I largely agree with most of what's been said above, we live in he middle of a load of schools, our kids walk, everyday, regardless of weather.
Weeksy
Weird. How can they enforce it on arrival? I also very much doubt they have the legal right to stop a child leaving because there is no adult present. Wrong answer to the question!
How can they enforce it on arrival?
Clearly they cannot. However thaat's not their reposonsibility 🙂 they don't 'own' them until dropped off... They're not responsible for them at that stage.
Whether they have the right or not, they do it and it works well... Although inconvenient at times for the adults 🙂
But it doesn't work well! It causes massive inconvenience and congestion and also means kids get coddled so do not grow up appreciating dangers /learning self reliance. Its utterly appalling and self defeating and quite probably illegal.
also means kids get coddled so do not grow up appreciating dangers /learning self reliance. I
Only within their school life, not necessairily outside of that. 🙂 My lad is allowed plenty of freedom with long cycling rides etc just him and his mate/mates. So yes while in some ways you're correct, you're also not seeing the bigger picture.
Things like cars, traffic and 'bad people' are the reason why...
@tjagain - the school has the legal authority to do pretty much *anything* that they consider is in the best interest of the child. Their playset, and they've obviously considered the issue and done a risk assessment because they allow older kids to leave unaccompanied.
My brother and I used to walk the 2 miles to school from about 9, though it was down quiet country roads. Used to get a lift from my mum if it was chucking it down but was still dumped at the public car park in the middle of town to walk the last 5 minutes.
Google in loco parentis.
I walk the kids to school if the weather is decent. Its a mile, my younger son (6) has hemiplegia so its good he gets the exercise, we take the dog and the kids enjoy it.
I was walked to school by myself every day after the first week in the 70’s
I only ever got hit by one car and I didn’t even die.
I only ever got hit by one car and I didn’t even die.
I'm sure that knowledge will make the parents who's kids have died a lot happier knowing you're not dead while they stare at the gravestone.
Flaperon that only applies in school hours surely? I do understand in loco parentis but surely the schools control ends when the bell rings.
I'd love someone to challenge that policy. I am fairly sure stopping pupils from leaving would be illegal.
I’m sure that knowledge will make the parents who’s kids have died a lot happier knowing you’re not dead while they stare at the gravestone.
Dunno about that but it certainly made my Mum happier when she arrived and looked in the back of the ambulance to see that, although badly injured, I was still alive.
The point I was trying, insensitively, to make was that perhaps the modern way of making sure little kiddies get to school safely is perhaps worth the effort and the additional inconvenience.
No excuse for parents acting like dicks though.
I am fairly sure stopping pupils from leaving would be illegal.
What about if they just wandered off at one in the afternoon or ten in the morning.
Should the school just let them go?
Would the school be responsible for them then?
At our school there have been many scenes over the years. The ones I remember most clearly was the proper full-on fist fight between two dads after one questioned the other over his parking on zigzags, the time someone parked right across someone's drive and the guy was apoplectic with rage (to this day I don't understand why someone would do that - so selfish). Most weeks I see people parked on the crossing (I always photograph and send on to the head). People park on pavements everywhere, they drive right into the school grounds despite several signs saying not to, almost every week there are repeated requests from the head for people to park more considerately. And yet I see the same people parking in the same inconsiderate places week in, week out. Still, just one more year to go and then our girls are at secondary school and they can walk in.
Inconsiderate parking outside schools does slow the traffic down a bit, so suggest the council are quite happy with the situations you all face.
I’d write a strongly worded letter to the Head, the Councils Head of Education and your local MP.
I’d suggest most of those are too busy doing other things to GAS about the parking you all describe..
Bless.
My drive and neighbours gets blocked every day by the same parent, when collecting his kid. It doesn't really affect me since I get in for work very early however it does irritate me since there are several other parking options that would bother no one less than 50m away from the door.
Inconsiderate parking outside schools does slow the traffic down a bit
It also puts the safety of pedestrians at risk (which is why parking on zigzags on pedestrian crossings is expressly forbidden at all time FYI).
We cycle in twice a week, then park-and-stride the rest. What gets my goat is the parents who stick their disabled relative in the car so that they can justify parking on the double yellow lines outside the school. Disabled relative doesn't actually leave the car so in reality they are abusing the disabled badge, as well as blocking the lowered kerb and making it more dangerous for children to cross the road..............
Inconsiderate parking outside schools does slow the traffic down a bit
Plus make it more hazardous for the pedestrian and riders.
Plus pollute everyone.
Plus set a children's culture of being driven everywhere.
