Parents (mostly mums) taking the mick dropping kids off to school (PARKING)

[Anotherragingmorning]

Another morning another battle trying to find parking outside school. With mums mainly huddled around in playground or standing outside their cars talking while other parents struggling to find parking spots.

My DC primary school on a road with one end busy road, other end parking restrictions. Opposite school houses with driveways that now (over summer hols) have had double yellow lines installed due to parents blocking driveways. School has opened up their car park to help out but only a few spaces available about 10 and road has about 15 so In total about 25 parking spots. Causing a huge lack of space now. Takes about 2-3 minutes to walk kids in and drop off. Yet cars are parked up for 10-15 minutes at times. I know it's parents because as soon as the bell goes all the cars disappear.

Since school started I am having to drive up and down several times before finding a slot. Lucky if someone pulls out just as I come in otherwise a constant battle.
Yes this is a 1st world problem but one none the less I am having to live through almost every day. Since school started 2+ weeks ago my 2DC have been late 4 times. This morning being 4th time, and been told by office next time they are it will be marked as late.

AIBU to think this is pure inconsideration for other parents needing to drop their kids off too? Do parents really think this is their slot for however long they choose to have it?

Thatstheendofmytether
I guess we’re just lucky. Our primaries don’t open early but the secondaries do (although most kids amble along as late as possible if my DS is anything to go by)

Best thing you can do instead of wasting 10 minutes looking for a space is Park a half mile away and get done exercise and walk the rest of the way into school.

All 10 pages in many ways are irrelevant . All the reasons nothing can change for you op are irrelevant.

All cars are parked legally . I walk to school but often chat to parents , sometimes it is just s chat , sometimes I am getting information I need , sometimes support .

The reality is you can’t change anyone else’s behaviour only your own . So you have batted all suggestions away . You need to find one for you.
The 11 year old could walk part of the way . The 1-2 friends needs expanding . My Ds has just started secondary , I set him challenges to speak to someone new for the first week .

Well if they’re parked legally then it is their parking space for as long as they want it.

Now there are some definite CFs at ds’s school. Across from the school is sort of indented and people park in that area. Then later comers have started parking next to the already parked cars as if they are the curb! so there are literally 2 cars parked side by side on the road. This means that the people who have parked correctly can’t get out or if they do the 2nd cars are left literally in the middle of the road! Today I parked up and ds was waiting to get out of the car with the door slightly ajar while waiting for cars to go past. Once car pulled up next to me, the mum got out and opened the child’s door into ds meaning that he couldn’t get out for even longer. Oh and I then had to reverse and go round her to get away to work. Now that’s cheeky!

A local school had parents moaning about the parking, demanding this and that etc. The school agreed to create a drop off in and out zone but the only land available was the playground. So now they have happy parents but maybe not so happy children? Be careful what you wish for!

I would leave early, and drop older child 3/4 of the way to school on a main pupil route in to the school early enough she can walk the remainder of the way safely & in the proximity of other pupils also walking to school such that she has time to arrive on time.
This would give extra time to drive near to primary school, park up a distance away from the congestion and walk the remainder.
I would spend some time on Google Earth looking in the local area, are the footpaths linking to the main road to the school from other locations perhaps? When my daughter was at primary most people parked near the front of the school but if I drove I parked on the estate near the back of the school, there was a gate from the estate into the school but this was less well known, so you could always find a space somewhere.

School runs/parking is hell. This is how a fucker parked next to me.

If you say so @gindaddy.

I'm not really sure what you meant to be honest. Why would someone who can't drive get upset about people parking? Why would they care?

Does a school have a legal right to FORCE you to move? Well, obviously not. But you've got to be a bit of a dick to not respond to a bit of a gentle reminder to be considerate. I can't think of many parents who'd dig their heels in and refuse to budge

My staff get sworn at when they try to ask parents not to block the road/path/car park. Now, we just call the police!

another

Dont know if my ideas will help, but having been in a very similar situation to you some years ago, as a single parent with 3 children at 3 different schools (DS1 walked to secondary, but I needed to take DD to her secondary, and DS2 to primary), plus the necessity to get into work by 9.15am 7 miles away (which meant that a long walk to primary school simply wasn't an option because that would make me late back to my car, and late for work), like sooo many others I really understand the often frustrating and tricky business of getting everyone to the right place at the right time.

Regarding your 12 year old: like yours, DD didn't have any secondary school friends who lived close to us, and she was physically small; she was mugged walking home by herself in year 7 which made her frightened to walk alone, plus after this neither of us were comfortable with her walking about 2 miles alone to school.

We resolved this by dropping her at around 8 at the house of a schoolfriend; they then left the friend's house together to walk around 2 miles to school from the friend's house - so my DD's walk was about the same distance as if she'd left from our house, but they kept each other company/safety in pairs. This arrangement worked successfully for many years, and gradually over time they 'collected' other friends along the way, and the group walked together. It became a very friendly journey, and she is still friends with these girls (she is now in her mid 20's).
Could this type of arrangement work for your 12 year old?

This gave me plenty of time to find a parking place near-ish DS2's primary school. We always parked in a quiet road a short walk from the school, maybe 5 or 10 minutes away and not right up by the school; would wait in the car until it was time to walk in - had a hot chocolate from a flask, read a book, sing songs etc; I then had time after drop off to return to my car, and drive to work in time. Once we were out and about in the mornings everything felt leisurely and unrushed, and those times in the car with my youngest have become very precious memories.

