School crossing patrol
School crossing patrols (SCP) are provided at, or near, schools to assist pedestrians with crossing the road in the mornings and afternoons during the school term. School crossing patrols are not provided for any controlled crossing currently established i.e. Zebra, Pelican, Puffin or Toucan.
All sites and school crossing patrols must legally be approved by KCC, including establishing any new schemes and recruiting or replacing staff. Whilst normally funded by KCC, the school’s Headteacher (or delegate) are required to locally supervise on a day-to-day basis.
All KCC approved School Crossing Patrol’s, whether or not in receipt of KCC funding, must comply with legislation and the guidelines on operating the crossing. These can be seen below and follow the national Road Safety GB Guidance on SCP’s.
All SCP selection and recruitment issues are managed by the KCC Safer Active Journeys Team (SAJT), whilst training and annual monitoring is provided by the KCC SAJT SCP Instructors.
School crossing patrols wearing the approved uniform, have a legal right to stop traffic for all pedestrians requiring assistance to cross the road.
It is an offence for any person in charge of a vehicle to fail to stop for a school crossing patrol in full uniform with the sign displayed. SCP’s have the same authority as a police officer to stop traffic. Driver’s failing to stop put vulnerable road users at risk. School crossing patrol staff will report any driver failing to stop to Kent Police, possibly resulting in their prosecution.
Request a new school crossing patrol location
If the Headteacher (or designated officer) of the school thinks that there is a need to have a new crossing patrol, they need to contact the formal application needs to be completed and sent to scp@kent.gov.uk.
The form must contain full information of the school, state the preferred site, identified crossing point and the reason for the request. If this request is deemed to be reasonable, the site will be assessed using the national Road Safety GB criteria to ascertain of funding can be provided. If funding is not possible, the school will be offered alternative suggestions to provide a patrol and supported by the KCC SAJT.
Request a replacement School Crossing Patrol
Following the notification from an existing SCP to resign, the Headteacher (or designated officer) must contact the KCC Safer Active Journeys Team by email to scp@kent.gov.uk to receive authorisation to recruit a replacement patrol. The decision to authorise recruitment will be based on the same assessment and Road Safety GB criteria used to initially grant establishing a school crossing patrol. All recruitment will be undertaken by the KCC SAJT for KCC funded patrols, and support provided to schools for others as required.
School Crossing Patrol Recruitment
We are continually recruiting for School Crossing Patrols across the County at vacant patrol sites.
These positions require a dedicated community-minded person to carry out this important role of ensuring the safety of children on their way to and from school.
We are always keen to hear from members of the community who can demonstrate an awareness of traffic and conditions; have a sense of responsibility; are keen to show the dedication and commitment required in making the roads of Kent safer for children.
The current pay is £11.03 per hour (from April 2023) working for 38 term-time weeks, plus an allowance for taking holidays during school term-breaks. Uniform is provided, together with full training, monitoring and support.
The number of hours worked will depend on the school site but will be between 5 hours and 10 hours per week.
Our adverts can be found through the Kent County Council Current Vacancies website (search for road crossing patrol); alternatively, contact us on 03000 42 24 01 or email scp@kent.gov.uk.
Your local school may also be able to provide vacancy information.
Parent and Carer responsibility
Parents and carers may regard the provision of a patrol as an indication that Kent County Council are assuming responsibility for the safety of their children on their journey to and from school. However, it remains the responsibility for parents and carers to ensure their child’s safety to and from school, even where a patrol is provided.
Schools should consider requesting for a relief patrol that can provide emergency cover either by recruitment or having another member of staff trained to cover. If this is not possible, the school should inform parents and carers as soon as possible, so they are aware there will be no patrol provided.
Advice to give parents and carers
To ensure your children are safe when travelling to and from school please remember to:
- cross only at the designated crossing point with the patrol
- wait on the kerb
- don't follow the patrol into the road
- only cross when the patrol tells you
- always walk in front of the patrol
- always dismount cycles and scooters before crossing
- do not run across the road,
If you must drive to or passed a school, you can also really help your patrol by:
- Where possible, please do not drive near schools to avoid delays
- Remember - there may need to be more crossings because of social distancing and sometimes longer in duration - please be patient
- Expect there to be pedestrians who may cross in unexpected places - keep your speed down around all schools
- Times of patrols at schools may have changed because of staggered arrival or departure times
- When requested to stop, please do so but remember to keep a greater distance with you and the patrol, to allow pedestrians to keep 2m from them as they cross
- Please remain stationary until the patrol to leaves the road before moving off
- Please do not stop, wait or drop children off on any yellow line markings.
Additional information on keeping children safe can be found on the Kent Road Safety website
KCC School Crossing Patrol Incident Reporting
Unfortunately, there are occasions where School Crossing Patrols have incidents of vehicle’s failing to stop, or drivers threatening or abusing them. Whilst these are becoming more frequent, they remain rare in comparison to the numbers of crossings managed by SCP’s each day.
When incidents do occur, the SCP’s have been trained to obtain details of vehicles and persons involved. The details should be recorded in school using the Incident Report Form below and follow the reporting procedures to Kent Police.
KCC has zero tolerance for any person who fails to stop, threatens or abuses staff and incidents should be reported using the incident reporting process below.
- KCC SCP Incident Reporting Procedure (includes Incident Report Form) (DOCX, 1.2 MB)
- Operation Lollipop - Kent Police Statement (Digital - computer) (PDF, 69.6 KB)
- Operation Lollipop - Kent Police Statement (Handwritten) (DOCX, 20.6 KB)
We continue to work with our external partners such as local Borough and District Civil Enforcement Teams with regards to parking in contravention of yellow line offences.
Responsible Parking Scheme
KCC actively promote responsible parking around schools to ensure the safety of pedestrians, SCP’s, other road users and being ‘good neighbours’ to local residents. Further information on the KCC Responsible Parking Scheme can be found at:
Highways Faults and Reporting
School Crossing Patrols and schools are encouraged to report any faults that occur on roads or footpaths around the school and the crossing point by notifying the fault to KCC Highways by:
- Telephone: 03000 41 81 81
- Online: KCC Highways
School Crossing Patrol Uniform
All items of mandatory SCP uniform (hat or peaked cap; full length coat and patrol sign) will be ordered by the Safer Active Journeys Team; however, information on our suppliers can be found at:
Kent School Streets
School Streets schemes offer a proactive solution for school communities to tackle air pollution, traffic congestion and poor health and safety.
These schemes encourage healthier lifestyles through increased active travel to and from school, by restricting motorised traffic during the peak morning and afternoon times.
This can lead to a safer, cleaner, and healthier environment for everyone.
More information on Kent School Streets can be found on the Kent Connected website
Kent School Travel Plans
More information about developing and updating your school travel plan