Parking at school run

rwholey

my biggest gripe over the past 27 years of being disabled is disabled parking. My daughters schools do no supply disabled spaces for parents to park in. It is the most stressful thing the school run

wilko

Have you brought this up at your daughters school.?? A local primary school has disabled parking spaces but when I needed to use they where being used by parents dropping off children for judo club so no use for me.

Sam_Alumni

I found this information on the NI Direct website, it would be worth speaking to your school about this.

"Schools, colleges and universities have a duty to parents with disabilities to let them have reasonable access to services related to the education of their child or children. This is to make sure parents with disabilities can be fully involved in their child's education.

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) covers many areas of everyday life, including education and access to goods and services. Generally, the parts in the DDA to do with schools relate to pupils with disabilities.

However, many services provided by a school do not relate directly to your child's education, but are considered a 'service to the public' and are covered by the DDA.

Your child's school should make 'reasonable adjustments' to procedures and policies or provide you with aids to help you access their services, like putting information in accessible formats. They must not refuse to provide a service, or provide a lesser service, to you as a parent with disabilities.

Providing parking for people with disabilities and make sure other parents' vehicles do not block access"

mossycow

I concur that school must give you a hand... Doesn't have to be a parking space specifically. For example they may be able to walk your daughter along a bit to meet you parked nearby. 

I found this really hard while my daughter was in primary school. School were very supportive and I became a parent governor to get the voice of disabled/chronic conditions etc families across. They did extend the car park... But actually the most helpful access help was that for example when I called them they would come get me from the car in wheelchair. They also walked with my daughter to get her to the car when she was younger. 

It got easier every year she got older. I taught her to walk home on her own possibly a little younger than I would have as an able bodied person would.. I allowed to her to walk 100 years to where I could park, then she walked 1/4 way home and I'd meet her in the car... Then 1/2 then 3/4....
U till she was really happy walking home and she loved it! 

I'm not persuading you to let your daughter wlak home... I just wish someone had told me it would get easier when my daughter was younger so I'm saying it to you. 


Ha e you spoken to school? 

Dismum

I have been speaking to the school since 2009 when my first child started the same school. They will not budge on their responsibility to disabled parents. They basically state it’s not their problem. Just like when there’s an assembly I end up having to try to struggle to sit in a child chair and use child toilets. They have spare chairs but no matter how many times I remind them they never put them out. There is one disabled toilet which parents are not allowed access to. There are more disabled parents and grandparents than me in the school. They have also complained but again they are ignored. 

lozzyholland

my sons school didn't help me, they have a drop off zone but no parking allowed, even when using my badge I got told off for leaving my car, I told them I can't walk that far and I needed a walking stick to get where I needed to and all they said was I have to try and find a place on the road like the rest

skullcap

Dismum said:

I have been speaking to the school since 2009 when my first child started the same school. They will not budge on their responsibility to disabled parents. They basically state it’s not their problem. Just like when there’s an assembly I end up having to try to struggle to sit in a child chair and use child toilets. They have spare chairs but no matter how many times I remind them they never put them out. There is one disabled toilet which parents are not allowed access to. There are more disabled parents and grandparents than me in the school. They have also complained but again they are ignored. 

To be a little serious, a school has no responsibility to accommodate a parent. Their responsibility starts and finishes with the children. Complaints of the nature that you make will be ignored. After all it is a school and not a meeting place for adults.

skullcap

lozzyholland said:

my sons school didn't help me, they have a drop off zone but no parking allowed, even when using my badge I got told off for leaving my car, I told them I can't walk that far and I needed a walking stick to get where I needed to and all they said was I have to try and find a place on the road like the rest

Unfortunately quite right. It would end up in mess if every parent demanded to park up in a drop off point. It would result in a free for all that could well see a child run over.

poppy123456

@skullcap you do realise that you're commenting on a thread that's 10 months old and was there really any need to bring up such an old thread?

skullcap

I didn't realise that it was so old. The subject hit a nerve especially around protecting children.
Besides which can I ask why you are following my postings with so much interest?

poppy123456

I'm not sure why you would think i'm following your posts. It's nothing unusual for me to be quite an active part of the community having helped thousands of people here.