Published on:
07
February 2022
Young people attending Tullibody South Campus will join forces with Community Police Officers to help make the streets around school safer and to encourage active travel to and from school.
Junior Parking Attendants from P6-7 will work with parents to encourage safer parking and active travel on the school run, distributing their own ‘parking tickets’ as a reminder of the consequences of parking dangerously.
The pilot is part of a wider programme of developing school travel plans to encourage responsible and safe travel choices to, from and around school while supporting our young people to become responsible citizens.
The programme has been developed with children and young people from the Campus, community policing and the Council’s Safer Routes to School team. The aim is to roll out the initiative across Clackmannanshire to support school travel planning activities.
Aileen Mellor, Head Teacher Abercromby Primary, said: “At Tullibody South Campus, we are demonstrating a strong commitment to improving road safety, reducing school gate congestion, increasing active travel and maintaining good relationships with our neighbours and community as part of our school improvement priorities.
“This work includes a group of learners called the WoW Ambassadors and we are excited to develop their leadership skills in a new project with the introduction of Junior Parking Attendants. Our children are going to lead the way, demonstrating a commitment to active travel in respect of the health of the children, safety and the environment.
“We are extremely lucky that we have two Park and Stride sites within our local community and through joining up with Clackmannanshire Council through our active school travel plan programme and with the support of our Community Police Officers, we hope to make a big difference in our local community."
Alisdair Goldie, Community Policing Sgt for Alloa, said: “Vehicle activity and parking in and around our local schools has been subject of much debate over the years and the motivation behind the Junior Parking Attendants initiative is to protect the safety of all our children whilst attending school. It cannot be overstated how important it is for our children to be able to come to school without the fear of injury or being inconvenienced by traffic congestion or dangerous parking in and around the school area.
"This initiative is designed to highlight the dangers of vehicle congestion near to the school, being delivered by the group most at risk, our children, hopefully changing behaviours to identify the dangers and encouraging parking away from the school area. The Park and Stride sites should be used where parents have no option but to drive their children to school.”
Council spokesperson for education, Councillor Graham Lindsay, said: “Everyone deserves to travel to school safely, whether they choose to walk, wheel or scoot, and I am delighted to see young people taking the lead in educating and informing the public on how actions like dangerous parking and idling can affect them.
“My thanks also go to the school staff, community police officers and our Safer Routes to School team for their hard work in making this a reality.”
Parents or carers who would like to know more about, or get involved in the development of their school travel plan should contact their school in the first instance.