AIBU to continue turning in the school gate?

Doh....To "turn" you must have to reverse, which is never a good idea with loads of young children around. Sorry, you're a selfish chump.

She said there is no bus from their location

I mean the school transport, that she's entitled to because its her nearest state school but its 6 miles away.

Right?

Probably not. Probably op has a more suitable school nearer home, but thinks her special DC can't possibly go there. So isn't entitled to the transport provided to prevent this situation.

Or its a private school.

Can you not drop off on the corner of the A road? and carry on / turn around on that road. We have rural village school parking is a nightmare!! The busses really struggle several signs & notices in the newspaper have gone out but people have ignored them. They’ve not put a physical barrier up to stop people parking where the busses need to be. If you all carry on you’ll risk that happening and then be forced into finding a different way to turn around.

I would just drop her somewhere within a 30 minute walk from school and turn around in peace. Appreciate you can’t walk 6 miles but I’m sure there’s a solution in a mile radius somewhere.

I am a bit confused by your diagram and your comment further up thread about there being access along one of the school entracnes to more businesses. Does that not make it a side road you could drive down and then turn near those businesses? I'm going to assume not for some reason, but if that is a possibility that might change the rest of my post...

I can see why the school do not want people turning in their entrances at school drop off/pick up. It obviously endangers pedestrians, especially as many of them are teens - one of the most vulnerable ages for being hit by vehicles.

But given the road system you describe, I also see why you (and all the other parents doing the same thing) are scratching your heads about what you should be doing. It maybe your school has always had a high number of students driven in cars, but most schools have seen bus/cycling/walking drop and car use rise in that time frame so I think most likely no thought or investment has been given to transport issues over the last few decades to ensure there are suitable facilities for students.

What you ought to do is lobby your councilors for changes that allow you to turn but in the meantime drive on to big junction at the end of the school road and cross or turn there to get to somewhere where there is a side road or other suitable turning place. Frustrating to have to drive a significant way further, but that's not really an excuse for endangering pedestrians.

I don’t have a solution for you but I have to say that is a very good drawing! Have you asked the school what they propose as a solution? It sounds like it affects lots of parents and their sign hasn’t worked so maybe they can work with everyone to come up with a plan that is safe but also convenient enough so parents will actually follow it.

Could you walk or bike to the school?

I drop my DD approx 7 minute walk away from school because that's where it is safest to turn abound. She walks across a park and down the road using her own legs. Her school is on a dead end road and there are so many idiot parents that insist they drop off there, then doing ridiculous U turns and 3 point turns all over the place where there are kids trying to cross. The only reason for that is if your child is diabled. There is a solution OP it's just not right near the school.

Why is it so hard to believe that there could be several miles of road you can't park up on before the school?

The school I went to was set in a village that was literally a tiny triangle around a green, school one side, pub and a couple of houses on the other sides, no where to park as double yellows all round the triangle. The approach road to this and past it was country road, no verge, no pavement, no pull ins except one very frequently used farm gate a mile away (and farmer who would absolutely drive a tractor through your car if he felt like it). 60MPH road, nowhere to leave a car for six miles one way and four the other.

You had to get the bus, anyone being collected (very rare, typically only if being collected before the end of the school day) had to have their parent hover and risk being yelled at (by the teachers supervising everyone getting on their buses), the only kids who walked home were the ones who lived down a public footpath across two fields.

Two miles down or should she three point turn somewhere earlier? That was her original question.

This one is so difficult.
So many nuances.
So many what ifs.

No, OP can drop her down the road from the school so she can walk then OP can keep going till the next road (she’s stated it’s not a cul-de-sac) and drive home, she doesn’t need to drop her at the school and turn round at the school.

If you are in catchment/less than a mile away and you/your dc don't have a disability then walk your child to school.

If you aren't in the catchment area/live more than a mile away and you/your dc don't have a disability then drive to a nearby car park and then walk your child to school.

If you/your dc have a disability that prevents this then talk to the school who should be able to make arrangements for you to have a parking space near the school (that's what we did when our autistic child was younger and would try and escape into the road.

Our school run takes 90 minutes at the moment, thanks to roadworks, despite all our dc being at the nearest schools. Roll on September when youngest goes to secondary school and the roadworks finish.

Your child sounds marvellous. So OP’s child should walk a six mile round trip, sounds feasible. Oh wait, did you just want to make sure we knew about your child walking a mile and a half?

I truly despair. I am on a school board of governors and the amount of teachers time wasted on nonsense like this from parents like you is unbelievable.

There of course is a solution - you don’t turn at the school - you continue down the road until the here is an opportunity to turn. That might be a bit of a distance - but your convenience does not trump child safety.

i swear there should be an intelligence test to have children

I assume this isn’t catchment school as if it was, there’d be a bus. You’ve chosen to drive, but there’s no reason you can’t drop her off a bit further away so she won’t have to walk the full distance.

So you could, you just don't want to cause it will take you longer?

If you and everyone else think what the school are saying is unreasonable, have you asked them what they suggest? That would be better than asking Mumsnet.

There aren’t busses in rural areas.

Yes the kids are entitled to be transported to catchment school but that’s it. Regardless of how utterly shite it is (and ours truly is).

That said there are always houses and side roads near schools. I drop dd away from the entrance the other side of the main road cos it’s bedlam, kids and busses everywhere.

So 90% use the front entrance and I assume park somewhere close to that. You think you’ve discovered a clever way of avoiding that. What if those 90% used your entrance instead?

I imagine the avoidance of saying what’s ahead is basically, there’s a lot of traffic and you don’t want to sit in it like everyone else and go that way.
So go in earlier?
or find somewhere near and park and drop off.
or find where the bus goes and drop her off near the bus stop to travel the last bit.
There has to be a solution. At some point school will do something like close that gate if you don’t take notice, or post a member of staff there to stop you, so you will have to find a solution then

Neither do I, OP is full of crap. I also agree she could drop her at a bus stop etc. I was responding to you saying she should walk the whole way though.

@Ritzybitzy OP lives 6 miles away, the school is 2 miles down a road off an A road.

🙄

Why can't you do a loop? Yes you would have to queue but surely there's a turning circle outside the front or how would the busses turn around

She lives six miles away