Plus wear out infrastructure quicker than walking or cycling.
Plus lowers childrens ability to concentrate and perform at school, so getting lower exam results.
(Etc)
Johndoh, why not photograph and send to your local PCSO rather than the Head? I reported one fat **** that parked every day on the zigzags and the PCSO turned up. Fortunately he was so incredibly stupid that he did it again right in front of her. He never did it again, despite never having seen the PCSO again either...
Guess how slim his kid was...?
Flaperon that only applies in school hours surely? I do understand in loco parentis but surely the schools control ends when the bell rings
Hmm. You're absolutely right.
When it comes to driving in the UK, whilst I think who we react to the sight of a Ambulance with it's lights on still represents the best of us, parking on the school run probably represents the worst.
For my sins I do the drop-off in the morning. I park in a legit space, it's a whopping 100m from the gate and we walk down together.
Other parents don't have the same laid back attitude to it. They seem to like to do a combination of the below:
Arrive very late, at speed and in a mild panic, abandon their car on the pavement / double yellows. Throw their kids out the door, sometimes on the road side which baffles me and then ROAR off, proper flat to the floor in 1st and 2nd like hitting 0-40 (I hope none of them actually hit 60 in that road, but lord only knows) in 3 seconds instead of just driving off at 30 is going to make them unlate for work.
Arrive 30 mins early, to get the best chatting spot, sill abandoning their car as close as possible to the gate, zig-zags, double yellows, destroy the schools cones they bought to try to stop them, double park - yeah why not eh!? and then camp for the morning. Honestly a few weeks ago I dropped my daughter off, went to work, came back to the village for the dentist, had a check and passed the school and they were still there at the gates chatting shit.
We're slowly building up distances so we can ride to work occasionally, but I'm sort of dreading it, I think we'll have to push the last 100m on the pavement, I can't have pig-shit-think Barry in his pick-up Trannie screaming past us at 40mph.
Utterly ridiculous – who makes that rule and how can it be enforced? Its certainly not a universal rule
It's Yr5 in my Kids school. They enforce it by not letting kids leave until an pre-approved appropriate adult is there to take them.
School run mums have zero morals. I would happily admit that they have broken my community spirit and I really couldn’t care less if a bus wiped the entire bus queue out one winter morning when the roads are all icy. That’s how I feel about them.
I have for 10yrs walked my kids to the same bus stop to go to school. It was only when I got myself a dog and experienced having to ‘continue’ the walk did I open my eyes to how bad it was. Parents driving 250yds to park, then drop off their kids before driving home. Cars blocking 90% of the footpath. Cars parking literally at the bus stop, next to a junction and with a staggered bus stop opposite turning a major road into a chicane. An accident spot waiting to happen.
I admit I was a little churlish in catching a couple of wing mirrors with my arm whilst attempting not to walk in the mud to avoid them. Yes it was silly, but when confronted I pleaded with the idiots to please ‘think of the children’. Please consider the disabled. Please allow for prams and push chairs. Considering there were at least 6 mothers on the opposite side of the road watching this confrontation who were pushing prams I reckoned on a little support. Every single one turned their back and I was asked “who do you think you are to tell me where I can park” by a little orange faced woman who lives literally 25m from my own home but drives to the bus stop and parks opposite.
I am an able bodied bloke who could quite easily avoid the car and cross the road safely. I didn’t need to invite trouble but now I really can’t be bothered. Same for dog shit collecting, anti social kids, shoplifting and rubbish. In the past I have confronted people about it. Now I choose to walk on by
Johndoh, why not photograph and send to your local PCSO rather than the Head?
She collects everyone's pictures and forwards them in one go to the police. It doesn't seem to make any difference though - they come out (or traffic wardens do) and people briefly start to consider others but soon fall back into their usual ways 🙁
People are selfish. I'm guessing it's the same just about everywhere. I see the same behaviour at the pool when I'm picking up my son. Two car parks, small one at the entrance and a bigger one 50m away. People will go to ridiculous lengths to park in the small car park but there's almost always spaces in the other one.
I see the same behaviour at the pool when I’m picking up my son. Two car parks, small one at the entrance and a bigger one 50m away. People will go to ridiculous lengths to park in the small car park but there’s almost always spaces in the other one.
We have the same at our local swimming pool - people park in the disabled spaces, parent and child spaces, on the verges, on the reserved space for coaches etc, all just to avoid walking an extra few metres and the car park is huge and only fills when there is a gala on so always lots of spaces. Yet they are going to the pool/gym so surely they are trying to be fit so why not walk that little bit further?
