A PRIMARY school is promoting a petition to reduce the speed limit outside its premises as “children are often at risk of speeding motorists at the start and end of the day”.

A group of Manor Court Primary School pupils in Chard is calling for a 20mph limit instead of the 30mph currently in place.

The school and its Year 5 pupils are working on the campaign with Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust (YTCST), the charitable arm of Yeovil Town Football Club as part of the Social Action delivery through our Premier League Primary Stars programme.

Chard & Ilminster News:
A group of schoolchildren campaigning to reduce the speed limit outside Manor Court

With the project being youth-led, the pupils have decided to research road safety and campaign for a reduced speed limit outside their school.

A statement from the school said: “The front of our school is a busy through road in which many drivers drive their vehicles too fast. The speed limit is 30 mph and the children are often at risk of speeding motorists at the start and end of the day.

The Y5 children asked Louis from YTCST to help them raise awareness of the danger to them and their parents at drop-off and collection times and create a petition."

These children have written to the parents of the school to raise awareness of their petition.

One child said: “There are lots of children outside Manor Court Community Primary School at the start and finish times who are all precious and important to their families.”

Another added: “We have seen accidents happen outside of our school when children have been present at drop off and pick up times and it worries us that a child will be seriously hurt one day.”

Mrs Terry, the school’s assistant head teacher said: “It is always a pleasure to work with the Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust as they help to bring our curriculum alive further for each of the children that they work with and empower the children to complete such important community programmes such as this.”

Manor Court Community Primary School has an excellent working relationship with the Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust (YTCST), an educational element to Yeovil Town Football Club who are funded by the FA Premier League.

They have worked together on many different community projects, including a campaign to raise awareness of the prevalence of County Lines activities in Chard.

Children in Key Stage 2 value the input of Louis from YTCST to their reading, maths, and writing lessons.

If you would like to support the children in their petition please follow this link and follow their progress on the school’s social media accounts. Facebook @manorcourtchard, Twitter @ManorCourtChard https://www.change.org/ManorCourt_20mph_YTCST