Gap State High School issues road safety warning as ‘industrial direction’ leaves students unsupervised

A Brisbane high school principal has claimed “industrial direction” means students won’t be supervised waiting for buses

A crackdown on teachers and school staff supervising students catching public transport has led to a major Brisbane high school warning parents to instruct their kids on road safety.

Up until the end of this term, The Gap State High School staff have regularly supervised students catching public buses on busy Waterworks Road to and from school.

But GSHS principal Anne McLauchlan has now informed parents due to recent “industrial direction”, students would not be supervised after the upcoming Easter holidays.

“For many years, staff at The Gap have provided supervision after school for students who catch public transport at two of the main bus stops near the school,” she wrote in a message to parents.

“Due to industrial direction, from the start of term 2, this will no longer occur.”

The independent public high school is one of the largest in Brisbane, with about 1700 students.

According to an outline of required duties on the Queensland Teachers’ Union website, staff can be asked to perform up to 30 minutes of supervision after school, but should only be for school buses.

Traffic building up around the The Gap State High School. Pic: AAP/Image Sarah Marshall

QTU president Cresta Richardson said it was a “matter of safety, not working conditions”.

“The QTU understands The Gap State High is exploring solutions to managing student numbers on or around busy Waterworks Road after school,” she said.

“It’s a known fact teachers and school leaders work well outside school hours, often unpaid.

“To suggest these dedicated staff would deliberately leave students in any sort of unsafe situation is absurd.”

Ms McLauchlan went on to say the school had met with a number of government departments as well as local councillors and members to highlight concerns over the new arrangements.

“They have all spent time observing the flow of student traffic at the end of our school day to help inform the support/changes that may be needed,” she said.

Instead of staff supervising students directly, they will be positioned at the schools exits “to manage the flow of students leaving the grounds”.

Gap School

The school plans to hold further “education sessions” with students would also be held on safe travel, while parents were asked to remind their kids about road safety and appropriate behaviour.

A department of education spokeswoman said the school had been trialling a number of initiatives during the term to improve student safety.

“One of the initiatives trialled is the positioning of staff at each of the exits at the front of the school,” she said.

“This allows the school to better manage the flow of students leaving the grounds, minimising large numbers of students leaving the school all at once near a busy roadside.

“This trial has proved successful and has reduced the number of students on the roadside during busy periods.”

She went on to say both The Gap SHS and the department would work with the Department of Transport and Main Roads and relevant stakeholders to ensure there was a “co-ordinated approach” to road and student safety.