An Islington primary school has been criticised by parents and campaigners after warning it could not accommodate pupils riding scooters to school.
Grafton Primary School in Eburne Road, Holloway, told parents that it did “not have anywhere on the school grounds to keep the scooters,” and asked them not to allow children to scoot “in the building or on the school grounds”.
In a letter to parents, Nitsa Sergides, the school’s headteacher, described scooting as a “really lovely and enjoyable way of coming to school,” but added that two recent major road accidents nearby illuminated “the incredible reality of working and learning in our very busy but equally dangerous locality”.
However, the letter has been criticised by parents, cycling campaigners and local politicians.
Polly Baxter, a parent, said she was “angry” and criticised the school for failing to make the “suggestion that parents in their cars [need] to be careful”.
Caroline Russell, a Green party councillor, tweeted: “Very sad that school feels unable to accommodate scooters.”
Islington Cyclists’ Action Group, which campaigns for safer streets, said it was “utter madness”, adding that the school saying it lacked the space to store scooters was an “appalling example to kids to be so deceitful.”
Grafton Primary School educates 462 pupils between the ages of three and 11, and was described as “outstanding” by Ofsted in 2012.
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