School parking, what works?

[Roguebludger]

Are there any schools out there that have really good solutions for school parking issues? Are there any initiatives that have successfully reduced the amount of parents that drive or helped improve considerate parking? I would love to help my children's school improve on what is a dangerous time of day and examples of good practice are much appreciated!

I live in a Cardiff School Street Zone. Only permit holders can enter the area between certain times of the day. Has made things much quieter for everyone.

The only school where I see it work, a school near me has a big courtyard where cars can get in up to 8:40 (they start at 8:50) but parents are not allowed to park, they have a one way system with a designated drop off area (about 4 cars can stop at a time) so parents that need to drive (for whatever reason) don’t park illegally nearby, and it’s quite controlled so kids are not running near cars… of course it’s not ideal for very young kids… but works quite well for kids after P2…

A local primary did a walking bus for many years until it ran out of money/volunteers to run it. It walked through a local park to a public car parking area

Encourage 'park and stride'? ie park 10 mins away and walk from there?
Get local council wardens round randomly ticketing/moving people on?
Make the school really really good so school catchment area decreases until only those within walkable distance get in?
Stickers for pupils who don't get driven in for the last bit at least?
Teach the children about safe parking so they nag their parents?

No great insight, sorry.

In my experience, no. I spent many years teaching and quite a few visiting different schools. I have never yet found one where parking isn’t an issue.

Lots of things have been tried- walking bus, incentives to walk, PCSOs outside, crossing patrol, letters from the head and probably many more. People will tell you they have to use their car to drop off and pick up because they’re on their way to work; they’ll say they need to run the engine to keep the children warm; maybe it’s raining or snowing, or too hot and the car has aircon.

Even when there are car parks nearby, people prefer to park as near to the school as they can, so when everyone tries to do that, conflict is the result. I suppose if there was some inconvenience that stopped people parking inconsiderately, like being clamped or fined, it might concentrate the mind, but you can’t do that. How many times do you read on here, about people blocking driveways or even parking on drives because ‘I’ll only be a minute’.

We have walking prizes. If a class has the highest number of children who walk scoot or cycle they win the prize that week.

Thank you, some really good points here. I don't think there can be an easy fix or they would all do it. I never like to complain with a solution so maybe a combination of things could work to reduce the issues. It also has to be more of a partnership with the council parking enforcement. Have any schools successfully used cameras and passed evidence for tickets to be issued?

Be careful with these. These schemes are usually very poorly designed. It is discrimination against any child with needs that means walking is not possible. DD who dislocates stuff would struggle at certain times of year and DS who was in a wheelchair was entirely excluded from a govenment run scheme.

You will also alienate any parents of these kids also those who work who don't have time to walk.

I think you have to make sure you don't lose more as a school in terms of parental goodwill than you gain

It would help if they let children younger than year 6 walk to school on their own.

Class award?!?! So their peer pressure on the kids that cant too? I missed that on the first read

Bloody hell that really is properly crap for inclusion. Tbh that was the type of thing that would put me off a school entirely

I don’t think schools can solve this problem - it is parents who are driving & parking irresponsibly, and many who are too lazy to park & stride.

I’ll accept some people have a genuine need, and there is a drop off circle for those at our school, but there’s a parent at my DD’s school who runs a business in the town (so is not “driving on to work”), every day parks his massive branded SUV on a road that is meant to be closed to non-residents at drop off/pick up (many families walk down it, it is a cul de sac and cars u-turning etc were a danger to children). I for one will make sure I never use his business, but he clearly doesn’t care about the bad PR.

Also, when the local high school has an inset day, the road past the other side of school which we cross (not the closed one) is significantly quieter/easier to cross. So parents at the high school are using the road as a cut-through rather than make their little darlings get up earlier & walk. I would like this road closed (properly, with barriers) part way along to stop it being used as a rat run.

our catchment high school has a drop off point , works well approx 8 cars can drop and go at any one time. Makes life easier if you have to go to work straight from drop off.

