Background

A primary school in Thanet, Kent has a long term plan to focus on safeguarding. In the 2018 Ofsted report, the school was rated ‘good’ and pupils said that they feel safe in school, an excellent result for an institution with pupils’ welfare at the heart. Almost all parents who responded to a questionnaire agreed that the school keeps their children safe.

The school has undergone substantial development; in 2007, a children’s centre was built on site, and since then, three extensions have been constructed, including nine classrooms and an IT suite. Since the expansion, the 550 pupil capacity has increased to over 770. Consequently, there is a higher volume of traffic around the area during school start and finish times, a concern held by residents in the vicinity. 

After substantial planning, a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) was implemented on Caxton road, on which two entrances to the school are located. The new one-way system was necessary to ease the flow of traffic. A condition required by Thanet District Council that proposals for development should include satisfactory provision for the parking of vehicles (including service vehicles). As a result of this, the entrance to the children’s centre needed to be expanded to accommodate delivery vehicles and free up space in the car park, along with better access for visitors of the children’s centre.