School parking

We have an ongoing problem at the school beside us. They have just announced they are going to build extra classrooms and double the size of the intake.
The school entry criteria allows for uncle Tom Cobbly and all before our neighbourhood children hence all the cars parked in the surrounding streets.
We found out the plans with only 48 hours to spare for objections, DH has e-mailed various people and within 12 hours we had a reaction from our councillor who has promised to inform the authorities of the estate's worries.
Police are already involved in the main approach to the school but parents just started parking in the streets around the estate.

Went to visit DD2 at the weekend for DGD’s birthday party. Don’t wish to boast but, for second year running won a prize (Haribo-yuk!) for dancing. Baby shark since you ask. Spoiled by SIL who said as he was dancing too, bar was low!
Anyway other GPs live near a primary school, posh village, usual parking problems and Police had to be called cos there was nearly a fight!!

Oh Eazibee what a tale-unbelievable! Well, actually not sadly.
I’m a great believer in live and let live. If we all showed consideration for each other wouldn’t it be wonderful? I have every sympathy for harassed parents trying to get children to school before heading for work but honestly, some of the behaviour (and language in front of children) defies belief!

eazibee - your story sounds like the ultimate nightmare. Wouldn't it be great if they had those pop-up bollards installed, which popped up during morning and afternoon sessions so no-one could get near the school and had to use the car park.

It’s a shame that these little schools are closed down, the village we now live in has quite a big thriving school, which I imagine takes in children from smaller villages, a school bus delivers them, and I have to say, I see a lot of families walking.

I don’t know what their secret is, but I’ve been around at the end of the school day, and seen very little congestion, admittedly it’s at the end of an estate where a large proportion of the children probably live, so can be there in five minutes, maybe it’s different if it’s tipping with rain!

easybee. What is it about Councils and selfish parents for that matter?
I feel your pain.
There once was a lovely one teacher village school a couple of miles away from the town which served the village since about 1890.

A few years ago, falling numbers and the school was closed.
The following year builders got permission for a new housing estate right opposite this school.

Now all those children have to be bused into town or more likely driven.

The school building is still there because it's a listed building but for how long?

Every abuse of parking mentioned on here has happened at the new school built in the village where I live.
Parents campaigned before the school was built on an eleven acre site for the school to be set back to provide adequate parking: the LEA refused and the parents were told that if they raised any more objections they would lose their new school. The school occupies four and a half acres, including a pre-school (originally a playschool) which was forced into the site, and the remaining six and a half acres are reserved for building.
A three lane one way system was instituted but abused by parents who parked on it and refused to move, and also drove the wrong way..
A suggestion was made that teachers walked to school to allow the parents to use the staff car park.
Parents park on both sides of the road outside the school, have destroyed the grass verges in the nearby roads and create gridlock from 8.30 to 9.30 am and 3.00 to 4.00 pm every school day. One mother parked her car in the middle of the road , locked it and walked into school.
Eight dwellings are being built on the site of a shop and back garden directly opposite the school entrance; there are four parking spaces available. The small terrace house opposite has been turned into two flats, with four cars and one parking space; one occupant operates a beauty business from her flat with regular clients.
Parents are campaigning about illegal and dangerous parking but the police rarely attend when called and refuse to accept photographic evidence or make any attempt to act on it. A public meeting was held but the council and police refused to act on any of the suggestions and talked glibly of compromise.
Parents park across the entrance and exits regularly, and the buses and taxis that collect children from out of area (!) cannot gain entrance to collect the children.
The school has done everything possible to mitigate the appalling situation with walk to school weeks, days, reward systems, no parking zones etc etc etc; nothing works because parents refuse to consider anyone else's needs other than their own. There is a perfectly good car park less than five minutes away which is ignored.
40% of the pupils come from outside the village; they are the main cause of the problem, and all have perfectly good schools they could use, but believe that if they force their children in they will automatically get a place in the neighbouring comprehensive. Not true, but they won't listen.
This is a problem which was foreseen and could have been dealt with if the council had listened, but all they were concerned with was holding on to land for building more houses for an oversubscribed school where there is no room for village children because of all the outsiders let in.

It's catch 22 around here. Kids get driven to school, with all the associated parking stress that that entails, partly because the roads are too dangerous with cars to allow them to walk to school. Crazy humans!

I guess we were lucky being SAHM stay at home mums. I usually enjoyed the 20 minute walk to school and back and several neighbouring children came with us too.
Back streets, short cuts and a walk across a park, we had some great conversations back then.

Now DD will not have the option when hers begin school. She will have to drive them as it's too far and too rural.

One aspect that has not been considered here is the effect on their children's health of being in a car so frequently. Air quality inside cars can be as bad, sometimes worse, than outside and the effects of NO2 and PMs on a school neighbourhood is considerably worsened by idling cars. Sara65 suggests schools should do more - you forget that their responsibility is in the education of children and beyond standing notices in the road where the yellow lines are (which are moved anyway) and requesting parents to behave reasonably in newsletters there is little more they have the right, time, staffing or opportunity for.
Also, there is little wonder that children have difficulties with school trips (tiredness, unfamiliarity with public transport, behaviour problems, etc) when they are always ferried around relatively short distances and strapped into a seat; witnessing their parents' behaviour is so often not a good example for them either.

