Primary school gate fiasco

[Walkies5678]

Attached is a map of where I live showing 3 ways to enter my child’s primary school. The yellow route is (some of) my walking route from my house, along a side road, across the main road and then into the closest gate. Since October the gate on this route has been closed for both pick up and drop off (has been closed for pick up for 2+ years) Initially because of acorns on the path, then ice, now poly tunnels being put up for outdoor play (no idea what the poly tunnels have to do with the gate) They’ve also said they want everyone to come through the main entrance (blue) so they can see who is coming onto the school site. Orange cross is where a teacher stands at a classroom door, Red Cross is where the caretaker stands, both of which can see the gate. I absolutely hate walking my children along the blue route. The village is on the route from a small town to a bigger town, the main road very busy at that time in the morning and I feel children are being put at unnecessary risk by being made to walk this extra length. The main entrance is also the vehicle entrance for staff/deliveries/builders, and there are often vehicles arriving at drop off. I have been complaining quite consistently since it was closed hence all the excuses but today the head told me it was now permanently closed for the poly tunnels, she is really flappy and doesn’t handle confrontation well at all, before I could ask any questions she said that one of the governors is happy to discuss it with me. They have already discussed the issue at a previous governors meeting and concluded to keep it shut (this was around December time, because of ice). He’s going to phone me next week apparently but I just want to know where I can go from here really, they are being absolutely ridiculous about it. The chances of a child being snatched on school property swarming with parents and teachers is pretty much nil yet it seems to be their main focus and road safety doesn’t come into it. The caretaker cannot be bothered to walk down and open and close the gate is what I actually believe is the issue, nor could he be bothered to sweep the acorns off the path or grit it. He’s also on the governors board so I feel it was easy to get it to go his way as no one on the governors board would actually give a toss either way. Where can I go with this if there’s no progress from my phone call with the governor that’s offered to speak to me on the phone?

It's also not really about your safety when you're happy to walk the yellow bit which is far longer.

If you're bothered about the blue road, campaign for measures to traffic calm on that part of the road.

Sympathies OP. My dc school uses 2 entrances, it would be a massive faff if they closed the side entrance because the main entrance is in the other side of the site which is about 10 minute walk away (road layout). I don’t think they would though because more people use that than the main entrance and also it would increase the foot and vehicle traffic down the small road that the school is on so the residents would hate them for it.

You are right though, it is most likely because the caretaker doesn’t want to do the upkeep and the opening/closing and the school don’t want to post a staff member to it in the morning, which is unfortunate.

Challenge them on their reasoning because I don’t think they are being honest. Do the research on the crash data and canvas other parents. Is it a small or large number that would use your gate? If it is only small I can see why they don’t think it’s worth the effort to open it.

The school probably don't have a staff member spare to put on a gate. Really it should be 2 staff members in case one is taken up by parents etc. Most primary schools don't have 4 spare members of staff at that time of the morning.

I think this is almost certainly the case, rather than the caretaker can’t be bothered 🙄 the decision would lie with school leaders not with the caretaker, and will be based on safeguarding and supervision.

You can try to be a parent rep on the governing body. There will be a procedure to select these. Or, contact a parent governor. Then you will know who your allies are-if any.

This, almost definitely.

If it was just down to safeguarding from the start then I wouldn’t think he had anything to do with it. Also he has remarked to me before, when speaking about a different gate that gets closed to stop access to a classroom after drop off, that he doesn’t want to walk to and fro from the bottom gate (the one I want opened) so he clearly does feel a type of way about walking to it. Anyway my point is, even when it was something as simple as sweeping some acorns off the path the preference was still to have the gate closed, at this point safeguarding hadn’t been mentioned and the only person to gain anything from it being closed was him by not having to sweep the path or open the gate. Just to add he’s also an older guy and seems pally with the head, and like I said before is on the governors board.. I’m not saying he runs the place but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think he has some sway with the head.

Thank you!
Someone above kindly posted the crash website so have had a look, there’s a few on there but unless I pay I can’t see which ones involve pedestrians and the incident I know of from a couple of years ago isn’t on it strangely.
Of the parents that walk, this would be the most used gate but a lot of parents drive and use the purple path from the car park, also the people that walk from the other direction have the option of using the purple path rather than the main road the other side so the only people that actually have to use the main entrance are the ones forced up from the yellow gate.

Schools are all under pressure to reduce the risk of someone with bad intentions accessing the site. What you want makes the site far less secure. My old primary school has far tighter security than when I was a pupil there but I accept that the perceived risk to children is far higher now. Ask yourself this, if someone with a knife or gun managed to get onto the school grounds , would you be one of the parents immediately blaming the school for putting your child at risk? Just accept that a single entrance is the current 'best practice' for most schools.

I have to walk the first part of the yellow bit either way as that’s where I live, the only difference is where the blue splits off from the yellow. The blue route is longer but it’s not about that, I’d still be happier doing the yellow if it meant a longer route.

There are talks about a school safety zone as speeding is a big problem in the village but nothing imminent.

But from looking at the nap,the purple path ends at the same entrance as the blue path so all children are entering by the same door/gate. The yellow path doesn't seem to come out to that school entrance,hence the higher risk. I really think you are clutching at straws blaming the school. Instead I would suggest contacting the council to see if pavements could be widened or protective fencing put in edge of pavement (but then that might make it even narrower for pushchair users).

Schools have become increasingly stringent on entry points due to the even the tiniest risk of mentioning safeguarding.

When I went to school there were no fences, gates and even as a teacher after that the same. Now it's all fobs and if you don't have one you can be imprisoned in a corridor, which is surely a huge safeguarding issue in event of evacuation!

The decision will be from above, not a case of the caretaker suddenly refusing to do something he's done always. These decisions are ALWAYS from someone at the top who jas a strong opinion on something. Really high fences, locked gates, have to ring reception to get in and out.

I just think the risks aren’t weighed up. Minimising the possibility of someone with bad intentions entering the school site is obviously important but so is making sure children safely get to school in one piece, one is prioritised over the other not proportionately to the risk in my opinion.

I don't think you will get anywhere with school. I think your energy would be better spent on getting a '20's plenty' zone in place along the main road.

Risks are weighed up though.

Risk assessment, health and safety officer visits, safeguarding visits, logs of accidents and near misses, reporting to governors and scrutiny, OFSTED inspections, safeguarding visits, government guidance (Keeping Children Safe in Education).

There is no way that schools are not weighing up risks.

Could you go the yellow route then cross the little grassed bit behind the bushes to enter the blue gates missing out the main road? or is there not a pathway from the yellow gate to the blue gate so you can avoid the main road blue route?