Would also suggest speaking to the head of your primary school about your ideas regarding a drop-and-drive arrangement for older children, and become proactive in trying to tackle the parking/dropping off issues at this school: develop a positive diaologue with the head; join PTA/Governers etc. Lots of other posters have offered some great advice.

Some people dropping kids off by car are shocking in their selfishness and sense of entitlement, and there's really not much you can do about that, but trying to pursue new solutions sounds far more satisfying than the current struggle you, and probably many other parents, try to deal with during this hectic drop off period.

Hope you can find positive solutions.

YANBU. It's like people lose their minds, and I do think they should hurry along in a morning.

Our DC go to a private school which is 95% nice parents but 5% total dickheads almost exclusively in enormous range rovers taking over the car park. One woman, who I've complained about several times, parks on the yellow disabled hatchings even when there's spaces free in the car park. There are disabled children in the school whose parents use those spaces. It's despicable but I now work there and if I didn't I would say something (but don't want to ruffle feathers, as cowardly as that is)

you know they are about to leave and you put on your hazard lights ready to pull in

for this alone YABU - hazard lights are not for use for drivers to just stop wherever the heck they please! This really does my nut in.

As in say something g directly to her. I've already complained to the school receptionist

However I do think YABU not dropping a secondary School aged child off earlier in case she gets wet in the rain. That's life I'm afraid. I used to walk 3 miles to school and would be dripping through some days, I just dealt with it!

Op I don't live near my dc's primary either anymore (due to divorce.) I'm s single parent and I have to be at work several miles away by 9am.

I have to leave the house by 8am. There's no choice in that if I want to get everyone where they need to be on time. Dd1 is dropped near her secondary school at around 8.15am. She can walk in and sit in her form room. Dd2 is also dropped near the secondary school and gets the bus to her primary school (which is around 1.5 miles away and the bus stops right outside the school.) She is 9. If I dropped her to school I would never get to work on time.

When they were both in primary I never parked near the school. It was always a few roads away because it was too much hassle getting through school traffic and most of the time quicker to park up and do the short walk. It also teaches your kids that they can use their legs and don't need to park on top of the school, or anywhere else.

My advice, leave earlier, park further away, encourage your older child to go and sit in her form room and basically encourage them to not rely on being ferried to the door each time. Let them walk the distance from parking further away/let them get wet/let them be more independent.

There is an obvious answer to all this. Walk!! All of you walk! Stop wrapping your 12 yo in cotton wool.
This way everyone gets to school on time, you save petrol money, it's better for the environment, the mums still get to talk to their friends.
You can't seem to see past everybody else changing what they do to suit you.

😂😂 fuck me!

All of us walk 🤣🤣🤣

So we will set off at 7am to get my dd1 to Secondary because it's an hours walk to her school. Then dd2 and I will trot along to do the further 40 minutes walk to her primary school to get her there on time. Then I will somehow fly I guess to work 14 miles away.

Then I will fly back to dd2d school at 3.15pm, pick up dd1 at 3.55pm after our walk from primary and get home at 5pm.

That sounds like fun!! 😬

the mums still get to talk to their friends

Its this one line that pisses me off. Yes OP you change what your doing so the mum's still get to talk to their friends. Please do fuck off and don't be so patronising whoever it was that said this!

More people need to walk bike... if that’s not possible send your child to a closer bloody school. It’s not the schools responsibility to make sure your on time for work that’s yours to pick a sensible school or pay for before/after school club. We leave before 8am to walk to school for the gates opening st 8:40am yet parents who live 5minutes away drive because I have to blah blah blah. Selfish pollutants.

Chillpizza in my case that is the nearest school!

Also remember that many children aren't getting places within their own catchment areas and quite often people move house for all different reasons and accept accommodation which is affordable to them but there is no room at the local school, hence a commute.

Maybe people need to realise people aren't always able to skip to school on a jolly school run for an hour. Some people need to get to work or don't live as near to the school as they would like for reasons above.

I don’t live near my children’s school I walk by three schools, I still walk them in. It’s healthy exercise and I don’t become the traffic or parking problem.

if that’s not possible send your child to a closer bloody school

Gosh if only we’d thought of that. We didn’t get any of our five choices for primary school. We put the five exact closest in order. We live 0.4 of a mile from our closest school.

How much closer should we have been expected to move?

Are those people saying everyone should walk all living in London?

We live in a village fairly close to the outskirts of town, our DC's school is about 2.5 miles away but 1 mile of that is a busy main 60mph road and frequently has HGVs hammering down it, with absolutely no pavements. We walk, we die.

if that’s not possible send your child to a closer bloody school

I forgot about all the invisible schools everyone has closer to their home

So we will set off at 7am to get my dd1 to Secondary because it's an hours walk to her school. Then dd2 and I will trot along to do the further 40 minutes walk to her primary school to get her there on time. Then I will somehow fly I guess to work 14 miles away.

Hang on, you walk for 2 hour with your kids (how do you manage in winter?!) then you walk an extra 14 miles to work, and then back in time for 3.15pm? Are you Doctor Who?