Warwickshire News Mine

Primary school pupils at Southam St James and pupils at Ashlawn School in Rugby now have crossings in Coventry Street and Ashlawn Road respectively.

In Southam a school crossing patrol used to help children cross the busy road north of the junction with Welsh Road West, but the patrol site has been vacant for a considerable time and it has proved impossible to recruit anyone to fill the vacancy.

The Puffin crossing has been funded by Warwickshire County Council as part of its “Safer Routes to Schools“ initiative to encourage pupils to walk or cycle to school.

And the Southam schools already have excellent “green” credentials, with more than half of the pupils attending Southam Primary and Southam St James Primary walking to school, and it is hoped that the new crossing will encourage even more to walk rather than travel by car.

The crossing will also help secondary pupils walking to Southam College and will benefit local residents needing to cross. 

The scheme is supported by local headteachers as well as County Councillor John Appleton and Southam Town Council.

Cllr Appleton, who is also the county council’s Climate Change Champion, said : “This is an excellent addition, providing a safer crossing point and making it easier for pupils to travel sustainably to school.”

Hilary Wankling, Headteacher of St James CE School said: “This crossing is really good news for those pupils who have to cross Coventry Street to get to school.

"Parents of older pupils are now much happier at letting their children walk to school on their own and it’s a great help to us on our weekly walk to the swimming baths.”

Meanwhile in Rugby students at Ashlawn School ran a campaign last year for a pedestrian crossing outside the school as part of their GCSE Citizenship course. 

The Puffin crossing was also funded by the county council as part of “Safer Routes to Schools“. The school has excellent “green” credentials, with 40% of pupils walking and 10% cycling to school, and it is hoped that the new crossing will encourage even more to walk rather than travel by car.

The scheme was supported by County Councillors Richard Dodd and Jerry Roodhouse and Borough Councillor Nigel Allen.

Martin Drake, Assistant Head Teacher, said: “After many years of campaigning Ashlawn School is very pleased that a Puffin crossing has been installed on Ashlawn Road. Students can now cross Ashlawn Road safely and the speed of traffic has been slowed down improving the safety for all students.”

Link to WCC