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School Zone Safety

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

The Queensland Government is writing to inform you that Ironside State School is committed to ensuring the safety of students travelling to and from schools and will install flashing school zone signs (FSZS) in 100 school zones across Queensland, during the 2025–26 financial year.

As part of this rollout, that Ironside State School will be receiving FSZS in the Ironside Street school zone.

Installation of FSZS at Ironside State School will improve visibility of the school zone and serve as an active reminder for motorists to slow down when children are out and about.

Several important factors are considered when assessing school zones for flashing lights, such as crash history, traffic volumes, pedestrian movements, the speed limit and visibility.

This ensures FSZS are delivered to priority sites across Queensland. FSZS have been a success since the program was introduced in 2012. Since then, FSZS have been installed at more than 1499 Queensland school zones.

Child safety is paramount, and illegal parking within school zones remains a significant concern for parents, residents, and schools. Limited parking spaces around peak drop-off and pick-up times often leads to competitive and potentially dangerous parking behaviours.

While we understand the challenges parents face in navigating school zone drop-off and pick-up, it is crucial to prioritise safety.

Over the coming term, Council officers will be conducting regular patrols around your school to monitor parking compliance.

Our enforcement approach will use a combination of foot patrols and our highly visible Community Safety and Regulation vehicles that can identify alleged offences using Automatic Number Plate Recognition and GPS software. Compliance action will be taken on any observed breaches.

School zone signs are displayed as you approach the school and shows both the speed limit and the times you need to reduce your speed around the school. Children's crossing are identified by children crossing flags, which are displayed near crossings before and after school hours.

When the crossing is supervised, you as a motorist must:

wait until all pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders have crossed the road and the crossing supervisor has returned to the footpath
abide by the direction given by the School Crossing Supervisor.

If the crossing is unsupervised, you as a motorist must:

give way to pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders on or entering a children’s, pedestrian or marked foot crossings
give way to pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders on or entering a road you’re turning into
give way to pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders on a slip lane
give way to pedestrians in a share zone
travel at a speed allowing you to stop safely at a crossing if needed

As a driver, it's important to make sure you give way to all pedestrians, bicycle or personal mobility device riders such as skateboards, e-scooters.

You must also give way to pedestrians using a motorised mobility device such as a motorised wheelchair or a mobility scooter.

Some of our most vulnerable road users are children getting to and from school, so it’s important to slow down and abide by the crossing rules, as it won’t make much difference to the trip time, but it could very well save lives.

Visit the Street Smarts website to find more information about what to do at pedestrian and children crossings.

Kokoda Youth Foundation's Digital Detox Program

Kokoda Youth Foundation's Digital Detox Program (DDP) gives young people the opportunity to "hit reset" on their technology use, and encourages them to build healthy, balanced digital habits.

Our 8-day adventure camp, held over the school holidays, offers a device-free environment that lets students unplug, reconnect with nature and themselves, build self-confidence through outdoor adventure challenges, and learn mindful technology use through interactive workshops. The program is fully funded and at no cost to students and their families.

We're now accepting applications for our next Digital Detox intakes:

If you know a 12–14-year-old student who could benefit from this program, we encourage you to share this opportunity with their families and encourage them to apply below:

DDP APPLICATION FORM

✔️ Build self-confidence through epic outdoor activities like flying fox, giant swing & high ropes!

✔️ Reconnect with nature and enjoy camping under the stars and campfire cooking

✔️ Take part in interactive workshops focused on encouraging

healthy tech habits

✔️ Tackle team challenges and boost problem-solving skills

✔️ Make new friends and real-life connections

✔️ Parent participation

for final two days to help reinforce habits

Our Digital Detox Program is entirely funded through our Kokoda Challenge events, which allows us to deliver our transformative youth programs completely free of charge to families.

It is your school's support and generous fundraising for our events that makes it possible for our young people to grow, connect, and thrive through experiences that set them up for life.

To learn more about the Kokoda Youth Foundation and discover how our programs can encourage your students to re-engage with their education and reach their full potential, please head to our website.

From the Classroom