Page 2 | social distancing at pick up and drop off time

Macramacious · 10/09/2020 08:05

I have no idea what the logic is behind our schools thinking. There are 2 entrances to the school with reception, year 1 and 2 going in one side, and then the other years going in the other side. They've now introduced a one way system where we all enter from one side and leave from the other, but have to pass through a tiny gate to get to the classrooms. This creates a bottleneck and as soon as the gates open the crowd naturally surges forward and we all end up squashed together.

Kittywampus · 10/09/2020 08:14

Our school has staggered the drop offs by year, no provision for siblings in different years. There isn't anywhere else you can go in between slots so there are always lots of people hanging around. Trust me I'd rather not spend an hour of my day stood outside school!

Kittywampus · 10/09/2020 08:15

That sounds like a good idea @PickACoolUserName. I guess you would end up with a lot of people at the start and end of the slot, but if you want to be careful about SD you can make sure that you arrive in the middle.

redferrari · 10/09/2020 08:25

We have the same problem - I feel sorry for parents who have multiple children and have to hang around for 30-40 mins. I have emailed school to suggest a TA should receive the sibling from an alternate entrance and group them in year bubbles (if they exist) so a parent can leave immediately, but I don't think there are clear plans in place. The schools are figuring it out I guess. Drop off and pick up is a complete mess.

OhLookHeKickedTheBall · 10/09/2020 08:55

Just because Mumsnet loves a diagram (and DH is doing the school run today) I made this of the problem we have at my DC school. Red blocks show gates and entry/exit areas (except the random blue in the top right which should have been red). The blue toward bottom left shows a temporary barrier. The green is a fenced off garden/tree area.

My DC go to school B. Drop off is split in to 20 min slots, 2 year groups in each slot. Pick up is the same but 10 min slots. In each slot one year is meant to use one of the gates. Until they realised the carnage that caused and now allow some year's parents into the playground, there were two separate lots of parents and associated siblings of about 200 DC either in the allocated quad or on the pavement outside. If using the entry/exit that goes almost straight onto pavement you can't see if your child has been released because its set off behind large bushes. We were being encouraged to come forward and mill in the tiny exit zone as they wanted the DC gone ASAP.

School A have 30 min slots for drop off, slightly shorter again for pick up. 30 mins is not 30 mins after you've entered the ground, dropped you child off and managed to exit, so most don't have enough time to go home and back. Those parents and siblings are also expected to use the quad area. Many parents have DC in both schools.

Both schools have options that would make a lot more sense. School A has the option of using an exit/entrance through the staff car park - just to note the car park is out of usage during these times anyway so its not like there will be cars moving - and creating a one way system that reduces bottlenecking. School A also has individual playgrounds and buildings so could combine some years to reduce the varying times. School B have enough space in their playground to accommodate both year's parents and siblings albeit a bit tightly, and could also use one gate as in and the other as out, keeping people moving and not milling and one top of one another.

social distancing at pick up and drop off time

Kreacheriscleaning · 10/09/2020 09:07

I have been shouted at by parents 5 times since my school reopened on Monday. We have all non teaching staff outside to halo with directions and encourage distancing but apparently I am very unreasonable for expecting them to stick to their times, give each other (and me) a bit of space and use the one way system properly to avoid passing on narrow paths.
The vast majority of schools have processed in place but parent are ignoring them and we can’t police them.

Kreacheriscleaning · 10/09/2020 09:09

We do have provision for siblings in place though. I can’t understand why some schools have overlooked this.

Original poster

Mountainbreeeze · 10/09/2020 10:21

to those saying that adults need to take responsibility for their own behavior while i do understand and agree with that, it is quite clear that some adults are not doing so, therefore the schools need to reinforce SD or put systems in place to do so where its is not being done. also if you drop off at a certain time arrive at that time not not arrive 20 mins early to stand around and have a chat

OP posts:

sirfredfredgeorge · 10/09/2020 11:45

Your complaint was "parents gather early and chat for up to half an hour while waiting for their allocated drop off slot" so they're outside of the school, it's nothing to do with the school, and the school should focus on things it can control, if there's a public health reason that people shouldn't stand outside and chat, then it's the responsibility of the government or local council where delegates powers available.

In England, gathering outside to chat in groups of 6 is perfectly legal and within guidance.

Legoandloldolls · 10/09/2020 11:57

It's not too bad as a small school. Sometimes I stop and chat outside but I do keep 2m apart. Sometimes people come within 2m of me..sometimes we cant possibly keep 2m where we have to stand. Priority is keeping 10m back from.staff, not how far apart the parents are.

Parts of it make no sense but I just cant feel impassioned about it. I still stick to the rules. I dont want to turn into a frothing paranoid mess about what others do. If I want to stand to talk 2m from.someone on a public road outside of school property and not blocking anyone, then that's also my choice. I'm breaking no law or gov guidelines. School want us to not interact within sight of school, but meh. Sometimes you need to feel like you in a community.

I'm not going to get stressed. Follow the rules, dont question the logic, dont get wound up about others actions. Keep interactions going but without impacting others = better mental health.

Original poster

Mountainbreeeze · 10/09/2020 12:36

sirfredfredgeorge i am certainly not referring to groups of six or less and in this case they are infront of the gate within the outer fence of the school therefore on school property, the headteacher is also outside having conversations with parents

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FlouncerInDenial · 10/09/2020 12:41

@Mountainbreeeze

to those saying that adults need to take responsibility for their own behavior while i do understand and agree with that, it is quite clear that some adults are not doing so, therefore the schools need to reinforce SD or put systems in place to do so where its is not being done. also if you drop off at a certain time arrive at that time not not arrive 20 mins early to stand around and have a chat

Yeah, cos it always goes down sooooo well when schools try and impose rules for out of school!

Aragog · 10/09/2020 16:56

PickACoolUserName

That's the system we've been using - though its 20 minutes.
It seemed to work fine initially when it was just 6 classes and the flow seemed to have a natural spacing.
But this week we have added in another 3 classes as reception have started, and we are getting more bottle necks and more and more are arriving at the same time, rather than the initial natural flow. Drop off in a morning is worse than pick up so far.

Hence us advising masks now. The staff who are supervising the gates and the school entrances are also being asked to wear masks and/or visors at drop off too. I did from the start, as soon as I knew I was going to eb soon at a main entrance.