Dear Parents/Carers
We ask you very kindly to consider “Safety First” at the school gate when collecting your children from the juniors at the end of the day. We understand how busy everyone is and that you may well be in a hurry to go on to another after school activity. However, the area immediately around the gate is too often overcrowded, making it very difficult for pupils to leave the premises and quite impossible for them to negotiate the pavement without stepping into the road to walk around the adults who congregate immediately outside the gate.
We are asking you to be aware that
- You may be causing an obstruction. If you are, we will ask you to move away and back from the gate so that space can be created for pupils to leave the premises safely.
- Pushchairs, scooters, prams etc. can block the gateway and the pavement completely, please be mindful of this when waiting for your child/ren.
- Children are shorter than adults and negotiating a large group of people is almost impossible for them as they cannot see over your heads.
- If you are collecting your children from the after school club you may well be challenged by a member of staff, especially if they do not recognise you as someone who regularly picks up from the Chasebell Afterschool Club. If this happens, please do not take offence.
- There is absolutely no access to the school via the ramp down from the gate for parents and other adults unless they are collecting children from the club. Anyone else visiting the school or wishing to speak to staff must visit reception first.
We will hold pupils back at the inner gate until the area around the smaller outer gate is clear.
Parking and vehicular access.
- There is no vehicular access to the school for parents. Do not drive your car in through the school gates.
- Respect the yellow zigzags and parking notices on the road outside the school. They are there for a purpose. Anyone ignoring these signs and notices puts at risk the safety of our pupils.
- Parking, or just stopping, on the other side of the road causes an obstruction to traffic, creating a bottleneck which causes traffic to build up increasing the risk of accidents and injury.
- If you collect your child by car, park down the road and walk round the corner to collect your child.
It is not the school’s duty or responsibility to monitor and control traffic on the public highway. However, we will be asking the police and traffic wardens to patrol the area as often as possible, especially as the nights are drawing in, in order to remind people of their responsibility to drive with due care and consideration and to respect road markings and signs which are there to promote the safety of pedestrians and other road users.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter. Your full cooperation is greatly appreciated.
Yours sincerely
Iwan Lloyd Jones, Headteacher