Your police school community officer is responsible for training school patrols and wardens. Here is the process.
Adult supervisors should be inducted to ensure that patrols and wardens carry out their duties professionally and competently.
The school community officer also implements procedures specific to particular crossings to ensure that patrol members and crossing students stay safe. These could include establishing special reference points or ‘marks’, making changes to operating procedures owing to heavy traffic flows, or using third members as leaders.
Most school traffic safety teams are trained in term 4 so they’re ready to start their duties in term 1 the following year. Refresher training is normally provided during the first few weeks of the first term to ensure patrol members are competent to carry out their duties.
However, some schools prefer to have their patrols trained during term 3 then starting their duties in term 4, continuing through to the end of the third term the following year. Your police school community officer will be able to advise on the best option for your school.
When you’re ready to schedule training for your school patrols and wardens, contact your school community officer. They’ll work with you to choose a date that suits you and your students.
Before training starts, please photocopy the training sheet.
School patrol training sheet [DOCX, 53 KB]
Your school community officer will use it as part of the training programme.
6.2 Training for school patrols and school wardens
You’ll need to set aside a day for this training – and all students need to attend (no exceptions).
The training day covers essential information such as:
Participants will also get practical training, learning about things like reference points or marks that they can use to identify safe gaps in traffic and determine traffic speeds and volume.
Supervisors will also need to be inducted into the school safety team procedures.
When the training is complete, consider including the new recruits in the roster for the rest of the year. It’s a great opportunity to give them practical experience with your established patrol members.
Early in the new school year, your school community officer will contact you to arrange refresher training at crossings and check that you’ve set up your rosters. They might also meet the supervisors to make sure they’re aware of their roles and responsibilities.
This is also an ideal time to show newcomers to your school how your school patrol or warden operation works.
Your school is responsible for ensuring that students travelling on buses understand basic safety procedures. Remember to get parent or caregiver permission before training takes place.
In preparation for your training day, make sure that:
The training day should also cover topics such as:
You could also contact your school community officer if you need specialist training support, such as emergency procedures, checking the bus is roadworthy, and that unloading sites are correct and signposted.
Safety is the top priority of every school patrol and warden, so it’s important to watch for and report unsafe or illegal behaviour – by pedestrians and drivers.
School traffic safety team members should identify any children who distract or interfere with their patrol’s safe operation – and give their names to the supervisor as soon as they’ve finished their duties.
Drivers who fail to stop when children are on pedestrian or kea crossings, or fail to give way when they should at crossings controlled by traffic signals, are breaking the law.
If the supervisor sees any of these things happening they should write down:
the vehicle’s registration number
a description of the driver
the type of vehicle
the vehicle’s colour
the date and time of the incident
the direction in which the vehicle was travelling
whether any children were on the crossing – and if so, where they were and the direction in which they were walking
the names of any witnesses
where the vehicle was first sighted when the STOP signs were extended on the roadway
any other matters they consider relevant.
These details should be transferred to the School patrol infringement form as soon as possible, then faxed or scanned to your local police station.
School patrol infringement form [DOCX, 141 KB]
In an emergency, dial 111 immediately.