Father avoids school run rush with 15-foot canoe

A FIVE-year-old girl is the toast of her school after her father introduced a nautical theme to the school run.

When conditions allow, Charley McAllister’s father Ken paddles right up to her school in his 15-foot Canadian canoe to collect his daughter at home-time.

Kids stand at the bank of the Forth and Clyde Canal as they slip off into the distance, cheering “Go Charley, Go Charley.”

The inspired way to dodge car chaos at the school gates has only been made possible this week, when Charley’s new £7 million school opened its doors for the first time.

Lairdsland Primary in Kirkintilloch has been built on the edge of the canal at the council-owned Southbank Marina.

Head teacher Fiona Donaghey, who yesterday went out of school early to wave off her sailor star pupil, said: “This is quite a new experience for me.

“I’ve never had a child picked up by canoe before.”

Dad, Ken, 45, from Kirkin- tilloch, is a postman and admits dropping off Charley is one of his more unusual deliveries.

He said: “You should see her face. She is so excited about this way to go to school.

“She woke me up five times this morning to remind me to collect her at three.

“Some parents have actually asked me if I do trips.

“But there is a more serious aspect to doing this. I want to make her safe on the water and to learn about the dangers it holds. I’ve been an instructor for 20 years. This is safer than the old school where you were always dodging traffic.”

Charley wears a lifejacket and has been training on water since she was a toddler.

The five-year-old beamed: “My pals all think it’s cool. We collected frogspawn the other day and now we’re going to find some reeds for them to eat.”

Councillor Eric Gotts said: “At £7 million, we knew the new school was going to be state-of-the-art. But we never thought that included a jetty.”