Parking Buddies to visit Highland Schools

Holm Primary pupils (Junior Road Safety Officers) and PC Jo Barclay (Police Scotland) with the new ‘parking buddies’

Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSO’s) at Holm Primary School, Inverness have been working with Highland Council’s Road Safety Team to encourage sustainable, active and safe travel to and from school. 

Their work aims to persuade more pupils and parents to walk, cycle or scoot to school and to make use of ‘Park and Stride’ opportunities in the local community. 

The JRSO’s have created designs for banners to promote the Road Safety messages at their school and two winning designs chosen are ‘Don’t waste fuel, be Cool, walk to school’ and ‘be like Bella the Boar and walk to school more’.  Bella the Boar is the school mascot.  The banners will be situated around the school’s car park highlighting their important messages.

As part of Scottish Road Safety Week which commenced on Monday 21 March the JRSO’s have been setting up ‘Parking Buddies’ signage to encourage parents driving cars into the school car park to drive at low speed and not to park inappropriately.  Their school is the first in Highland to use these signs.

Holm Primary new ‘parking buddies’

The signs, funded through the ‘Safer Routes to School Scheme’, were deployed around the car park and are designed to bring to the driver’s attention the common issues raised by pupils and parents as concerns at drop-off and pick-up times at the school. 

The Junior Road Safety Officers are a key part of promoting Road Safety at schools among their peer group and with parents. Their work to support these messages is key to making not only schools but also communities safer for those walking, wheeling, cycling and scooting as part of their daily journeys to and from school.

The Parking Buddies will be deployed around Primary schools in the Highland area on a rotational, targeted basis in answer to pupil, staff and parental concerns about inappropriate driving and parking in or near schools.

The investment in the Road Safety signs will also support the ongoing work to develop a Highland Council JRSO video which will be available to all Primary Schools to use going forward with Junior Road Safety Officers.

Holm Primary pupils (Junior Road Safety Officers) and PC Jo Barclay (Police Scotland) inspecting the new ‘parking buddies’