Yahoo News Teachers train to be lollipop men after request for traffic patrols falls on deaf ears
Teachers have retrained as lollipop people after two pupils were hit by cars outside a Blackburn primary school.
The headteacher of St James' Primary School has resorted to drastic measures following a series of collisions in Earl Street. Two children were hit by cars, in December and March, with both having to be taken to hospital.
Headteacher Doug Stitcher says he has requested support and a traffic patrol officer, as they are now known, from Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council but he has now taken on the role himself with several other teachers completing training in order to don their hi vis and take to the pavements.
The headteacher says he has made numerous attempts to liaise with the council requesting support, including the re-painting of road markings and clearer signage to remind drivers that the speed limit is 20mph, but no improvements have been made so far.
"We’ve been trying to get support since I started here nearly four years ago and the last accident was the final straw," Mr Stitcher said.
"We now have staff members stood along the faded yellow lines for an hour a day to remind parents that they cannot park there. But even that wasn’t enough.
"I asked for permission to train some of our Senior Leadership Team to be traffic patrol officers as we could not afford to employ another person to undertake this role.
"I was delighted when the Local Authority directed us to former Blackburn with Darwen employee and road safety guru, Cheryl Sandford. She agreed to come and train all of us in one session, and the council gave us the equipment we needed."
The school now intends to rota the staff to ensure that all the children have a safe place to cross and, with the traffic patrol officers being staff members, the children are already familiar with their new lollipop people.
Mr Stitcher, who joined St James' four years ago, added: "I live in Merseyside and I've never seen roads as bad as this before."
Assistant headteacher Jamie Cameron said "This was one of the best training sessions we’ve had! It’s great to be able to make a difference and help keep our children safe."
Minutes from a planning and highways committee meeting at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council reveal that, in 2019, parents and teachers from St James' presented a 50-strong petition pleading for a zebra crossing outside the school amid a series of "near misses" but their request was denied.
At the time, council officer Gina Lambert said: "A police check for the last 12 months showed 12 recorded vehicle versus vehicle and street furniture collisions. There have been no recorded pedestrian collisions.
"In terms of road safety, the council, as with council’s nationally, prioritises road safety funding based upon collision data held by the police, with priority being given to locations where there are incidents recorded that have led to a serious or fatal outcome.
"Whilst we appreciate this isn’t the ideal approach to road safety interventions, it has become necessary to adopt this approach across local authorities nationally, within the context of limited funding being made available."
A spokesperson for the council said that the authority has been in discussions with the school regarding road safety. The council was unable to provide further details.
