To think the Headmaster should realise that rural schools don't run like a town school (transport related).

[Sunnymeg]

I'm not personally affected by this, as we drive DS to school. DS goes to a rural secondary school, three quarters of the children travel to school on transport provided by county.

The school buses are all times to arrive by at least 8.45am. In previous years, GCSE students have caught the bus as normal and gone straight to the exam rooms. However we have now been told that GCSE students have to be in school by 8am. No reason has been given. I can only assume that it is to give school time to do their admin etc and make sure everyone has turned up.

We received an email about this over the weekend. The secondary school is in a village location and I would imagine that lots of parents already have their own work commitments and probably work in one of the two nearest town's, both some 20 miles away from the school.

The more I think about this, the more unreasonable it sounds. The Head has only been in city schools, previously. Some children have a journey in excess of 20 miles , due to the rural location.

I cannot understand why he is doing this and why he has only given a few days notice, what does he expect people to do. The majority of them will probably continue with their existing routine and put their children on the bus.

However the kicker to all this, is that the email says that if children don't arrive by 8am their names will be taken and repeat offenders will not be allowed to attend prom!!

Mmm, I've never lived rurally myself, but I feel fairly certain that there isn't public transport that magically becomes available for 16-17 year olds if it didn't exist already.

Our schools are like the OP, every little village has a small school until year 6. Then High school, we have a choice of three, our main catchement one is 10 miles then there are two others 6 miles away, all fed by school buses. A local college too has a bus. Her school has bus pick up sports from 8-10 miles away. Some kids live much further out on farms and need a parent to take them to the bus stops.
Public buses are available few and far between, but Dd would have to catch three buses and then walk about 3/4 mile from the main road to her school, she'd either be very late for school or need to get the first bus leaving the house by about 6am and get there very early.
All a bit silly. Chances for after school clubs are 0. They try to fit stuff in at lunchtime.

CuntinuousMingeprovement
do you really not believe there are places without a regular bus service?

What on earth would have given you the impression that I think that?

ok - maybe I have missed sarcasm.

What I meant was, alternative public transport other than school buses doesn't suddenly become available to a 16 year old if it didn't exist already. Fine if the rural area in question has a bus that will get the young person to school or college earlier than the school bus does, but that can't be assumed.

I don't think some people have a clue what rural means (possibly including this HT). Some children in Scotland have to get a ferry to school.
Op yanbu, I hope the parents that are affected make him see how stupid it is.

I live:
11 miles from our catchment comp
.5 miles, going over the fields, from the nearest bus stop (one bus on Monday, returns Thursday)
2 miles from the nearest bus stop (not on paved roads - mostly through woods)
2 miles (over fields) from where the school bus stops before its 70 minute journey, through the other villages, to the catchment comp.
There is no way that the route is safe for a child to cycle, as even though the roads are small, they are unlit, winding, and national speed limits apply. In the winter they are dark and icy, and in the summer and autumn the visibility is restricted by foliage.

This is normal for the countryside.

@Sunnymeg if you can please do share the backtracking/clarification email. It will be interesting to see how the Head spins this one!

Will do.

Now that the Head has had their arse handed to them I'll be very interested to see what the outcome is.

It's threads like this that remind me just how far apart urban and rural people are in their understanding of how the other lives

Massive culture shock for me when I went to university in a city and discovered that takeaways not only delivered but they did so until about 1am in the morning . Even more amazing were night buses. Buses that ran at night every night. Didn't even get a daily bus service to get you into town in time for a 9am start from where I came from .

Our closest secondary is 16 miles away (England, but not a million miles away from Scotland) I don't consider us to be particularly remote, there's a village about 4 miles away and both Sainsbury’s and DPD deliver direct to the front door. We have internet and electricity and stuff. No mobile phone signal though....

Posting for back tracking email too!

We live 5 miles from the nearest high school, along lanes I wouldn't cycle on with a really busy a road to cross. There is no way I would let a 16 year old cycle or walk it isn't safe. Our catchment is over 15 miles in radius and most villages have no bus service, just the school transport.
I'm in the east Midlands.

Hope your headteacher enjoys his climb down OP!

Our school ask GCSE /A level pupils to be in ealy before exams to give themselves time to chase people who have misread the timetable/overslept and not turned up. This happens every year, despite numerous reminders. You don't have to send your child in early but if you don't then no bleating from them or you cause they missed maths 2 etc.

EskSmith East Midlands here too and very similar. Live in a small town rather than a village. Public transport is infrequent and has to take a circuitous route to pick up from various villages.

Need to get to hospital? That's an hour long bus journey followed by a 20 minute walk (up hill). Dont forget to factor in the bus from your village to the town centre - oh no, sorry there isnt one!

DD's school is 8 miles away, the only bus is the school bus. The head has sent out a letter saying to be on time but if for some reason there is a delay ring xxx as soon as you think you will be late. It's not unusual for buses to be late or for roads to be blocked for some reason.

In previous years they have met late children and escorted them into the hall. Children have not been in trouble or penalised as the difficulties living rurally have been acknowledged.

Still slightly shocked at the people who think there is no such thing as rural England. I'm in Somerset, it can be quicker to get to Bristol than DD's school some days.

😂 at the people who have NO idea how rural services actually work. A lot of rural bus routes are heavily subsidised by the local authority, remove the subsidy and the bus companies can't afford to run them.

If my dd was to take public transport into her school from the village we used to live in it would've meant two busses, around two hours plus and she'd miss the start of the exam because the connection times didn't match up... to go six miles.

Tell him he needs to take that up with the bus provider as you have no control over what time the bus departs

Yet again those who think that everywhere is like where they live make an appearance, some people really have no idea.

I'd be willing to bet that the 8am arrive at school will no longer be a thing by this time tomorrow

South West here, farming country, so rural. No public transport from most villages, maybe a bus to town once a week if you are lucky. School buses provided by the LEA (I presume), free to those over 3 miles away and around £300 a term I think if you live closer.

The secondary has a massive catchment area, and none of the villages have public transport. Most bus routes collect at the end of farm lanes to pick children up for school, or at a central point in each village for those pupils. If you miss the bus you have had it.

Regular bus services going past our secondary school don't even run in the hour after school, because they are all diverted to the local infant & junior schools instead. DD has to get a bus from school into our nearest city, then wait for me to leave work to drive home. There are no easy public bus routes and we don't even live in the National Park which forms part 9f the catchment area.

I used to have a 5 mile journey on an ordinary bus from the age of 4 to get to primary school in Cornwall. My mum would put me on it & the driver always pulled up outside the school to let me get off. My mum couldn't accompany me because the route was over an hour long and the return leg would start 2 hours later.

Barbarian
Funnily enough our school manages just fine with the kids going in at the usual bus time and getting to the exam hall in time.

If there is NO other transport available what do you suggest the kids do?

Barbarian
HOW are the kids meant to get their early when the ONLY transport is the school / college bus ?

I’d put good money that he is a “fast track” headteacher fresh from some scheme or other. Common sense isn’t part of the entry requirements for the super duper amazing fast track senior leaders. Not is being able to teach apparently. The vision of making all schools just like private schools by making the children wear expensive blazers and logos, and having them start at 8am will radically make no difference at all.

The head can just go and pick everyone up, sorted.