School Bus Full - Safeguarding issue?

It is normal in our county (superselective grammars) for kids to criss-cross the county on buses to grammar school. The bus companies are independent and the schools aren’t. Hardly any kids would get public buses or have backup routes - they’d phone a parent if the bus didn’t turn up. OP isn’t unreasonable for using this sort of bus service and if a younger child was left isolated in the dark there could be a safety issue.

I would say it is a safeguarding issue but it is YOUR safeguarding issue. Up to you to make alternative arrangements (and request recompense for a poor service.)

Or as Blossom says, use two vehicles or do two runs.

Is this a public bus kids can get on or a school bus, and if the latter, who provides the transport, school or LA? If the latter, the bus company needs to provide a vehicle of the right size. Drivers shortages are understandable but the company should have enough vehicles the right size or be able to hire one in as a contingency as part of their acceptance to be a school bus.

In my area this would be considered a safeguarding issue. There would also be no possibility of students getting off the bus and walking to school. The buses exist because the distances are far or because there is an obstacle between the school and home that is not suitable for pedestrians. The bus company would bring in a second bus to split the route for the day if it had a breakdown or worst case scenario, text everyone about a delay and have the driver do the route in two parts.

@trashypanda
If the bus isn't designed to take standing passengers, the driver would be in deep trouble if he allowed it and there were an accident.

I don't know who made the decision about what to do, but if it was a case of older kids volunteering to walk the last mile (or wait for the driver to come back for them after dropping the rest) so that the younger ones were safely on the bus, well done them.

Bus company at fault - and they put the driver in a very difficult position.

Getting a contingency plan set up for any future occurrences would be a good idea.

@prh47bridge

It's an interesting historical one - the village school and the catchment secondary have been there for 150 years or so, the nearer secondary was built in around 1970 but the catchments weren't altered. So the nearer one feeds from 5 primary schools in the town, but all the villages around feed to the traditional secondary in a further away town.

The nearer school is undersubscribed, catchment very over subscribed, so while technically that is true, it just would never happen in real life.

It annoys me, but it's worth it to me for them to go to the catchment school, and the bus means I can work full time, so...

I also do think it’s a safeguarding issue, but that’s possibly because I now live in Australia and there is a very famous case here about a 13 year old kid called Daniel Morcombe who was abducted and killed whilst at a bus stop.

As an aside, my son is in year 11 and they are having GCSE mocks until they break up. He couldn't get off a bus and walk because he has to sit his morning test at 8:45

@NothingIsWrong
In our area we don't have catchments but neighbouring LA do.
Due to over subscriptions 95% have to choose catchment school to get in anywhere local. Some catchments are odd shaped areas but generally is a school close by. Priority is given to them.
So to penalise you for opting for a catchment school is an alien concept for me.

[quote explodingeyes]@NothingIsWrong I genuinely had no idea LAs could do that! If you have two DC that's £100 for a catchment school and money that a lot of people won't have. 8 miles is impossible to walk too[/quote]
I do have 2 at school, so £110/month. Their logic is that you can send them to the nearest school rather than the catchment one if you can't afford it

You need some sort of backup plan, however it’s worth discussing with the bus company to see what their stance is.
My daughter goes to a state school 10 miles away. Sometimes she gets the bus (which would cost £100/month but is pay as you go), sometimes either myself or a friend are able to do the journey. Is there anyone who lives near you that could help, even if just for emergencies?

It's not a safeguarding issue because many year 7s make their own way to school but have you discussed contingency plans with your son ? It's not unheard of for things to happen like buses breaking down or not turning up.

Are the older children who get off attending a school near the stop where your son gets on? Or do you mean they should walk the same route that drives your son?

@NothingIsWrong I genuinely had no idea LAs could do that! If you have two DC that's £100 for a catchment school and money that a lot of people won't have. 8 miles is impossible to walk too

Why would you expect older children to get off? What is your contingency plan for when the bus breaks down/ gets stuck in traffic/ doesn’t arrive?

I pay for my children's bus to school as county withdrew funding for travel to catchment schools if there was another school within 3 miles. So to get them to their catchment school 8 miles away I pay £55/month/child. If it doesn't come or there isn't space, they don't go to school as there is no service bus or walkable route (along an A road dual carriageway at rush hour). I have a couple of very kind friends who would take in the event that they miss the bus, which has happened a couple of times, but by the time we would have realised the bus wasn't coming it would be too late for that.

Why would older pupils get off before the bus reaches the school? You seem to expect this. Is it because the school is only a mile or so away?

Why didn’t the pupils just stand on the bus if there weren’t enough seats?

Mistake by the bus company, but not a safeguarding issue.

At 12 surely you have made plans for situations like this?

Public transport outside big cities is expensive.

I'm surprised anyone's asking passengers to get off to allow other passengers on.

If it's OK for older kids to get off and walk, it's OK for a 12yo to walk, surely?

The bus company shouldn't be selling more passes than they can accommodate though.

It is poor service, but I don't see it as a safeguarding issue. As you are paying for the bus, I presume this is either an independent (fee paying) school or you live less than 3 miles from the school. If it is the latter, most children of your son's age would cycle or walk to school.

You certainly have a case for a partial refund if your son wasn't able to get on the bus, but I don't think trying to argue it as a safeguarding issue will get you anywhere.

Bad service. Not safeguarding.

£100 a month for bus? Is it a long way? As most Yr7s get their own ways to schools by all sorts of means it's more poor service than safeguarding. I'd be asking for a refund

How far is it to school?

Have you spoken to your child, were they OK?