The Bradley Stoke Journal

Children at a Bradley Stoke primary school will be seen more clearly this winter thanks to a donation of high-visibility vests from their local opticians.

The Bradley Stoke branch of Specsavers in the Willow Brook Centre has donated 300 hi-visibility vests to pupils at Meadowbrook Primary School.

The vests will help to ensure the safety of children when walking to and from school and during school outings.

Ed Stanleigh, store director at Specsavers in Bradley Stoke, said:

“Child safety is a huge concern for parents, especially on the roads as the dark mornings and early nights begin to set in. The vests will enable children to be seen more easily and will hopefully give parents peace of mind.”

John Barr, headteacher at Meadowbrook Primary School, added:

“We’re thrilled with this kind donation from Specsavers. The vests will be a great help to the staff when our children are engaged in activities outside, allowing those supervising to keep an even closer watch over them.”

Photo: Rachel Wilde, Trainee Dispensing Optician at Specsavers Bradley Stoke, hands over some of the hi-vis vests to pupils at Meadowbrook Primary School.

A local estate agent has paid for portable “safe parking” signs to be introduced at a local primary school that suffers from irresponsible parking by parents dropping off or collecting children.

CJ Hole Bradley Stoke Property Centre recently handed over the road safety signs to Meadowbrook Primary School, to encourage parents to park safely and refrain from parking on the yellow zig-zag lines outside the school.

The local estate agent got in touch with schools in the local area following a successful campaign at schools in the Henleaze and Westbury-On-Trym areas.

Parents had approached the company’s Henleaze branch after speaking about safety problems with parking outside their local schools.

The “thank you for parking safely” signs, which will be placed outside the school at the beginning and end of the school day by staff members, are already in use at Henleaze Junior School, Westbury-on-Trym Primary School and Oasis School Westbury and will be rolled out to other schools in Bradley Stoke and Stoke Gifford over the next few weeks.

The scheme has received the support of the local community police team and Beat Manager WPC Claire Fletcher was present during the hand over of the signs at a school assembly. She reminded the children of the importance of general road safety when they are walking to school and riding their bicycles.

Karen Rupprecht, CJ Hole Lettings Manager/Director, said:

“The school already promote the importance of road safety to both parents and children but we wanted to help them encourage parents to safely park their cars when taking their children to and from school, and to remind them that parking in the zig-zag areas can be very dangerous, not to mention illegal.”

Read on for a comment from the school’s headteacher »

Bradley Stoke’s Meadowbrook Primary School has been rated “good” by Ofsted inspectors, who visited the school last month.

The team of five inspectors observed a total of 21 lessons at the 401-pupil school, which is located in Three Brooks Lane, off Savages Wood Road.

The inspectors summarised their findings as follows:

“Meadowbrook is a good primary school. As a consequence of the strong leadership and management of the headteacher, significant improvements have been made since the last inspection in developing teaching and learning, and in the establishment of an exciting curriculum. This is recognised by most parents and carers who hold the school in high regard.”

The latest grading represents a significant improvement over Ofsted’s “satisfactory” verdict in 2008, when the school was said to be “recovering rapidly after a period of uncertainty and decline”.

The report praises the “successful leadership” of Headteacher Jon Barr, which is said to have resulted in “a clear, shared vision for the school”.

Inspectors say pupils’ attendance is excellent and they leave “well prepared for secondary school and the world beyond”.

Read on for comments from the Headteacher and Chair of Governors »

Bradley Stoke Police have introduced a ‘Three Strikes’ scheme to combat inconsiderate parking around the town’s Meadowbrook Primary School in Three Brooks Lane.

The move comes after the problem was agreed as a priority issue at the Safer & Stronger Community Group meeting on 30th September.

Neighbours of the school told the meeting that parents/carers dropping children off at the school were continuing to ignore parking restrictions, creating hazards for other road users and pedestrians.

Earlier in the year, a Police ‘street briefing’ in Crystal Way, which adjoins the school, led to a ‘Zero Tolerance Month’ being declared with regard to parking on pavements and blocking driveways. Police later reported that a number of fixed penalty notices had been issued and “strong words of advice” given.

A letter announcing the ‘Three Strikes’ campaign was delivered last Thursday to properties in streets surrounding the school. In the letter, Police ask residents to report occurances of illegal or inconsiderate parking by filling out an ‘incident form’ and handing it in at the school office.

Under the ‘Three Strikes’ scheme, a first offence leads to a letter from the Police, a second offence triggers a home visit and a third offence results in a parking fine of £30 or £60 plus three points.

 Related Links:

• Bradley Stoke Journal : Police