Editorial: School's back - and so's the traffic

I guess it has been the week of the caretaker.

Those hardy folks who keep the grounds of schools looking fine and dandy.

It has also been the week of the teacher, too, as you don't step back onto the teaching stage at 9am on a Monday morning five or six weeks after stepping off it.

There is much preparation to be done and the school parking areas for staff have been occupied pretty well for the past week.

For the children there are few issues: Just make sure you get there on time to find out what class you're now in and who your teacher is.

Their minds will still be in a sort of holiday neutral.

I can remember the return to school, and the start of my fourth form year (children, ask your parents) after the long summer holidays and greeted the arrival of the dawn of that day with a word none of my teachers would have accepted ... although I daresay expected.

The summer break is the big break for the schools.

The other couple are mere fortnight retreats compared to the five or six-week unfenced festival.

So it has come to pass that the schools are "going back".

The caretakers and the teachers, their aides, their boards and all involved in the whole educational process are back on deck.

As are thousands of students.

So what it will mean for commuters and drivers in general is that the streets around schools will be busy.

These are streets which for the past five weeks or so have been relatively barren places as the classrooms and playgrounds have been empty.

Accordingly drivers, confronted by clear kerbsides and clear lanes ahead, would begin to discard the 40km/h speed limit which is in place within school zones.

No kids, no problem.

It is not really a wise attitude to adopt, as like anything that gets too familiar and comfortable it can take some time to readjust when things get back to normal.

As they are about to become.

So, watch the speedo (40km/h) and watch the crossings.

Watch for buses and parents discharging their kids.

Something every motorist simply has to learn.

We all need to be a school care-taker.