Parents standing on my front lawn

[Twizbe]

Trying to decide if I say something to the Head so thought I'd ask here first.

I live next to a 2 form entry junior school. Our house is the last of 3 down a single track private dead end road. The end of the road is a gate for the school. Our property boundaries the school.

When we moved in this gate was just emergency access / gardener access for the school. No kids used this entrance.

After covid the school use this gate for year 6. Since the schools went back after Xmas we have 60 kids using this gate morning and evening.

A few times now I've seen parents stood on our lawn or in sunny weather sat on it.

Today I came home and this bloke was stood almost at our front door playing with the leaves on a young tree in the lawn (it's about waist height)

He just gave me a dirty look at I turned my car into my drive.

AIBU to ask the school to remind parents that this is private property and not a place to sit / stand.

@Cocolapew

Turn the hose on them

This, to be honest

I wonder if they think you’re the CF - driving down the LEA private road and parking in a driveway to pick up and drop off your kids - hence the dirty looks.

YANBU. You might want to consider installing an automatic sprinkler system, with the sprinklers timed to switch on about 10 minutes before drop off and pick up times.

@themalamander

Get a ring doorbell and tweet the school with the video every day. It'll embarrass them into sorting it out.

In my experience, schools never bother to sort things like this unless they get publicly shamed for it. Eventually they will have a teacher or someone at the gate to keep parents in check.

Why is school responsible for twatty parents?

@DumplingsAndStew

Some people are brazen. I'd say, every time, to every person "can you please get out of my garden, thanks". Do the school kids do it too?

I'm also wondering why parents need to be picking up year 6 kids from the gate, isn't that like 10/11 year old??

I know most kids will be fine to leave school themselves at that age but please try not to be judgy, my will need picking up from the gate until he is about 16 probably due to special needs. Also parents may be ferrying them to activities, they may live a drive away etc

Talk to the school first, give them say until next week, then the hose.

How can anyone not know that it's totally fine to ask people not to stand on your private garden shock

@FlyingBurrito I now live under a cloud of hate from half the neighbours after I dared to ask nightmare neighbours feral visitors to do just that after they waltzed on to it for the 50th only slightly exaggerating time.

NC here - I live opposite a school and this drives me mad. Parents and their children stand on my driveway. One particular parent never watches her child, he was up by my front door the other day! I only noticed as I could hear someone by the window and opened my curtains... same child has also ripped my daffodils out. There are also children that have played around the skip on the drive, and walk all the way up to my front door to play with cats (they stay there for a while). Had enough the other day when the same child was pulling the leaves out - as if the daffodils weren't enough?! Called out the parent on it, she called him but couldn't have cared less. I also have a tree at the edge of the drive and kids stand on it all the time. Drives me nuts!! I don't get why people think it's okay to stand on someone else's drive? I'd be mortified if that was my child!

YANBU op. We have a nursery close to where we live and people seem to think they own the road with dangerous parking, etc. So many residents and parents who walk to nursery complained that the management staff not only sent out a strongly worded newsletter but actually followed through by liaising with the council and local police and issuing instant fines for persistent offenders. The school shouldn't have any qualms doing the same. They'll remind the parents to be more considerate of local residents. The idiot man in your garden was definitely trespassing so I'd keep a lookout for him and if he does it again, threaten him by reporting him to the police.

DEFINITELY get some motion activated sprinklers.

Fence for sure.

In the meantime April has been very dry. You need a sprinkler on twice a day, at school start and finish times

I'd put a fence up with a sign stating 'private' or suchlike.

Holly? or hawthorn or both -nice & legal & no one can sue you because its nature
Like the idea of timed sprinkler

Yes raise with the school! How weird of them. Puts you in a really awkward situation.

@CombatBarbie

I'd have a timed sprinkler.....

Genius!

You need a sprinkler.

I know it’s missing the point but why do parents of year 6 need to collect from the gate ?

Are 11 year olds not capable of walking up the private road to their parents ?

And I wouldn’t be planting or putting up a fence either

Plant a prickly hedge

Please get a movement sensor camera and post the pictures on here!
Joking apart if it’s near your front door I would get a doorbell cam. Imagine if one of them damaged your car or other property.

Berberis makes a nice hedge.

To be frank I would just suck it up. If you live next to a school, you just need to accept that there is going to be activity at pick up and drop off times.

Does that include allowing people to walk all over your front garden?

Put up a fence. Holly planted behind it. Ask school to put on school newsletter every week.

Honestly, I really can't understand why you didn't say anything today. You don't have to be confrontational or rude but you could say politely
"do you realise you are in a private garden" - maybe some parents don't realise this - not sure why not but it could be an explantion.

Anyway YANBU and imo you should definitely contact the school and ask them to make it very clear that is is a private property and they shouldn't be in your garden or by your front door.

Also, I wouldn't put a picket fence up, it could easily get broken. Why don't you think about a hedge or some laurel bushes.

I’d 100% get a motion activated sprinkler

@feelslikeadream

Take photos on your phone and take them into the school. They can identify the parents/children and have a word with them about it. Just because you live near a school doesn't mean you have to tolerate that. Yes, you are bound to get traffic at pick up and drop off times and obviously some cf parents with parking but children running all over your garden causing damage, definitely not. These parents need to be called out. The school having a word with them would probably embarrass them and the will stop their totally unacceptable behaviour.