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Brocks Hill Primary School March 2005
Brocks Hill Primary School is a co-educational primary school with 320 pupils aged 4 – 10 years, 80% of whom live within 2km of the school. It is located in a growing suburb approximately 4 miles south east of Leicester city centre.
There are approximately 52 staff (teaching, support, lunchtime and cleaning staff), some living locally and some travelling in from outside Oadby. Teaching staff are on site all day but many of the other staff work at the school for a smaller number of hours each day. Of those who responded to a questionnaire 93 % travel by car, 7% walk, 5% cycle.
Travel and transport difficulties faced by the school
Brocks Hill Primary School shares a campus with Beauchamp Community College and Gartree High School. Between 8.15 and 9.15am each weekday over 3000 pupils plus administrative and teaching staff arrive at the campus, with staggered start times for the 3 schools. Some of the older pupils travel on several school buses. In the morning all pupils are travelling in the same direction, but in the afternoon the flow of pedestrians is two-way. Most pupils leave the campus between 2.55 and 3.20pm. The finish times for the 3 schools are staggered but are much closer than in the morning.
A small number of children (up to 20) also arrive at 8am for the school’s before-school care provision (Badger’s Sett), and several also stay until 4.30pm for after school clubs.
Once a week a double decker bus is used to transport one yeargroup of approximately 55 children to and from swimming lessons at Wigston Pool.
The three schools are side by side and accessed via Ridgeway/Howdon Road, which is a one-way street, starting at Beauchamp and finishing at Brocks Hill. There is no access road or footpath joining the 3 schools within the campus and there is no rear entrance. There is one driveway for Brocks Hill, which is accessed from Howdon Road.
All traffic arrives at the campus via Vandyke Road or Coombe Rise, mostly having travelled along Ash Tree Road. The Coombe Rise/Ash Tree Road/ Turner Rise junction is hazardous at the beginning and end of the school day, and it is especially difficult for pedestrians to judge the traffic in order to cross safely. Some parents of Beauchamp and Gartree pupils drop off their children in this zone, or loop off the A6, up Turner Rise and back down Ash Tree. This adds to the difficulties faced by pedestrians in travelling along and crossing Turner Rise.
The public No. 29 bus travels along Ridgeway/Howdon Road and stops outside Beauchamp on Coombe Rise and then outside Brocks Hill. The road is only just wide enough for a car and a bus alongside each other.
Some of the cars leaving Beauchamp are driven by inexperienced 17 and 18 year old drivers, who are often giving lifts to friends.
Some of the older pupils walk in the roads when arriving and leaving, which can be a hazard to motorists. Several parents who walk their children to and from Brocks Hill are pushing a buggy which takes up much of the width of the pavement.
Oadby and Wigston Council has recently begun a campaign for cleaner streets, distributing a helpline number to every household in the borough. It is hoped that this will improve the condition of the pavements.
Parents collecting children from Beauchamp and Gartree park outside the schools, but a much greater proportion of Brocks Hill parents park on Howdon Road, Vandyke Road and Briar Meads. Some parents park on the corners of junctions (Ridgeway/Vandyke and Howdon/Briar Meads), significantly reducing visibility and forcing other cars to pull out without a clear view. The County Council plans to introduce double yellow lines at the Briar Meads/Howdon Road junction to prevent this.
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