TCI Commentary:
We don’t think we’ve seen this before. Parents, anxious about the closure of a Primary School, doing their own impact assessment. Check out the journey videos in this article to see how parents road-tested the alternative journeys to school that would result from this decision. Yet again, innovative ways of using social media in consultation appear on a regular basis. Read on …
Article:
Some parents of pupils at All Saints’ Primary tested the proposed journey to school they would have to take if the Isle of Wight Council closes their school. See photos and videos within.
‘Chaos and misery’ were words used by one St Saviour’s parent to describe the scene of All Saints’ parents joining the morning drop off… and not all families from All Saints’ chose to participate.
Parents of All Saints’ CE school, which is threatened with closure, decided to test out the proposed journey to school they would have to take, if the Isle of Wight Council’s preferred option to tackle falling pupil numbers, happens in September 2019.
To inform consultation responses
A group of parents, some walking and some travelling by car, made the journey to St Saviour’s Catholic school this morning ahead of the consultation close on 15th April and the start of the Easter holidays.
The idea behind the journey this morning was to enable parents to consider, in more detail, the issue of geography and transport in their responses.
Wyre-Nock: No longer able to walk to school
All Saints’ CE parent, Carly Wyre-Nock, said:
“Having already walked the route, without my children, I have been forced to make the decision that I will use my car, from September, to travel to St Saviour’s due to the dangers of the route, and the amount of time it would take.
“I arrived early this morning to ensure I could get a safe parking space, and I am glad I did, it was even busier than I had imagined up there, and that’s without all the All Saints’ families.
“It saddens me that we will no longer be able to enjoy walking to school from September, and that my children won’t be able to use their bikes/scooters to travel.”
Walk along Summers Lane “was terrifying”
Another parent, who wishes not to be named, said:
“The walk back along Summers Lane was terrifying, cars travelling too fast, surface water off the road being splashed up, all I could think about was keeping my two children safe.
“We don’t have a car, this will be awful for us in September in regards to time management.”
Video journeys
Two parents of All Saints’ CE have already filmed a series of videos (see below) of the walk to school; discussing safety concerns of narrow roads, no pavement in places, no crossings; the fact that many parents will be forced to drive when at the moment they walk, and that children who currently bike/scoot will no longer be able to do that, as well as the impact the decision will have on the families who have already chosen St Saviour’s as their preferred school.
Article originally appeared on On the Wight
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