Christchurch Infant School

School Travel Plan

Updated June 2014

THE SCHOOL

Christchurch Infant is a Community Primary School located on Addiscombe Road in Christchurch, East Dorset. The school educates pupils from reception to year two, age range of 4 to 7 years old. The school roll in June 2014 was 368 pupils with2 additional classes from Sept 2014. The school opening time is 8.50 am and the school closing time is 3.05 pm. Pupils and their parents can enter and leave the school site from pedestrian entrances on Clarendon Road, Addiscombe Road and Portfield Road. Parents are asked to bring their children into school and to collect them on school grounds. Parents are encouraged regularly to park at either in the Homebase Car Park in Bailey Drive or within Peak’s Party Store, both are a short walk to the school, and have pavement access and crossings to aid a safe journey to school . Some pupils arrive by bus with older siblings who bring them into the school grounds. There are before and after school clubs withbetween 30 and 40 pupils which start at 7:50am in the morning and finish at 6.00pm after school. The school has two small car parks for use of staff and official visitors only, with one disabled bay. A maximum of twenty five cars can be parked here. The Infant and Junior School work closely together and encourage shared parking arrangements between the Junior and Infant School staff. There areover 60 school staff at the Infant School. There is a speech and language base at the school which educates sixteen pupils with speech and language difficulties the majority of whom arrive at school by taxi. The taxis have permits to use the Junior School Staff Car Park and adults park and walk with the pupils for the Infant School in the morning and afternoon School. The Infant School adjoins the Christchurch Junior School campus which educates pupils from the ages of 7 to 11 and has a school roll of around 500 pupils. The Christchurch Junior school opening times are 8.40 am and the school closing time is 3.05 pm. School staff with permits are allowed to park in the Christchurch Junior school car park which is accessed off Clarendon Road. The Junior School is closed off to all parents as it was causing more dangers for pedestrians and other users of the car parks with the level of activity in the mornings and afternoons.

TRAVEL ISSUES

As part of a safer routes to school project, a 20mph zone with road traffic calming and raised pedestrian crossing points was installed around the schools in Clarendon Road, Addiscombe Road and Portfield Road. Even after continued encouragement by the Infant School and the agreement obtained for parents to be able to park for free in Homebase Car Park in Bailey Drive at one end of the School and Peak’s Party Store Car Park at the opposite side of the school, parents still park their cars in Clarendon, Addiscombe and Portfield Roads which causes chaos at school opening and closing times. The School try to promote an unofficial one way system where driving parents drive down Clarendon Road, along Addiscombe Road and then out along Portfield Road, this helps ease a bit of congestion, but cars park on both side of the roads, which causes a danger for Fire and other utility vehicles during these times.

The school would like to see more cycle lanes in the Christchurch area and their cycling figures do go up during the summer months, when local parents and children are able to cycle to school and back. The School has successfully campaigned for waiting restrictions one side of Addiscombe Road adjoining the schools to improve access for utility vehicles. The school also involves the School pupils in road safety training. The zig zags markings outside the schools have been upgraded and now have TRO’s on them and the school side of Addiscombe Road has double yellow lines on it. A member of staff takes pupils to meet the bus at the end of the school day.

WHY A SCHOOL TRAVEL PLAN?

The government is encouraging schools to develop and adopt working plans to reduce car trips to and from school. The action and ownership of these plans by schools will help ease congestion and pollution around schools grounds. By promoting and endorsing more walking and cycling to and from school and educating children to become more active, it is hoped that the school community will benefit from a healthier lifestyle.

Healthy Schools

Our school have achieved Healthy School’s status. To become a healthy school, schools have to provide evidence as to how they have met criteria in all four core themes that make up national healthy school status. Across the four core themes, there will need to be evidence of how the whole school approach has been used in the process. The School pupils regularly take part in power walking and fit break sessions during the school day.

School Travel Plans are referred to under the Physical Activity theme.

