COVINGHAM Park Primary School has been working with residents, parents and Swindon Council to work out parking problems at school drop-off and collection times.

Pupils at the school can now take a walking bus to school, and over the next few months School Keep Clear and No Waiting markings will be placed along the road in the Harriers and on three road corners in Terncliff.

Coun Dale Heenan (Con, Covingham and Dorcan), who has been working with the council Highways Department and local residents to reach a solution to the parking issue, said: “Parking near schools is often an uncomfortable and difficult topic to deal with.

“Parking can create issues between local residents who live near a school, and parents dropping their children off by car at the school gates in the morning and parking up to wait to collect their children in the afternoon.

“Instead of using the Terncliff and the Harriers for parking, the idea is to encourage parents to meet a Teacher or Teaching Assistant at the Covingham Square shops.

“That has ample parking, and then all the children can walk together to the nearby school. It is a big step forward, and I hope the parking restrictions and Walk to School bus can make a difference.”

Children taking the Walking Bus, which leaves St Paul’s Church every morning at 8.30am, are escorted by two adults – a driver at the front and a conductor at the back – along a set route to the school.

Avril Brown, travel Co-ordinator at Covingham Park, said: “Our Walking Bus goes a little way to helping congestion/parking issues but we're doing much more.

“We joined the National School Travel Ambassador Scheme at the Swindon Launch in October 2011 and have a new volunteer team form each September from our class-nominated Eco School Council.”

The school has been working with the council to put the measures in place, and hope to secure funding for another Walking Bus to start from the Covingham Park shops.

A council spokesman said: “We have held informal consultations with residents about the parking issues outside Covingham Park Primary School.

“As an initial measure, we are planning to implement School – Keep Clear zigzag lines immediately outside the entrance to the school.

“Double yellow lines will also be painted around the corners of junctions close to the school site.

“We do a lot of work with local schools to promote our Safer & Smarter Journeys to Schools initiatives.

“The school has indicated it will look at introducing a second walking bus scheme from Covingham shops to complement the existing one from St Paul’s Drive.

“A five-minute walk zone has also been set up at the school and we work closely with the school to promote these various schemes with parents.”