South Gloucestershire Council

Published: 19/11/2013

Officially created by the School Crossing Patrol Act in 1953, the first patrols started work across the country in 1954. Since then, thousands of individuals have been ensuring children are able to cross the road safely to and from their school.

Chairman of South Gloucestershire Council, Cllr Ian Boulton, presenting our school crossing patrol staff with a certificate to mark 60 years of school crossing patrols.

In South Gloucestershire, we have 29 women and nine male staff members covering 38 schools across the district who were invited to attend a thank you event. Chairman of South Gloucestershire Council, Cllr Ian Boulton, presented them with a certificate to mark this important milestone.

Joan Crossland is our longest serving member of staff. She works at Beacon Rise Primary School in Kingswood and has clocked up 24 years service. At 71, John Pitt is the eldest and at 23, Simon Hawker is our youngest member of the team.

Councillor Ian Boulton said: “Here in South Gloucestershire we currently have 38 School Crossing Patrols serving the area and they each carry out an extremely important road safety role. The whole team vary in age and personality but they all have one aim, which is to keep the children safe on their way to and from school every day and their dedication and commitment to the job is to be commended.”

At Longwell Green Primary School there are two crossing patrol staff. Sandra Sperring and Deborah Beale started in 2009 and say it is a very rewarding role. Sandra started out as a dinner lady at the school and then took up a cleaning role which she does in between her twice daily road safety routine outside the school gates.

She said the reason she took the job is because of the children. “I love the kids, they are really lovely. When you first start you do have to get used to the weather but then you forget about that because when you see the kids waiting to cross the road it makes the job really rewarding.”

Debs added: “We are out in all weathers – snow, thunder and lightning and the rain. We see the kids go through the years and some of them who have left still say hello.”

If you are interested in joining our dedicated team of school crossing patrol staff you can call us on 01454 863611 for more details. You will receive full training (and a uniform).