One of the unintended consequences of meeting the COVID Guidelines for schools has been the redistribution of traffic surges in the afternoon.
Schools were encouraged to stagger departure times for students to allow for classes to depart without having to mix with other classes. The logistics of making this happen meant that classes were required to finish early and staff were required to get students out quickly, safely and efficiently. The school trialled a number of iterations of this in an attempt to balance efficiency with the loss of teaching time.
One of the constants in this process was the presence of three unlikely traffic controllers – Mr Chris Moss, our Campus Manager, Mr Marten Hilberts, Primary Director of Wellbeing and Mr Allan Guihot, Deputy Principal. These gentlemen volunteered their time to assist parents and to maintain safety in what can be a stressful period of the day.
The trio would like to thank our parents for the way they have adjusted to this process, particularly our Stage 1 parents who have taken to the pick up routines likes ducks to water.
Whilst the staggered times have alleviated some of the line up, we note that the peak arrival time for parents for Stage 2 and above, 3:10pm to 3:30pm, has meant traffic congestion has spilled onto Major Innes Road. Please note that there is no compelling reason to arrive early – students will always be supervised by staff until you arrive.
As the school has no jurisdiction to direct traffic on a public road, the only solution we can offer parents in regards the build up of traffic outside the school is to delay your arrival for pick ups of upper Primary and Secondary students. Secondary students are not released from class until 3:20pm and are unlikely to be at kiss and drop before 3:25. Rather than wait, why not arrange your pick up at 3:35…traffic has often cleared by this time.
Hopefully Co curricular activities will begin again in earnest next year. This should make a difference to afternoon pick up congestion. If COVID conditions allow, it would also be great to see more kids catching buses…one bus replaces 60 cars. This is why we often stop traffic and give them priority to get in. Thank you for your support on this matter.