it was someone else in the house that needed to get off the drive but they were just finishing getting ready to leave so the person in the dressing gown was requesting that the drive was not blocked? Things are not always black and white.

I was involved in mediating the altercation, the home owner was merely pissed off at someone parked over her drive due to a past incident where the was blocked from leaving, despite the fact she didn't need to enter or exit the drive then nor in the next 5 minutes it took for the Parent to drop off the kids and leave.

Was she called Samantha?

Louise, of course.

I was involved in mediating the altercation

Of course, I was sure you would have ensured you got the full details of the event for future reference.

I’m not sure what your implication there is johndoh.  My overall point is that inflammatory situations are not always cause by the school drop off party, and a little understanding from people that live near a school might not go amiss notwithstanding their are exceptions.

Our time based needs often mean the two clash, and the current level of entitlement in today’s society often leads to everyone thinking it is thier right to do there thing when they want without regard to others.

due to a past incident where the was blocked from leaving, despite the fact she didn’t need to enter or exit the drive then nor in the next 5 minutes it took for the Parent to drop off the kids and leave.

a little understanding from people that live near a school might not go amiss notwithstanding their are exceptions.

Nope, homeowner is completely in the right here. Parking across someones drive is a dick move whatever way you try to spin it. It happens enough times that people lose tolerance and "understanding".