Jul/Aug 2023

22
South Woodford Village Gazette
Road to safety
Councillor Rosa Gomez (Churchfields ward, Labour) reflects on the road
safety improvements that have been made at Churchfields Junior
School over the past few years
It has been my privilege to work with
teachers and parents of children at
Churchfields Junior School, where I
have been a governor for several years.
In 2018, soon after I was first elected as a
councillor, I visited the school on a number
of occasions and found the children
particularly articulate. They had a keen
interest in the environment and were
clearly annoyed at the number of vehicles
driving past the school.
Consequently, one of my top concerns has
been the safety of the children. My fears have
been highlighted by a series of near misses
and at least one incident when a child was
struck by a car. It takes only a second’s loss of
concentration for tragedy to strike.
Over the past few years, the combined efforts
of Churchfields parents, teaching staff –
especially headteacher Rebecca Emeny – and
officers of Redbridge Council’s Highways
Department have made a real difference.
Temporary signage, which is put in place
when children are going to school and
leaving, extended zigzag lines on the road,
a park-and-stride scheme and now CCTV to
deter dangerous driving have all helped.
I recently had the pleasure to revisit the school
at home time. I was joined by deputy head
James Easter, and we had an opportunity to
monitor how the safety measures are working.
Between 3pm and 3.45pm, as children were
flooding out of the gates, we didn’t notice a
single instance of car drivers idling, parking on
zigzags, performing U-turns or doing anything
else that could endanger young lives. James
told me that 89% of children now travel to
and from school on foot, bike or scooter. Ten
years ago, 26% travelled by car, and now that
figure is only about 10%. This marked decrease
Councillor Gomez with
deputy head James Easter
was helped by the introduction in 2021 of the
park-and-stride scheme, with free parking in
the nearby Derby Road car park during dropoff
and pick-up times. The school’s leadership
team are determined to encourage a further
reduction in car usage outside the premises.
Churchfields staff’s commitment to safety
has been demonstrated by a willingness to
engage with parents and spend money – the
signs aren’t cheap and come out of the school
budget. The council’s commitment has been
shown by officers such as Adam Warnes and
Simon Casson, who found ways to implement
safety measures. And parents have responded
positively. This has been a wonderful example
of people coming together to find solutions
and I’m proud to have been part of it.
This is all good news, but I must make an
appeal. I know how hard it is for the driver of
a reversing car to notice a small child walking
behind the vehicle. Cars are potentially lethal
machines, so please, if you are doing the
school run or simply in transit past a school –
any school – obey the signs and pay attention
to what’s going on around you.
To contact Councillor Rosa Gomez, email
rosa.gomez@redbridge.gov.uk
To advertise, call 020 8819 0595 or visit swvg.co.uk