I have seen parents parking right across the school gates! I think they should plaster the whole area with double yellow lines and then traffic wardens do a school run morning and afternoon. They could visit primary schools on a rota, take them by surprise and book the lot of them! Some stiff fines would soon wake them up.

Gagsy

That’s a perfect solution, one of my children’s schools did the same, there was a car park in case you needed to be longer, but it ran like clockwork.

How lovely would it be if children could go to their local primary school or at least a one nearby . There would be no need for car journeys then . Of course the LEA’s are rarely that bright are they ?

My small granddaughter goes to school in the States. They have a drop off point so each car stops for a few seconds. Same at picking up time.

Horton
Well we didn’t have a lot of choice! We didn’t own a car, all the children from our estate would walk together, well over a mile I’d think, as you say, rain or shine!

Remember the good old days when we walked, come rain, hail or shine ?⛈?☀️.

I walk past a primary school most mornings. It is feeder road for the university and so is very busy. The school grounds stretch along the road and opposite there are no houses but a pavement that is much higher than the road so parking for the school is not possible there because the high kerb prevents the passenger doors being opened. In spite of all the warnings about parking there are always cars parked on the no parking zigzag right outside the school gate. The cycle lane is always blocked. Cars drive over to the opposite side of the road to park causing traffic hold-ups. One car glided on to the pavement to park as I walked along - with barely an inch to spare from me. There is a walking bus some days but I think many parents drop off on the way to work.

I have felt my BP rising as I’ve read these posts! I would often be blocked from getting to my employment by mothers double parking on a street I used. They always seemed to be driving colossal cars and have enormous sons, and inevitably the child’s sports gear and school bag was always in the boot. As I sat and seethed at this teenaged boys being driven to school,like kindergarten kids, I was breathing fire!

...but when my mum left London she did say rural drivers are visibly politer than drivers in towns & cities.

The village where my mum lived served quite a large rural area and was a primary and there was no way most of the kids could walk to school along winding country lanes (although some came in a council-funded bus I think because they were over 5 or 6 miles away & it also served secondary pupils) but whether rural, suburban or inner city it seems to be a huge problem.
I can't drive and my parents didn't ever have a car either so I can't really understand car drivers mindsets but on the other hand I was born, brought up and live in London which has very good public transport so in that sense I live a charmed life.

I think the problem now days is either parents going to work or siblings at different schools that require dropping off and picking up. Perhaps the answer is parents taking & collecting each others children, I agree though, I live close to a infants school and round the corner from a junior school and not many parents seem to walk now days.
Perhaps the schools could encourage the children/parents to walk to school?

It is the same where I live . The cars start building up early so the big darlings (it’s a secondary school ) don’t have too far to walk . I must add there are school buses but No they have to be chauffeured . There have been a few near misses and the sit in the car and wait parents see it but truth is they don’t care as long as their big ones don’t have to walk more than a yard or two .I blame the school but then again it has been in special measures . I think it’s a country wide problem .School kids don’t walk anymore .

Thanks for all your replies showing it’s a national problem. I do sympathise with, usually Mums, dropping children off then trying to get to work in awful traffic. Consideration for others seems a thing of the past sadly. I’d like to be part of the solution not the problem but no idea what to do. I Do try to stay put during school opening and closing hours so I don’t add to the chaos.

I know it's changed days but I used to walk 1 mile to primary and just under 2 to secondary. There was a local bus that went near the secondary but I had a 15 min walk after that and there was no way my parents would pay the bus fare anyway. Sometimes if I had forgotten work/books for school I used to run home and back to secondary in lunch break. Can you imagine teenagers doing that now, there would be claims of abuse and human rights cases.

The school my daughter works in has a drop of zone but that's not good enough for some patents. They have to park, allow their children to play and then see then going into their classroom but they still park in the drop off zone. His leaves no space for people who want to drop off their children except the middle of the road. People are very selfish sometimes. They think rules are not for them to obey, just everyone else.

Where I live there is no safe route fir primary children to walk to school. School bus used to stop at end of B road about 1/4 a mile from housing. Children picked up and dropped off and they walked the short distance home on a very quiet road. Same foe secondary pupils. Then, some helicopter parent complained her secondary school child got wet walking to and from the bus. What happened? Two secondary school buses (non religious/religious schools) and a primary school bus now come into the very small housing estate having to reverse round a corner into a narrow road and then drive off. The Council said it didn't cost any extra and they wanted to be "helpful". These kind of complaints from parents who complain that their children get grass on their shoes when they cut across a grassed area after its been mowed. No one, just no one will win against parents and their 'entitlement' to have whatever they want nowadays. Good Luck with the parking issues!