POLICY STATEMENT ON

ROAD SAFETY

Oxfordshire County Council is the first LEA to have clarified the school role in road safety education and to have located the primary responsibility with parents.

In November 1998, the following policy was adopted for road safety education in schools:

“Parents will have the primary responsibility for road safety training for their children. Schools will take every opportunity to support this work through road safety related activities within and outside the curriculum appropriate to the age and experience of the child”

From February 1999, parents will be given a training pack by health visitors at the two-year health check and will be told that they have primary responsibility for training their children as pedestrians.

Governors, staff and parents view all aspects of safety on the roads as one of the important issues today.

The school location is such that the traffic generated by it causes possible hazards at the entrances in both Lea Road and Grove Road.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES:

v The Governors wish to make the site and immediate locality of the school a safe area for pedestrians and all other road users.

v To support parents in their training of children and to ensure that children are educated in all aspects of road safety.

v To do all that is reasonably possible to ensure the safety of children and adults on school trips.

v To ensure that a designated member of staff is present to safeguard parents, staff and children at the beginning and ending of each school day.

PEDESTRIANS

Supervision of school trips

The school accepts full responsibility for school outings on foot.

The ratio of adults to infant children will be ideally a minimum of 1:6 and the ratio of adults to junior children will be ideally a minimum of 1:8 on such trips, but it is up to the judgement of the Headteacher.

Adult supervisors will check numbers of children at suitable intervals.

Visits to Chiltern Edge School

The school requires parental permission for Year 6 children to walk to Chiltern Edge School (with two Year 11 hosts) on their initial visits.

School crossing patrol

Both children and parents will be encouraged to use this facility to cross Grove Road. There is a trained replacement for the regular crossing patrol person in case of sickness or holiday leave.

Training

The school has adopted the county "Footsteps" scheme to train infants to be good pedestrians. Parents have been trained to implement the "Footsteps" scheme.

CYCLISTS

Children will only be allowed to cycle to school if accompanied by a parent, except for Year 6 children who have obtained cycle training certificates, who will be allowed to cycle to school after consultation between staff and their parents.

The school will encourage the wearing of cycle helmets and assist in the storage of these helmets at school. Children will park and secure their cycle in the rack provided.

It is the responsibility of the parents to provide children cycling to school with conspicuous clothing, cycle helmets and bicycles which are properly maintained and provided with suitable lighting.

Training

The school will provide cycle training for Year 6 only, usually in the Summer Term.

Schools Grounds

Children are not allowed to ride bicycles on the school grounds unless on a specific project under the supervision of a member of staff.

CARS

Parents are not allowed to use the school premises for parking or turning.

Parents should not park in the road at the front of the school or use the car park behind the library.

Cars may be used to help with school trips when coaches are not available, under the following circumstances;

v that parents give permission for their child to travel in a private car,

v that the car is no overcrowded,

v that all the children have proper seat belts,

v that the driver and vehicle fulfil all current legal requirements.

MINIBUS

The minibus is fitted with seat belts to County approved and MOT standards. Please see County and School regulations. The minibus is serviced and MOT inspected every year.

SCHOOL COACHES AND BUSES

After due consultation with parents, The Governors and staff have instituted the following policy:

v All children travelling on school trips will travel on the same mode of transport

v The school will always endeavour to hire coaches and buses with three-point seat belts. Failing this, coaches with lap belts will be used. In these ways the school has taken all the necessary steps to ensure that children are as safe as possible on trips whilst travelling on coaches and buses.

v Parents who are unwilling to allow their children to travel on coaches without three-point seat belts should communicate that to the school and those children will be supervised on the school premises.

v This policy will be explained to parents prior to the commencement of the child's full-time education.

v Children will be expected to behave properly on coaches and buses on school trips, not twist and turn in their seats or stand up or move around.

v The minimum requirement for adult supervision on a coach is one member of staff and the coach driver. However, generally speaking, the school will provide two members of staff and a coach driver.

v Children will line up in single file to board the coach or bus and likewise when disembarking.

v The policy for use of school coaches will be reviewed annually.

CURRICULUM

There are two Department of Transport pamphlets which give road safety links into many areas of the curriculum,

Stop, Look and Listen, An Essential Guide to the Safety of Road Users (1996)

Road Safety Education in Primary Schools - Good Practice Guidelines (1996)

The school encourages visiting speakers from the L.E.A. e.g. Ann Burn of Footsteps, and the school police liaison officer, and are happy to promote, with children and parents, all issues to do with road safety.

AMENDMENT SHEET FOR ALL POLICY STATEMENTS

POLICY ON ROAD SAFETY

POLICY NUMBER 45 Version 3

DATE POLICY RATIFIED: AUTUMN 1997

DATE POLICY LAST REWRITTEN: SUMMER 1999

Review Date	Page	Line	Amendment
Autumn 1997			Written
Autumn 1998			Rewritten
Summer 1999			Rewritten