Would you write to the Head Teacher if....?

[ampere]

Once again, your DS - and many others on a daily basis- narrowly missed being hit by another DC as they hurtled on their bikes and scooters at breakneck speed down the footpath/bikepath outside the school?

It's a tarmac'ed path, perhaps 1.5 m wide and has no markings on it. It abuts one fence on one side, and there's a 1m grass/leaves/twigs strip to the right before that boundary fence. It passes through some woodland and has a reasonable slope on it (and also runs with water after rain)! I'd say at least 50% of the DCs exit the school that way ie 200+, and many with a parent.

Just about every day you witness near misses as 5 and 6 year olds- as well as older DCs whizz hell for leather, veering wildly this way and that weaving through the other parents and DCs as they walk down the path, homewards.

2 separate paths lead off this main path, to the right (as you head downhill), into Closes. Today, we were just about to take the second of these when JUST IN TIME I spotted the perhaps 7 year old HURTLING down the grass/twiggy strip on his BMX, COMPLETELY unable to stop EVEN if he'd had the experience and maturity to realise that there was every possibility that people WOULD be hanging a right here; I JUST had time to yell at my DS to 'STOP!' before what would have been a nasty collision happened! The cyclist looked at me in consternation, I readily admit I glared at him then looked up the hill to see if any parent was showing the slightest sign that this was their DC and that an accident had been narrowly averted! Needless to say, no luck.

Now, I appreciate that the path is outside the school's control BUT the school never miss an opportunity to remind us that the Close on which the school sits is 'parking restricted' and that absolutely no school traffic is allowed on it! So would it be unreasonable of me to write to the Head suggesting he might like to remind both the DCs at assembly and the parents via ParentMail that they are responsible for any accidents their DCs cause should they hit anyone on the bike path?

I am relatively new to the school (one term) so I am not sure if this is a perennial 'hot potato'!

What do you think? Would you?

I should ad this is a 4-11 primary.

I think the scooter/bike issue is one many schools have. Our Head regularly includes pleas in her letters home not to ride dangerously outside school. Of course riding bikes etc is banned on school premises, but it's up to the parents whether they police their children on the way home.

I am always dodging flippin' scooters and once a kid rode straight into the back of my legs and flew off the scooter. The mother ran up to comfort her precious child and didn't say a word to me!

Also I REALLY hate it when a kid rides/scoots up from behind, says "Excuse me" in a very firm tone, then goes past. Two seconds later they're waiting for their mother, so I overtake, then the kid scoots up again, "Excuse me!" and so on and so on all the way down the road.

One day I swear I'll grab a scooter and break it into fifty pieces.

Back to your question: mention it to the Head by all means - I'm sure other parents will have complained as well.

I wouldn't write but I would speak to her about it or ask one of the parent governors to deal with it at one of their interminable meetings