This can alter slightly depending on when the school usually finishes at the end of the school day ie 15.00 to 15.30pm.
However, due to the COVID issue some schools have changed their start and finishing times
A school patrol officer is fully insured by the Council to cover public liability and any incidents with road users. This includes accidents and aggressive behaviours. They are also one of the few people who can legally stop traffic, as long as they are
wearing the appropriate legal clothing (fluorescent uniform) and carrying the sign.
They have been trained in using the equipment and stopping traffic appropriately and dealing with pedestrians at the side of the road. Therefore any incident is covered.
Children coming to the site are the responsibility of the parent/guardian.
The Authority has also been given the right to carry out this service and at present has not devolved this responsibility to schools.
In the absence of a SCP officer, a member of staff supervising a child /children across a road, (assuming that the staff member is to stand at the side of the road and to anticipate when it was safe for the child to cross the road), this means that the staff
member has the responsibility to gauge the speed of traffic, make sure that there is adequate gap for that child to cross and then tell the child to cross appropriately, that is not to run, but to walk sensibly;
However, there is always the potential that a child could trip and fall or something occur to distract the child or traffic.
It would then be the staff member's responsibility, as they had told the child to cross, and they could be open to prosecution, therefore it is important for the school to check they have suitable insurance cover to allow this to be done within legal boundaries,
if only on a temporary basis until schools are back to normal hours.
Taking children on trips is a different issue and crossing roads would be part of the common practise and risk assessed prior to undertaking the trip, potentially assessing individual children and their specific needs and again would be covered by travel
insurance.
School Crossing Patrol Guidelines