School Run will be Fun

[FlySheMust]

The story so far -

I live opposite a secondary school built pre war and extended many times.

It occupies a corner plot. I live in a lane opposite one of the entrances. It's a narrow lane and school run parking has always been a problem. No room to park both sides and allow passage of traffic. Which doesn't stop some idiots. Police, fire brigade have to get involved a few times a term. Sometime all the residents park on the road themselves so there is no room for parents, when it has got too much.

Around the corner is a main road so there is room to park on both sides but it causes big problems for lorries and buses. So double yellow lines arrived there on one side last year. It didn't stop the more selfish parents, hence the frequent visits by PCSOs.

The local pub has a large car park nearby and the church allows parking in their car park. Both of these are within 500 yards of an entrance. But parents still try to park on the road.

And now - parking on the main road has been restricted on both sides between certain hours, coinciding with the school run. It was always going to be more difficult because there are now staggered starts and finishes and some parents are going to want to wait for the other sibling.

Most of the children who attend the school live within a couple of miles and there is a good bus service so there is no need for so many parents to drop off and pickup.

I think I may hibernate on Thursday.

Anyone else dreading the return of the school run?

Can you organise residents parking on your road for the first week just to put off yr7 parents totally and to remind everyone else?

Not that this should be the solution (parents should learn how to use their legs) but ... is the school running a "staggered start" system? At least this will prevent everyone arriving all at once.

Sorry - you do mention staggered starts!

There's a push locally here to avoid public transport so there might be more in cars than usual (though there's also a big push on bikes and walking).

The staggered start means that parents with DCs in different groups will expect to park and wait for the second DC.

I think it likely we'll move our cars into the lane the night before.

I’m constantly stunned by the stupidity of driving parents. A primary near me has the use of a massive sports club car literally a minutes walk away, they still park all over the roads and grass.

I have an agreed pic up point for DC near secondary school. It means she has a 5 minute walk and I don’t get involved with any school traffic, saves me loads of time.
I’ve worked in schools where parents turn up over an hour before end of day to get a good waiting spot in their car. I don’t know why anyone can’t use their legs at all.

What is it with parents and selfish and inconsiderate parking? The headteacher of the primary school nearest to me has begged and pleaded with parents to have some consideration for the schools ‘neighbours’ as he calls them. But they don’t a blind bit of notice and continue to double park, block junctions, block driveways, block the teachers cars in etc. It’s horrendous. At another primary school nearby residents blockaded their estate to stop parents parking which resulted in the police being called after parents threatened the residents.

I don’t get it? Just get off your buts and walk your kids to school like we always did. Funny you didn’t see as many overweight kids then either..

What I find strange is that DS walks a mile and a half each way to high school. It takes him about 30 minutes, he enjoys the walk and it gives him time to clear his head on the way in, and to get to know class mates walking the same way on the way back (he's in S1, Year 7 in English money). This is perfectly normal round here and probably for at least another half mile away from the school. The children walking to and fro in uniform chatting with their pals is like the ebb and flow of the tides and has been one of the lovely "normal" things to see.

I get that due to location of either home or school, in some cases it might not be safe to do so, but honestly, why are people putting themselves though this?

I feel for anyone living near a school. The staggered starts/ends will mean that people will sit in their car for longer waiting for next child to come out.

I am not looking for to the pick ups either. The parents congregate in a small area and SD will be impossible!

yes, I do feel for you. I agree with pp and suspect it may be even worse due to more parents dropping off. We have been told not to use public transport if we can possibly avoid it, bus seevices still massively reduced and only allowing small numbers on,so I will be dropping dc off at least initially, wehn they used to get the bus, and I know lots of parents in tha same position. Ive also got staggered start times for min, 1 at 8.30, 2 at 9, but will have to leave them all at 8.30 so I can get to work. Guess the youngest 2 will have to wait outside school for half an hour which seems a bit stupid, but literally nothing else I can do.

I agree with earlier poster and cannot understand why people need to park so close to the school, on drop kerbs etc.

Our local primary is very congested at pick up time but drive about 200 m up the road and there is parking but many (usually mums) prefer to bump up onto the kerb/straddle the pavement so walking children are unsafe etc... It's ignorant and unsafe and again the headteacher has constantly asked these mums not to do it bet they do't listen.

@Namechangeforthis88

What I find strange is that DS walks a mile and a half each way to high school. It takes him about 30 minutes, he enjoys the walk and it gives him time to clear his head on the way in, and to get to know class mates walking the same way on the way back (he's in S1, Year 7 in English money). This is perfectly normal round here and probably for at least another half mile away from the school. The children walking to and fro in uniform chatting with their pals is like the ebb and flow of the tides and has been one of the lovely "normal" things to see.

I get that due to location of either home or school, in some cases it might not be safe to do so, but honestly, why are people putting themselves though this?

well I imagine as you say it is due to location. We live 3 miles away from our school, along a very dark unlit 60 mile an hour road. No way are my teenagers walking an hour each way along that every day, through the dark in the winter.

Precisely. In some cases it is just not possible for children to walk to school safely.

In the rare instances when DCs need a lift what's wrong with parking a few hundred yards from the school and walking the rest of the way?

There's no excuse for blocking roads, dropped kerbs, parking on the pavement and sitting outside with the engine running for half an hour, having got there early to reserve your favourite spot.

Until we are prepared to see a car licence as a privilege, such behaviour will be allowed to continue.

I'd impose a congestion charge for anyone in the area, unless there is a disabled child or parent, or over a certain distance when they joined the school. Or for primary schools, those who walk their child to school would be first in the queue for secondary places- people are prepared to fake their faith and go to church for years, so they could walk.

It will never happen though.

You have described a road near a school in my neighbourhood and what the residents of that street have done have all clubbed together for a moveable fence which they place at the entrances of the street at the relevant times so no one can drive in but if a neighbour wants to drive out They can just move the fence drive out and move it back or have someone move it back for them.

Our council is introducing school streets this term. Essentially, only residents may drive down roads directly outside local schools during pick up and drop off times. It is designed primarily for the safety of the children but also to deter people from driving to school. All our schools have tiny catchments so I guess this solution is better suited to areas like ours than rural locations. Mainly, though, I am pleased that the usual hoardes of learner drivers doing their parking manoeuvres directly outside our primary school at pick up will be no more!

Thought I'd report back in case anyone is interested. :)

Residents' cars along one side of the lane did not deter the parents from parking to drop their DCs off. So the road constantly blocked and a few head to head standoffs. Hope fully it has annoyed them enough to not want to do it tomorrow and to park elsewhere.

What was concerning was when siblings with different allocated times were dropped off together and clusters of them blocked the entire pavement. They were reluctant to move when requested by pedestrians. I imagine the school will get a few angry phone calls today. No attempt at social distancing from the young ones at all.

I don't know what the answer to this is.

Cattle pens as holding spaces in the school yard for early siblings. Reckon it could work.

Ours go straight to tutor group. Dreading it. One walks to school. One gets a lift as they have disabilities. They will have to go their dad's to wait.

They should abandon staggered drop offs, the fact the students are congregating outside waiting to be pet in is inevitable.