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Emma Sorsby, of St Paul’s, is backing the crackdown
Parents to be named and shamed in parking crackdown
Susannah Wright26/ 6/2008
PARENTS will be named and shamed in a bid to put an end to parking that puts children’s lives at risk.
Staff at St Paul’s Primary in Withington say they will publish photographs of cars parked illegally outside in the school newsletter.
They say they are having to introduce the drastic measure after some parents ignored repeated requests not to park in front of the school as they drop off and pick up their children.
The move comes just over a year after a three-year-old girl, who was a foundation pupil at the school, was knocked down as she was crossing nearby Parsonage Road with her mum. Schools across south Manchester say they are having extreme difficulties in persuading parents not to park in front of schools with many rushing to drop off their children before setting off to work.
There were also 50 reports of drivers recklessly driving through school crossing patrols when children have been in the middle of the road over the last 12 months across the whole of the city.
St Paul’s headteacher Don Berry said he had written to parents in the past explaining the dangers and warning them to heed the ‘no waiting’ zig-zag markings on the road outside the St Paul’s Road school.
The school has also held a week of action involving staff, children and governors to push home the safety message.
Mr Berry said: "Naming and shaming is something we will consider doing if parents keep parking where they shouldn’t.
"The safety of children is paramount and parents who park inconsiderately need to be aware of the dangers they can be causing.
"It’s not something we would ideally want to do, and we have had positive responses from some parents but we need to get the message across to all parents."
Both before and after the accident near St Paul’s, Mr Berry wrote to parents asking them to park and drive with proper care and attention.
He said: "Luckily, she wasn’t seriously hurt but she did go right under the car and it was very traumatic for her and her mum. And we don’t want something like that happening again."
Jackie Valentine, administrator at Northenden Community Primary School on Bazley Road, said they had tried a number of measures to stop parents parking outside the school.
She said: "We’ve tried everything to stop it - putting cones out and getting parking wardens."
"Some of them will even come to school earlier than hometime and park across the neighbours’ driveways and then go to the shops before picking their children up.
"It’s horrendous. We have zig-zags outside the school but a lot of parents ignore them and are just totally inconsiderate."
Chorlton Park Primary School, on the corner of Barlow Moor Road and Mauldeth Road, also suffers from parking problems - not only caused by some of the parents at the 730 pupil school, but also by people attending the adult education centre which is attached to the school.
Headteacher David Watson said: "We understand that parents particularly have a problem with time, in trying to drop children off before getting to work, but that combined with the adult education centre means we do have a lot of cars here.
"We are trying to resolve the issue with leaflets and getting ticketing sweeps arranged but we would like to see an integrated system for us and the centre."
Megan Warner, administrator at Chapel Street Primary School in Levenshulme, said: "One of the problems here is that because there is so little space to park on the roads, some parents drive in and out of our car-park which isn’t even big enough for the staff. It’s dangerous for the children walking in and out of school and, if we see parents doing it persistently, we will put leaflets under their windscreens that read ‘You are a hazard’.
And St Kentigern’s Primary on Bethnall Drive, Fallowfield has also been taking measures to warn people against driving too fast near the school.
Children have been out in high visibility jackets waving placards saying ‘Stop Means Stop!’ The children sported bright jackets and waved placards in order to emphasise the point.
Paul Jackson, headteacher at the Wilbraham Road School, said: "It is a very busy and fast road, so it is essential that drivers show respect."
The campaign aims to reinforce that people have to stop when a school patrol raises the lollipop sign, drivers must stop.
Drivers can face a £1,000 fine and three penalty points can be added to their license if they fail to abide by that rule.
Most recent 2 of 2 user comments
I live next door to Beaver Road school and the dangerous parking at drop off and pick up is scandalous....fencing was erected to deter stupid parking but it has carried on, with the children crossing the road at serious risk.
I fear (God forbid) that it will take a fatality before anything radical is done.
The people who park in that way are inconsiderate and unfit to be parents, in my opinion.
All credit, of course, to the vast majority of parents/ children who walk/ cycle to school daily....and shame on the very small minority who park so dangerously.
Good luck St Paul's!!
28/06/2008 at 09:48
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I am a concerned parent at Beaver Road School.
Every trip to my son's school is dangerous because of the total disregard by a minority of drivers.
Crossing to the school means crossing between cars whose owners are too lazy to park further away ( sometimes too lazy to even get out of the car - merely opening the passenger door for their offspring)
The school is passive - but ignorance does not make them any less culapble should a serious incident occur.
I would like to start a petition to shame the school into shaming the lazy drivers.
Please e mail me your concerns about Beaver Road - paul_home69@hotmail.com
Thanks
Paul Home
1/07/2008 at 14:39