	Highways Torbay Council Roebuck House Abbey Road Torquay TQ2 5TF
	highways @torbay.gov.uk
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Roads - School Crossing Patrols

School crossing patrols help pedestrians cross the road safely whilst they are walking to and from school.

Since November 1999 the School Crossing Patrol Service in Torbay has been improved greatly. Many new ideas and initiatives have been undertaken with huge benefits to the Service, the patrols and the schools involved. The result has been the development of an efficient, effective and safe Service, with scope to continue improvements into the future.

What are School Crossing Patrols?

School Crossing Patrols are employed by the Council to help children and their parents/guardians cross the road safely on their journey to and from school. Patrols are allowed to stop the traffic for anyone crossing the road as long as they are showing the sign, are dressed in the correct uniform, are at their approved site and are working within their authorized hours of duty.

How do Patrols operate?

Nationally a change to the law on the 30 January 2001 now means that School Crossing Patrols are able to stop traffic for any pedestrian and not just for those who are school children or accompanying a school child. The current time restriction, 8am – 5.30pm, when crossing patrols may be provided, has also been removed so that local authorities have more flexibility in responding to the needs of schools.

What about when there is no patrol operating a site?

You should still take care even if there is no crossing patrol in operation.

The flashing amber signals may still be working in order to warn motorists

How do we assess for New Sites?

Requests for the establishment of new School Crossing Patrol Sites must be from the school(s) concerned in writing to the School Crossing Patrol Co-ordinator

Any requests made for new School Crossing Patrol Sites are assessed to see if they fit the criteria for establishment. New sites however are only authorized on the basis that the criteria are met and a suitable person from the local community can be found to fill the post. The criteria, allows any decisions that are made, to be defended more easily and upheld.

How do you decide where to place a School Crossing Patrol?

School Crossing Patrols are provided at designated sites where pedestrians have been assessed as being in danger from road traffic. The assessment is carried out at a point where they are attempting to cross a road as they are walking a long a particular route on their way to and from school. Therefore the site is not necessarily directly outside a school but could be anywhere along a popular walking route.

How many sites do we have?

We currently have 25 School Crossing Patrol Sites in the Bay

Why are our sites different?

From the beginning of the financial year 1999/2000 the Highways and Street Services Division have designed, had approved, and started to implement a new standard school crossing patrol site layout. This is currently being implemented at all the School Crossing Patrol sites in the Bay.

The scheme is the first of it's kind in the country and there has been significant interest in the scheme from other authorities. It consists of:

40 metres of buff anti skid on both approaches to a site,
A 3 metre wide red anti skid carpet at the crossing point
A 5 metre square of red anti skid at the beginning to each approach with the children crossing symbol painted white within it.

All the sites have slows added and up to date signs and lights as well as any other improvements that are needed such as dropped kerbs, new foot way or improvements to existing foot way.

Do you have any job vacancies?

We recruit both permanent and relief patrols. Relief Patrols/providing cover

We are also always looking to recruit fixed-point reliefs, mobile reliefs – who cover more than one site and group reliefs – more than one person who can cover one or more sites. Providing cover for absence of any length by a permanent patrol and when sites become vacant is important, though often difficult to achieve. Due to this we also inform schools of any absence and whether the site is to be covered or not. The school(s) then inform parents of these absences or vacancies Please see our Recruitment page for vacancies.

So what do we look for in a school crossing patrol?

A school crossing patrols needs to work every day during school term time.
Hours vary from 5 to 10 hours a week.
The current hourly rate is £5.93, the wage is calculated so a monthly amount is received.
We are looking for someone:
In good health – eye sight, hearing and mobility
Who can work on own initiative
With a responsible attitude
Who can communicate clearly
Who can give clear decisive signals
Who is aware of road safety issues in relation to school crossing patrols
Who will adhere to Health and Safety procedures
Who will be able to report problems, concerns and faults at their site
Who will make sure all equipment/uniform is maintained to a high level and is used in accordance with the law
With willingness to attend meetings
With willingness to undergo training
With willingness to help maintain a high standard of service
With willingness to work in all weather
What do I have to wear and why?

What training would I receive?

All School Crossing Patrol's are trained. Section 26 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 places a duty on the Council to provide training, to suit local circumstances. The Council now has a well, planned training programme. Training covers 2 full days and observation of the employee by the Co-ordinator will continue for at least the first week. All training is on site. Training consists of learning the layout of the site, traffic movement, describing potential hazards, the movement of children applicable to that site, accident/incident reporting. A new patrol will be paid the normal hourly rate for attending the training.

All our School Crossing Patrols are supplied with:

a good quality, waterproof winter coat, with a detachable quilted lining
a lightweight summer coat, made of woven polyester opposed to the old heavy cotton.
All Patrols are issued with the new carbon fibre poles, which have a heavy duty, rubber stopper and a rubber hand grip. The pole has a highly reflective 3M Diamond grade sign, which is flexible and protected by a sleeve, which runs all the way around it. The sign now has the children's symbol on it, instead of the word children.

For further information on school crossing patrols contact us.