Lessons learned after school closure, says council

Lessons have been learnt after a primary school closed when the removal of a zebra crossing sparked safety concerns, a council said.

Lakenheath Community Primary School in Suffolk closed on Tuesday when governors said there had been "several near-miss incidents" outside its gates.

Suffolk County Council said some of the highways issues had been "out of our control" and the school reopened on Wednesday.

Matthew Cooke, assistant director of special education and disabilities and inclusion at the council, told BBC Radio Suffolk the school was safe again and measures had been implemented such as staggered start times for pupils.

Other measures he said included road safety assemblies, supporting staff on patrol and discussions with the school about use of a turning circle outside.

The school moved to a larger building in Station Road last month, having closed its Mill Road site.

The council said the zebra crossing at the new site had been installed incorrectly.

Cooke said safety was paramount to the council when building schools and every check had been made before Lakenheath Community Primary School was opened.

But he said it was often the case that reassessments were needed.

"We had a road safety officer on site who observed the [school] yesterday and he was very much assured by what was going on," Cooke said.

"He said that it was not very different from many schools up and down the country.

"If you put a school anywhere, there's going to be an increase in traffic, there's going to be some of those difficulties and this is not unusual.

"The drop-off is a challenging time, but what he saw gave me assurance that we're not dealing with something that's unusual.

"This is something that's being managed safely, and we're really convinced it's a safe school to be open at the moment, but lessons have been learnt."

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