School children of Our Lady & St. Hubert’s Catholic Primary School in Oldbury are raising awareness and encouraging responsible parking around their school.
The primary school is located on a red route, which means no stopping, however some drivers are choosing to stop and park illegally.
Sandwell Council’s Road Safety Team has delivered assemblies to pupils to make them aware of the concerns and to remind the children to be vigilant and follow road safety rules on their journeys to and from school.
The pupils have created a banner for the school railing and signs which have been placed on lighting columns near the school area to encourage drivers to respect the red route and park legally and responsibly. The children who created the winning banner and sign designs were rewarded with a certificate and road safety goodies at a celebration assembly.
Children and their families are being encouraged to walk to school whenever possible or ‘Park and Stride’ from Barnford Park to keep the area around the school as safe as possible for the safety of everyone.
Civil Enforcement Officers and CCTV enforcement vehicles patrol Moat Road on a regular basis and vehicles observed parking in contravention are issued with a Penalty Charge Notice.
Councillor Danny Millard, Sandwell Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Highways, said: “This is another great example of our road safety team working together with a local school and school children to raise awareness of responsible parking, to help keep our children safe. Well done to all the children for their hard work creating these banners and signs.”
Our Lady and St. Hubert's Catholic Primary School Principal, Olga O’Beirne, said: “We have recently run an awareness-raising safe parking campaign. In assemblies we launched a banner making competition to all our children asking drivers to respect the red route and park legally and responsibly. The children created banners and signs for the lighting columns with powerful messages and images, and they have been rewarded with certificates and road safety goodies at a road safety assembly.
“We have encouraged our children and their families to walk to school whenever possible to support this initiative to keep the area around school as safe as possible. By actively participating in the campaign, our pupils have been empowered to make a difference to their local community.”
Sandwell’s Road Safety Team delivers a comprehensive road safety education service across the borough at more than 90 primary schools and works alongside West Midlands Fire Service to deliver educational packages in senior schools.
The team is also a lead delivery partner in Black Country-wide campaigns such as For the One I Love at Sandwell College, Drive to Arrive aimed at pre-qualified drivers and Driving Safer for Longer for older drivers.