To think these parents are being overprotective and mistrusting

[Dancergirl]

Parking is a major issue at my dds' school and is a real bugbear of mine. One of the problems is that it is a very narrow road and you get people parking on corners, on the kerb etc causing a lot of congestion.

One of the ideas we have had (I'm a parent governor) is a walking bus from the top of the road. I think this is a great idea and parents could be on a rota to walk with the children. It would mean crossing the road outside the school but is a short walk, about 3/4 minutes.

When I have discussed this with parents I am amazed at the number of parents who insist on going with their child to the classroom door and wouldn't want anyone else doing it. Hence they wouldn't be interested in a walking bus unless they walk every day with the children.

Am I missing something here? I think it would be great to drop them and be able to drive off knowing they were being walked to school. We're all parents, it's a small friendly school, I don't see the problem. One mum said she would only do it if she knew the other parent very well. And another said she felt it was her 'job' to walk them down

Your thoughts?

vallhalla - the difference between the walking bus parents supevising your Dc and them going with the parent of their friends to the park is this - first you KNOW the people who you are trusing your child to. second the school are not advocating and actively encouraging you to do so. to do this when they themselves then have no responsibility for the safety of those children on the walkng bus is wrong IMO

If I would not let another parent walk my child tyo school because of insurance then where does that stop.
Should I get insurance to cover my friend picking up DD to take her to the park with her DD, taking her to an ice skating party, to the zoo.
Do people really restrict their childs normal interaction with the outside world based upon whether there is insurance in place or not?

We do all realise that insurance does not prevent accidents don't we ?

inkyfingers, but it doesn't have to take all that organisation and CRBs? Surely if it was arranged by the parents without the school's involvement it would be considered a purely private arrangement. We managed it perfectly well in DDs old primary, with no insurance or CRBs, just good old fashioned common sense and willing hearts.

I appreciate that this isn't the case in the OPs circumstances but I do feel that any struggles with red tape could be avoided by cutting the school out altogether.

I am insured against accidents. No typhoon would dare come near me.

Oh dear Lord

Not at you Hully I can well believe it!

AS a local resident of a school with similar issues I wish you luck: parking is the bane of our lives!

We don't have a trip that is very long but if we did I wuld happily use such a thing with my older dc's. It was trialled at school (a carpark on outskirts of village was offered) but parents refused it. A great shame.

Altinkum, I take (took, really, my DDs are teenagers now) that risk and would do so again.

When my DDs went to play with a friend whose mother I only knew via conversations at the school gate, just for example.

They didn't TTBOMK, have CRB checks and I certainly don't. Nor am I insured for taking a child to the zoo, but I've done it both with my and other DC.

And with most schools, unless they are really large, you do have a rough knowledge of the parents and their children. Besides, it would be a rare walking bus where there was no-one other than a sole, unsupervised by other adults, helper. With a walking bus you are leaving your child with more than one parent, and unless they are all complicit in some sort of abuse or neglect, which is getting into the realms of fantasy, a child is as safe as he would be going to school with, say, an aunt or a friend's mum.

I'd try a walking bus in theory - in practice my schedule varies so much I suspect I wouldn't be a reliable volunteer.

The other issue is that there is a child (friend of DC) I sometimes collect and he is a total PITA and can't be trusted to walk properly. I usually end up with his hand firmly clasped in mine but you couldn't do that with a busful of children. As his mother is a friend of mine I wouldn't want to be the one telling her that he was being expelled from the bus!!

It would be interesting if the OP set up a walking bus 4 days a week, so that parents could still 'go in and talk to the teacher' on the 5th day and see what worked better for parents and school.

Surely a child is safer on a prroperly supervised walking bus than trying to cross and dart between badly aprked cars around a packed school gate?

It's not ahrd though (ex guider here LOL)- you have an adult in front, one behind, and one in teh centre of the road watching them pass: with a high vis on I honestly would say it's safer, certainly compared to the parking we get around here.

It would depend on ages etc though.

dd is in junior infants (reception) and other than the first few weeks she had a broken leg i've never felt any special need to walk her myself. She quite often walks home with her friend and her mother (and vice versa) or hops in her best friends car and heads off with her without so much as consulting me!

even at playschool she'd often be offered a lift by mothers as it was raining (i didn't have a car then) and was never bothered.... all of her friends are the same and it's very common for mothers to ring me during the day and ask me to grab their child too and it's never been an issue. ds1 is 3 and is also happy to go with friends as are all the ther playschool kids. Toddler group ends at school pickup time and it's common for one mother to rush up to the school and grab all the kids while other mothers bundle her preschoolers into their cars and catch up later.

the only time i feel obligated to be at school pickup is when i need something signed by another playschool committee member

I've just sued my friend who took DD to Legoland and only bought her a balloon, thus ruining her life.

I would have thought that a gruoup of parents with 7 yo of their own could probably supervise a group of 7 yo walking to school.

We are not talking aobut a bunch of disinterested teenagers, but parents, whose children would also be in the bus.

I and my friend walk 6 children to school daily...just arrangements between friends. We cope.
Although we are considering suing each other at some point. I have insured myself against other people's children.

The walking bus has been very popular at my dc's school. To be honest, most parents walk their children to school anyway as the catchment area is so miniscule. But there is a walking bus for some children which does about a 10 minute walk and is popular and there have never been any problems with it afaik.

Oh, and YANBU and any parent who won't do this is the reason we have traffic problems.

I hate this "walking more than 5 m to school will damage my child irreperably" merchants.

I do feel sorry for people who perceive life to be full of risks and are cowed by those perceptions.

Perhaps your school needs a "drop them at the gates" policy.
It seems to me the problem lies in the fact that parents are allowed into the classroom or the school building in the morning.

actually my DCs are all fully insured against accidental Hully

Bibbity
me too.
The school across the raod from me have to take the children acroos this very busy road to getthem to the park for some games. I wonder if they have to deal with parents refusing.
DD has had lunch in the main school across the road every day since she started in pre-prep. I have seen the teachers with one class assistant shepherd 15 girls across withoutthe world collapsing in upon itself.

I wonder if my attitude is shaped slightly by having a child with SN?
having one son who cannot do things because he cannot develop in some areas beyond about 3 years, I delight in my other childrens independence and abilities - seeking to expand and encourage them rather than waiting fearfully for moments when they are 'off the leash'.
My son is forced into a sad dependence upon me and his enjoyment of life is curtailed and diminished by this. I would not do anything that even faintly echoed that in the lives of my other two