'Encourages pupils, parents/carers and staff to walk or cycle to school under safe conditions, utilising the school travel plan'

CAPITAL GRANTS

The School was awarded a one off Capital Funding of £5000 for producing a School Travel Plan in that met with the DfES & DfT national criteria. This grant was used to fund a shelter for walking parents and pupils to use as a dry area in the winter, to shelter from the rain and a sun protection for the summer, to shelter from the sun. The shelter has proved so popular that the PTFA have now funded an additional shelter, in the main playground for year 2 parents to use, when waiting.

Aims of our Travel Plan

·  to create a healthy, safe and happy school

·  to help pupils to reach the educational and physical requirements for junior school

·  to encourage parents to include at least a little walking or cycling in the daily journey for their child’s fitness and health

·  to reduce the number of cars in and around the school grounds

·  to improve safety, air quality and stress levels

·  a common approach to school travel will be sought with our cluster school.

SCHOOL TRAVEL PLAN MAIN TARGETS

The school embraces targets to reduce car trips and to increase walking and cycling to and from school, but they have a large catchment which stretches as far as Hurn and therefore they are aware that many of their parents have to drive to school and back everyday as part of the process of getting themselves to work. It is hoped that existing parents will continue to park and walk from the local retail parks and new parents and existing ones, can be encouraged to also make use of this arrangement, to provide a safer, healthier and less stressful journey to school and back.

MAIN TARGETS

/ TARGET DATE /

PROGRESS

1. /

To aim for 100% of children wearing seatbelts or child restraints in parents’ cars on the journey to and from School.

/

Ongoing

/

This is the parents’ contribution to the school travel plan. The School regularly reminds parents to make sure their children are correctly belted up before they drive away from the school grounds. This is backed up by requests for the local Police & Traffic enforcements to visit the school vicinity during school start and finish times.

2. /

To improve the congestion around the school and the incidents of illegal / irresponsible parking

/

Ongoing

/

This is the parents’ contribution to the school travel plan. The school actively encourages responsible parking by:

·  issuing constant reminders and encouraging parents to walk.

·  working with the local council to enforce parking restrictions (through making the school a ‘hot spot’ and having regular visits from enforcement officers.
SCHOOL TRAVEL PLAN DEVELOPMENT TASKS

Development tasks are specific actions or proposed measures along the way, which will help us to accomplish the main targets.

DEVELOPMENT TASKS

/ LEAD / TARGET STATUS / PROGRESS
1.
. /

To draw up a school travel plan.

/ Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Achieved / The School Travel Plan was approved and signed off by Headteacher, Jane Ashenden & The Head of School Governors in 2004/2005 and is reviewed on a regular basis.
2. / The school supported the installation of the 20mph zone, together with the traffic calming measures in Clarendon Road, Addiscombe Road and Portfield Road / Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Achieved / 20mph zone now installed.
In the Safer Routes To School survey of Christchurch Infant parents, there was 86 percent support for the scheme.
3. /

The school supports safe cycling and scootering to school by pupils accompanied by their parents.

The School holds a regular Keeping Healthy Focus Week in the Spring term / Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors Parents/
Pupils / Ongoing / Pupils should cycle to school with their parents and wear bicycle helmets. The PTFA have provided for storage for bikes on the school site in bike racks..
Children are not allowed to ride their cycles or use their scooters on school premises.
The School holds an annual Healthy Focus activity week where Road Safety training is incorporated, using the Road Safety resources the School purchased themselves.
Support of Walk to School Weeks.
4. / The school would support the provision of extra cycle lanes in the Christchurch area. / Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Achieved / Cycle lanes have been included within local roads nearby the school. Fairmile Road and beyond.
5. /

To maintain the health & safety policy of only allowing staff and taxis to use the school car park.

/ Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Achieved / Policy to be maintained. There is not enough space for staff in the school car park. The School Car park is now only used by staff and taxis are given permits to use the Junior School Car Park, which is also now closed to parents. Our school risk assessments say the same thing, and are reviewed every year. Extra signage has been purchased to direct visitors to the front entrance.
6. /

To remind school parents who drive to and from school to park their cars considerately and encourage parents to use one way system to ease congestion

/ Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Ongoing / To regularly remind parents via parent newsletters.
The School has an arrangement with Peaks Party Store to allow parent parking within their car park as well. To include this and reminders about parking within Homebase car park as well in regular newsletters.
7. /

To ask Christchurch Borough Council to consider a yellow line no parking restriction of the school zig zag lines

/ Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Achieved / Zig zags outside the school have had TRO’s added and double yellow lines added to the nearby road. The Council have looked at a couple of different options in nearby roads. Both schools encourage the use of an informal one way system.
To ask for periodic enforcement of no parking regulations through Christchurch Council
8. /

To ask Dorset County Council (DCC) to investigate whether any additional measures can be taken to reduce the likelihood of red light violations at the Barrack Road crossing.

/ Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Achieved / Additional warning signs, ‘SLOW’ road markings and a wider ‘STOP’ line have recently been provided.
9. /

To encourage parents who have to drive to and from school to ‘Park and Stride’. That is to park in the Baileys Drive retail estate or Peaks Car park and walk with their children from the retail estate to school.

/ Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Ongoing / By parking and walking, parents help to reduce the congestion outside the school gates and give their children additional exercise and more supervised practice at crossing roads safely. The School now has an arrangement with Peaks Party Store to allow parent parking within their car park as well.
This information is also given out at induction evenings for the new intake.
10. / To continue the good policy of using parent newsletters to inform parents on travel to school issues. / Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Ongoing / Other issues reminded in the newsletters include seatbelt wearing and the encouragement of reporting irresponsible parking outside the school grounds.
11. / The school will continue to support the national Walk to School Weeks.
To promote long term walking incentives at school. / Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Ongoing / Christchurch Infants will be promoting Walk To School Weeks through their parent newsletter
12. /

To continue the close liaison with Christchurch Junior on travel to school and road safety issues.

/ Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Ongoing / The Infant and Junior School work closely together. As a result of this both Schools have agreed to close their car parks to parents, due to the danger of manoeuvring cars and walking pedestrians and misuse by some parents. They also share some staff parking arrangements between both sites as well.
13. / To put the main points of the school travel plan on to the school web site and into the next school prospectus.
/ Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Achieved / The School has added a map to the School Prospectus, so that all new intakes will receive a map of the area, showing where parents can park and walk. There is also a map in reception of the local area, with parking places noted.
14. /

To continue the good policy of school staff wearing yellow waistcoats on school trips where appropriate.

/ Mrs J Ashenden/
School Governors / Ongoing / The School has recently purchased more yellow adult waistcoats to cover all school trips outside of the school.
The school has about 30 jackets now, having got some more from DCC and bought some in themselves.
Mrs Ashenden has now received update training, EVO Education Visits Officer. This included training from Rob Brindley about new policies for crossing the road.
15. /

Rigorous Risk Assessment procedure

/ Mrs J Ashenden/
School Community / Ongoing / Risk Assessments have been carried out for every activity the school takes part in, both inside and outside the school grounds and they are reviewed annually. This gives good information for any teachers planning activities. These range from School Walks, Using Coaches, Contractors on site & Access onto the school site to name just a few. This means that all School Staff are following the same guidelines and working from the same standard.
16 /

To liaise with Christchurch Borough Council regarding increasing enforcement of parking offences

To liaise more frequently with Police Community Support Officers regarding increasing enforcement of parking offences and seek out opportunities where they can come into school to support road safety awareness activities etc

/ Mrs Ashenden
Staff / Ongoing / Contact: Andy Jones
Senior Neighbourhood Management Officer
Christchurch Borough Council
01202 495172

Contact: PCSO Natasha Adkin
Christchruch PoliceStation
Barrack Road
Christchurch Dorset
BH23 1PN
The school also gives parents and local residents details of who to contact on local council and has raised the parking congestion issue with the local Councillor, Margaret Phipp. Following this the frequency of visits from enforcement officers increased considerably but this needs to be maintained.
17. /

To increase staff awareness of where our pupils live through home visits when they visit new families/pupils.