Oxford County Council use the shortest designated route to define distance from home to school. This is not necessarily the safest route when considered against guidelines. In Kennington and Radley, the shortest designated route has been defined to include crossing the rail bridge behind The Tandem pub, Kennington, across the Water Meadow and then along the River Thames to reach the Ring Road. This is for primary school children this year as St Swithuns has been oversubscribed.

Please sign this petition to ensure that OCC act reasonably and fair to use safe walking routes in defining distances from home to school. Comments with local knowledge of the route would be appreciated.

Government guidelines state walking routes must be safe for a child to walk accompanied by an adult. Routes into and out of Kennington and Radley via the River Thames are not safe and OCC software needs to reflect this.

In 2014/15 it would seem parents in Poole won appeals forcing Poole Borough Council to use the shortest designated SAFE routes. For Kennington/Radley we are looking for the same outcome so both our Primary and Secondary School applications are assessed fairly based on a safe route in the event of oversubscriptions for catchment schools.

Free school transport may be provided by OCC for Kennington/Radley based on distance not safety.

OCC will provide free transport from Oxfordshire homes to the nearest available school where:

• the shortest designated route is more than the statutory walking distance of three miles for children aged 8 and over,
• the shortest designated route is more than two miles where the child is aged under 8
• the route has been assessed as unsafe to walk, even if accompanied by a responsible adult.