Kiss-and-Drop & Parking

Around 1,480 students arrive and leave St Mary's within a 30-minute window twice a day, on a suburban road shared with neighbours and the 684 bus. The Kiss-and-Drop zone keeps that traffic moving and, more importantly, keeps children safe. Please read these rules and share them with grandparents, carers and anyone else who does school pick-up. The full campus map is on College Map & Parking.

The zone at a glance

Outside these times the lane is a standard No Stopping zone and Wattle Ranges Shire Council parking officers do enforce it.

The rules

• Stay in your car. If you need to get out (to buckle a Prep child, for example), park in the Main car park instead.
• Pull forward as far as possible to the front of the zone – children can walk back along the fence line to the gate.
• Children exit and enter on the kerb side only, with bags in the cabin, not the boot.
• Two minutes means two minutes. If your child is not at the gate, loop around the block (Chapel Road – Convent Lane – Bracken Avenue) and rejoin the queue.
• No U-turns on Chapel Road, no double parking, no stopping across neighbours' driveways or in the bus bay.
• Phones down while in the zone.
• Speed limit on Chapel Road is 40 km/h during school times.

Morning procedure (8:15am–8:45am)

Yard supervision begins at 8:15am – please do not drop children before then unless they are booked into OSHC. Staff open car doors and direct Junior students through the Junior Gate; Senior students walk to the Senior Gate. Senior students should be in Homeroom by 8:40am and Junior students in class by 8:45am, so aim to be in the zone by 8:35am at the latest.

Afternoon procedure (3:15pm–3:45pm)

1. Each Junior family is issued a laminated number card at the start of the year (spares from the Junior Office). Display it on the dashboard as you enter the zone.
2. Junior students wait behind the fence in the pick-up bay inside the Junior Gate, supervised by staff.
3. A staff member reads your number and calls your child (and siblings) to the kerb; staff will help with doors and bags.
4. Senior students wait on the Chapel Road footpath opposite the Senior Gate and walk to the car when they see it – Senior siblings collecting Junior students wait together in the Junior pick-up bay.
5. Students not collected by 3:45pm are taken to the Junior Office; after that they are signed into casual After School Care in the Hall Annexe (charged, $34). Please phone the office on (03) 9555 0100 if you are running late so we can reassure your child.

On Wednesdays the Senior School finishes at 2:45pm; the Kiss-and-Drop zone operates 2:45pm–3:00pm for Senior students only, then again from 3:15pm for the Junior School.

Finding your way – a map in words

Approaching from Wattle Creek Station, Chapel Road runs north with the College on your left.

• Senior Gate comes first, with the bus bay immediately before it (buses only, 7:45am–8:45am and 3:00pm–4:00pm).
• The Kiss-and-Drop lane runs from the Senior Gate to the Junior Gate.
• Junior Gate – the bike shed is just inside; the Junior Office is straight ahead.
• Beyond the Junior Gate is the entrance to the Main car park (40 visitor bays, including two accessible bays near the Junior Office). It is a genuine option if you want to walk your child in, but it is closed to through traffic 8:15am–8:45am and 3:10pm–3:45pm – you may park and walk, but not drive through to the gates.
• Convent Lane runs along the northern boundary. The Staff car park off Convent Lane is not available to parents at any time on school days.
• The Sports Centre car park, also off Convent Lane, is opened for evening events.
• Opposite both gates the far side of Chapel Road is a No Stopping zone – do not wave children across the road.

Fines and etiquette

Council officers patrol Chapel Road several times a week and issue fines for stopping in No Stopping zones, parking across driveways, double parking and exceeding the Kiss-and-Drop limit; these are council matters and the College cannot intervene. Our neighbours are patient with us – please return the courtesy by not blocking driveways or turning in them. If you would rather avoid the zone altogether, parking two streets away and walking takes about five minutes and is often quicker at 3:20pm.

Evening events

For concerts, information evenings and P&F events, use the Main car park first, then the Sports Centre car park via Convent Lane; both are signed and lit. The Kiss-and-Drop lane remains a No Stopping zone in the evening. Accessible parking is available beside the Hall on request – phone the office beforehand.