To ask if you have ever solved parking on zig-zag lines issues at your school?

At the primary my DDs went to, the only thing that stopped it briefly was when local PCSOs would be onsite. But it’s one of the rare places where I’m not sure what parents are supposed to do. It’s a small Victorian school building (that has had a modern building added on the site to the rear of the original building). It’s in the middle of what would have been farmland all around, right down to the sea, when it was built. Located right next to the small Church it’s affiliated to. Would have been the school and Church for the tiny hamlets originally around it. Wedged between a single track road and another small road that is more modern but still narrow enough to not be able to park both sides. That road was probably built in the 1950s judging by the age of the ten houses built along it, and each house has a drive way so between those there is space for approximately ten cars to park on the road. The roads lead out to countryside in either direction, no paths, no parking opportunities further away. But because of all of the building in the local area this school now has to accommodate 500+ children. It’s walkable from one small housing area, or across fields from some other locations (not an option in winter). Genuinely don’t know what parents are supposed to do. The only reason I managed it was because for all of DDs time there I was either a SAHP or running my own business from home, and so could get there early enough to ensure I could get one of the few parking places. Quite a rare situation I imagine (I say that but there’s another village school not far in a similar location) but parents were still expected to navigate the situation.

Sounds a good option. Did the LA or highways sort the cameras?

This is the way to do it! I would also add a photo!

Obviously like any road restrictions you can still drive down if you live there. I live a couple of streets away and it doesn’t clog any further streets because there is permit parking and you can’t park on the surrounding residential streets.

Take a photo of the registration and report to 101 and also the school headmaster.

The standard of driving and parking including on the zig zags by both my kids schools (on the same site) is generally pretty dire.
There’s a road on a bus route and also the school drive for kids to navigate. The teaching staff at the juniors don’t come out to try and manage it and I don’t blame them really.
There’s a huge amount of children that seem to have no road safety awareness so it’s even more important for drivers to be vigilant and keep the zig zags free.
I’m highly un popular with many of the zig zags users as I drop off the min the gates open, and have no qualms about standing in front of their bonnet ‘trying’ to cross the road as they zoom in and want to zoom off again.

Our Head Teacher is out there every morning and afternoon, in a high viz jacket, telling them to move.
Anyone who doesn’t comply gets their registration put on the weekly newsletter.

My DCs school actually has a car park where that sort of system would be theoretically possible, but they’ve had to lock the car park at drop off / pick up times because there were too many parents driving dangerously in the school car park.

Our school is a Victorian building with two car parks. One has 12 spaces and definitely no space to allow people to drive round so that children can 'hop out'. The other is a small area of land reclaimed from the school field, which again, has space for about 15 cars. The only way a drive through system would work here would be if we paid many thousands of £ to cover part of the field with tarmac to create a roadway. Or to allow parents' cars to churn up part of the field by driving across it. And of course, either of those would reduce the size of the field even further. We are definitely not the only school like this in our area, and a lot of schools locally have even smaller, or no car park at all.

Does that not just clog up the next street down? And what about residents?

Schools need to have a drive through system where they drive round the school car park and kids hop out and everyone moves on. Do parents get out the car and take their kids in? Or are they just stopping for 30sec for kids to jump out?

Our school has stopped traffic driving on the street during the morning and afternoon. I love it.
If parents can’t be trusted to abide by the rules and park safely than banning them from driving near the school seems like the best option.

Ours just pull up next to the rails and the child gets out the other side of the car into the middle of the road, with no concern for safety!

All schools round here put out cones morning and afternoon to stop people parking on the zigzags and double yellows. They have a staff member out front of school also to keep an eye on it. Our lollipop man used to challenge them politely but he got so much abuse and threats that he stopped, he's an elderly man! I honestly find it baffling that people will park dangerously outside their children's school 😳

You need to campaign for a school street. If parents aren’t able to drive and park safely then they shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the school. The SS goes some way to stopping them.

The school near me puts 3ft statuette/signs of cartoon police men holding signs about parking safety at 6ft intervals along the zig zags during the school day, so you can’t actually park on the zig zags.

ETA: like this signs2schools.co.uk/product/school-safety/kiddie-road-signs/police-officer-kiddie-cut-out-pavement-sign/

We've had the school streets system for some years now. Solved it for us as time limit is well before the children's arrival. Took a while to get staff passes though.

Our local schools are on a road with some houses - there are roads at either end. The council has made it so you can't drive into the school road during certain hours in the morning and afternoon (unless you live there and have an exclusion) or you will be fined. They have cameras at each end. There are several of these in our borough - where they can physically do it they have done it.

Bizarrely our school has set up a drop off point (signs and everything) actually on the zig zags...

I worked at a school where they put photos and number plates of offenders in the school newsletter. Name and shame approach. They also had the traffic enforcement officers out as often as possible. The headteacher would stand and remind people they couldn't park there. They'd put cones there. At one point they had year six standing there handing out leaflets about road safety.

It did cut it down, but unfortunately some people are cunts and nothing will get through to them.

I cant believe people have audacity to park on other people's drives!

Nope, zig zags, double yellows, across drop curb crossing points, never solved.

I did school runs at the same primary for a decade, so saw different parents come and go and when one parent leaves that school, the new reception parent takes their place.

I used to take photos and constantly send to the council to no avail. They agreed to send a warden one time, and sent them at HALF TERM!!!

Honestly, I gave up. I cannot fathom parents who dont care a jot about the safety of the kids. As opposed to just wanting their kids dropped off close to the gate.

Our school groundskeeper has to put cones up during drop off and pick up times and literally patrols the area. But they have just migrated and now block off a residential road and a care home entrance.

Its probably the same at every school. Mine is in a small village with parking in the square, a big carport 5 mins walk away and street parking on the hill directly outside the school. However due to the street parking you can only drive one car at a time down the hill (cars coming the other way have to reverse) but parents still block the hill by stopping directly outside the school office completely blocking the road for a few minutes while they run their kids in. Other parents probably get pissed off waiting behind them but say nothing. However I've witnessed men in vans having a go at these mums when they have been blocked by them which has been entertaining

I live opposite a school in a London borough. We have cameras which stops this.