The Park and Stride scheme
NADV 121002122AM Arthurs Avenue.(121002122AM)
Parents of pupils at Harrogate Grammar School are being sent a plea from the headteacher not to drop their children off at the gates.
Instead they are being asked to adhere to a ‘Park and Stride’ scheme and drive to designated areas away from Arthurs Avenue.
Headteacher Richard Sheriff says the scheme has been in place for four years, but that parents of pupils who have started since that time aren’t aware of its existence.
“Parking outside the gates is extremely dangerous,” he said. “This is about keeping kids safe.
“In the last few years we’ve had several incidences of children being knocked down by cars. One was left with severe facial injuries, another involved a sixth former.
“Please don’t bring your cars onto Arthurs Avenue. It’s a nightmare. I go out there every morning and every afternoon. It’s just chaotic.”
Mr Sheriff has sent a letter to parents of the school’s 1,800 pupils, but not everybody is happy with the idea.
Mum Sally Cocker, whose son and daughter go the school, said: “We come in from Killinghall - they’re not going to be walking in.
“I don’t mind where I drop them off when they haven’t got any equipment to carry.
“But my son has his electric guitar, then there’s PE kits, school books and bags.”
Sixth former Beth Dickinson, 17, said the problem comes from a move which means that pupils can no longer park inside the school grounds. As a result, she said, sixth formers are taking up the spaces outside the school - meaning that parents are parking dangerously wherever they can find a space.
“When parents come to the gates, they have no choice but to pull onto the double yellow lines,” she said.
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Weather for Harrogate
Friday 24 May 2013
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