I think it would need to be a combination of better school transport options and creating a safe place for parking within walking distance.

Ours is a small village school. The vast majority of parents walk. There are some, like us, for whom walking isn't feasible. We live about 2 miles away (a mile of which is on a 60mph A road with just a grass verge). Even if walking was safe, we wouldn't have time for 40+ minutes of walking as need to get to work.

I would absolutely use a school bus if that was made available to us, or a car park or big safe place to park and walk to school from. We don't have any of that here.

Lots of "school streets" here in London too. They close the road the school is on just for half an hour twice a day. Residents still allowed through, not sure how it works with deliveries etc. They seem to work well.

Our local council has a scheme whereby local schools can apply to shut the roads immediately outside their school with temp barriers at the times immediately surround drop off & pick ups. The caretaker does the barriers daily. Obviously this doesn't work in all situations but seems to work well for some local schools

You can't stop people driving, you could have a huge multistorey car park across the road and there would always be Those Parents parked up on the actual road from 2.30pm with their engines running

One school near me pays TAs to start from 8.15am and they meet the kids in the car park and send them into the hall where the kids sit down in rows, no one takes off coats or moves, they just read or whatever until 8.50 when they go into the class rooms. This means the car park has a high turn over so no one needs to park on the road or hang around.

Our primary had a 10 minute gate opening window, for 3 form entry, and unattended kids not allowed in the playground even in year 6. Absolute fucking carnage. Not a distance catchment school either.

Proper planning.
We have a college, a 11-16 secondary school and primary school all in close proximity

The Primary school is the one without a drop off point or parent parking...

This is ridiculous, some kids don’t live in walking distance, and that’s not their fault.

Drop off lanes work well, if the layout means they can be used safely.

My DC’s primary school was large - 3 form intake per year. The school moved to a purpose built site, with a small parent car park plus drop off points, but parking was always a huge nightmare. The whole school finished at 3:25 & some folks were getting there as early as 2:30pm to park up! Bonkers

The only time it eased was when kids were allowed in early (before the 8:55 start time) due to bad weather. Parents raised this but were always told it wasn’t possible to change anything.

During covid staggered start & pickup times were introduced for each year group & parents & carers only allowed as far as the school gates..

These have continued now everyone is back in full time & the parking issues, whilst not solved, are way better than they were.

Each year group has a 10 minute window. If you miss it your child has to wait until everyone else has gone in/exited before they can enter/leave. There is some sort of provision for sibling groups larger than 2, so that there is just one pick up/drop off time

I've never seen it work well at all.
Our Primary has an agreement with the local supermarket that parents can park there which is honestly only 400 meters away, but still nope. Pulling up and kicking the kids out in front of the gates, blocking driveways. It's disgraceful.

I don't think so
The school at the top of my road has a car park next to the school. It's maybe 15m from the entrance, and on the same side of the road. No restrictions and free
Yet still, they park on the junction

Whereas it would make me like the school. I think for any child who physically can't walk/scoot to school then it could be put onto parent instead to park appropriately or just that child is counted as 'having walked'.

First day of rain in weeks here and the extra nunber of cars dropping their kids to school is ridiculous! parents i have seen walking to and from school every day since term started are now suddenly driving Just cause of a bit of rain

School Streets- your council can look to implement one

Asking nearby businesses to allow parents to park in their car parks? Pubs especially as they aren't open.

Our local Morrisons allows/encourages this and then people walk from there instead.

We also have a school street system, where you can't drive outside the school, for about a 3 street radius during drop off and pick up times. It means you can park close enough to have to walk a short distance if you have to drive, but it means no cars at all outside school at drop off/pick up. Obvs residents of those streets are exempt.

I love it, and think it works really well. This is in London though, where there are lots of nearby streets to park in, and where people tend not to drive much anyway.