'Keep Our Kids Safe!' Campaign Update
It all began when Stan, our much loved lollipop man, retired on 5th April 2019 after serving the school and local community for 21 years. Upon Stan's retirement, the school was informed that the London Borough of Waltham Forest had taken the decision to stop funding Crossing Patrols saying we had to fund a replacement for Stan from our own budget - something the school considered unfair and dangerous to pedestrian safety considering how busy this stretch of Kings Road can often be and how often our pupils and staff use it.
What followed has been a 3 year campaign called 'Keep Our Kids Safe!' involving pupils, parents, staff, governors and members of the wider community in a bid to improve road safety outside both school sites. Initially the campaign focussed on improving the safety of the zebra crossing on Kings Road which is used throughout the day as pupils and staff travel backwards and forwards between the two sites. However, the campaign diversified to also tackle the problem of inconsiderate driving and parking by a minority of motorists, particularly at school drop-off and pick-up times.
As well as an online petition requesting the council took action to improve road safety on Kings Road, the campaign also saw a protest outside the Infant site featuring a steel band from Heathcote Secondary School plus the presence of local politicians including Chingford's MP, Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
https://www.chingfordcofe.org.uk/videos-1/
Throughout the campaign our pupils played a significant role in attempting to gain support to improve road safety outside the school's Infant and Junior sites. A team of 'Traffic Ambassadors' was established who frequently patrolled outside the school under the supervision of staff and parents trying to persuade road users to park and drive safely.
Year 5 pupils worked with police officers to monitor drivers' speed along Kings Road and even got to use the speed guns themselves! Pupils also made lollipop crossing signs complete with slogans referring to speeding such as 'Twenty is Plenty!' and 'Thirty is Dirty!' which were displayed outside the Infant site facing the zebra crossing.
Inevitably the 'Keep Our Kids Safe!' caught the attention of the local press and articles appeared online and in newspapers. However, the appearance of cameras and a news team from ITN really took our breath away. It was fantastic to see some of our Traffic Ambassadors being interviewed about road safety outside the school on the 6 o'clock regional news programme one evening!
The impact of the 'Keep Our Kids Safe!' campaign has been extraordinary culminating in the installation of a controlled crossing on Kings Road which came into operation yesterday. Other road safety improvements include a speed limit reduction outside the school to 20 mph and refreshed zig-zag line markings. The school has also gained recognition from the UK Parliament for the campaign receiving a highly commended certificate in the 'School of the Year' Awards in recognition of its work in encouraging children to participate in social action projects.
However, perhaps the greatest impact has been upon our pupils who have seen first hand that social action can bring about positive change and that they can play a part in bringing change to their local community and even the world.
There is still work to be done despite the campaign's successes. Although the behaviour of some motorists during drop-off and pick-up time is not as bad as it was, there is still room for improvement. Watch this space!
