Help needed drafting a letter to school and so on

*mods sorry if this is in the wrong place, didn't really know where it would 'fit'*

I've had enough! I'm so sick and tired of people parking and dropping their kids off either side of the crossing where it clearly says NO STOPPING. Which means NO PARKING, NO STOPPING, NO PICKING UP OR DROPPING OFF.

The school wont man the crossing and if a teach bothers to go up there they are usually standing there TALKING to the people parking on the crossing. :wall:

I've had a gut full, some bloke from a gardening place was parked there today so I said "you realise no stopping means no parking and children can't see past your car while crossing" "it's ok, I've got my hazard lights on". Freakin MORON!

So I need help writing something up, I would do it myself but I'm liking to go off in a tangent because I'm rather passionate about my children's safety so any help I could get would be very very appreciated.

I'm going to send it to the RTA, the school, the council and the police. Any where else?

And I also plan on requesting they get back to me within a time frame as well or I'll be sending it and the photos of peoples cars to the paper.

And while I realise parking around school are always a hassle if my fat ass can park away and walk up to the school I'm pretty sure most other people will be able to! And those with special needs are permitted to park in the school car park so it's not them doing it either. (just incase anyone wants to have a go at me)

So if you can help thanks!

:bump:

TMS I think being passionate and going off on a tangent isnt such a bad thing, a childs safety is of paramount importance and I would think that threatening to go to the paper with should gets some bums into gear. (I should hope so anyway!!)

Have you anything written yet? can you copy and paste into here and we can can help you with adding or leaving out bits..?

and good on you!!!

I haven't started yet, was waiting for the blood pressure to lower :rofl:

That guy really pee'ed me off today, he was so arrogant about the whole thing.

Can totally see where you're coming from, it's frustrating to see people who don't 'get' what road safety near school is.

what SS said ^^... have you got something to go off to start with?

ETA - posted at the same time :p
It might be a good incident to put in your letter to really illustrate your point.

Wow - totally see where you are coming from. I think with those sorts or organisations, consider the tactic that will make THEM tic. Ie - they won't care about the annoying man but the school will care about the safety of students and the fact that teachers talking to people stopped there are only making the area less safe.

This is how I'd do it:
Start off explaining why you are writing, maybe even in bold type at the top. "RE: Parking in 'No Stopping' zones in front of school grounds"
Body of letter: you see loads of people doing it; you are concerned for the safety of the children.
Offer suggestions: cars can be parked further down the street and parents should escort children to the crossing; perhaps the school/council can recruit a volunteer lollypop person to man the crossing, having the double benefit of shooing away the illegally stopped cars and ensuring kids cross over safely.
Sign off: briefly recap your argument - the stopping of vehicles in those areas is unsafe and illegal. You would like to see that law enforced either by the school or by the council.

While passion is good, politely worded arguments are taken more seriously IMO. Good luck.

Dear *insert name*

I would like to bring your attention to the parking practices of many parents outside *insert name* school in the mornings and at the end of the school day.

*insert what parents are doing*

As I'm sure you will realise, this is not only dangerous but it is illegal. I am extremely frustrated that these lawbreakers are not being dealt with and can only assume this is because the problem has not been highlighted before now. I don't want to wait until a child is injured or hurt before a solution is found, so would like to suggest a joint meeting between *insert recipients* to discuss a strategy to ensure that all children are safe on their way to school.

I look forward to your response

yadda yadda yadda

Something like that?

Traveller's response is great.

Also send it to your local member and shadow member (and any other parties) for your state and federal parliament, AND mark it clearly on the letter that you're cc'ing it to them all, so they can see who else might be "listening in" to each others' response (or lack there of).

And if there's a Parent/Teacher Committee or similar, send it there too - just in case the school delegates, and it ends up taking weeks for it to get from one desk to the next, and then longer to wait for the next meeting, etc, and then getting lost in politics ... much simpler to send it directly, so noone has any excuses for not replying sooner.

I'd give them 14 days. 7 would be nice, but 14 makes you look perfectly reasonable, as they have time to check it out, have a meeting, determine a course or action, and reply to you.

May also be worth saying something like, "as I have not had any success as an individual parent requesting other individuals to not park illegally, and so I think it is clear that the school or council will need to takea prompt and firm a no-tolerance policy to illegal parking, to ensure all children at [school] are kept safe."

Let us know how you go?

Send it to the local newspaper as well

I am not sure if you have sent your letter ye but I just wanted to give you some insight into it from the school/teacher side as it is very limited to what the school can do.

Teachers and other school staff in DET NSW schools are NOT allowed to do crossing duty (our school does it on the sneaky and it is a duty that the executive teachers have to do but we all do so at our own risk - and yes I have nearly been hit by a car even when wearing a fluro yellow jacket in the middle of the crossing!!!!!!!!!!!!) but if we get hit by a car we are not covered under any insurance what so ever. The teachers federation stands very strongly on this. The school crossing is outside the school grounds so it is the responsibility of the local council/RTA.

FWIW our school has just been given a massive road safety grant fromthe NRMA. Our P&C searched out where we could get money to fund the project to educate the community as we as teachers, parents, community members want to do something to protect children. The parents are the worst offenders and set such bad examples so educating them is the first step. We are currently making a road safety DVD targeted towards parents and students(mainly parents) that will be distributed to every family at school.

Write to local council, papers, flood them with emails about your school and the need for a lollypop man/lady. Get children to write letters as well. The council will probably send parking police out to school quite often as well. They will see some easy revenue making and also it may help to deter parents from doing it. Good on you for being proactive as well.

I hope this helps in some way.