School buses ...

[GlomOfNit]

We just got emails here about how school will start back up in September. DS goes to secondary and goes on a bus service that up until now has been public transport (in theory anyway - the service only runs at school times and is packed out with rowdy secondary kids, I don't think any member of the public would want to get on!). Because of the restrictions placed on public transport, the transport company who run these 'public' services at school times have said it's not going to be either economically viable or even possible to double the fleet in order to abide by the government guidelines. But - that whole fleet of school services has been converted into 'school buses', meaning our kids still have a transport option. Great.

However, the guidelines that strictly limit the number of passengers on public transport and make them wear masks, don't apply to school buses. They don't have to wear masks (it's 'recommended' yeah, that'll work ...) and there is no limit to the numbers on board.

School have said how they're isolating year groups (they get their own toilets, areas of school, timetable is staggered to avoid inter-year group mingling etc) yet the buses that deliver at least half the kids to school will be crammed with mixed year group students, and they don't even have to wear masks!

Just seems crazy to me - no joined-up thinking. Anyone else banging their heads on the table over this? I'm thinking, if I can manage it, about starting a car pool with a couple of friends - at least they'll be in the same year group.

@nex18 and who will drive them? Do the school even have the mini buses still?

The issue is not that it is not possible but that I was told there hadn’t been enough interest (even though I had never been asked if I was interested, presumably nobody else had either).
It’s a small school, less than 700 pupils, around 60 in 6th form. Transport is provided for lower years so only 6th form is a problem, (they are able to pay to travel on the same bus that the lower years have passed for, which makes it overcrowded).
They still have the minibuses, they would probably need 2 to transport the 6th formers who live in catchment but not within walking distance.

"The school buses need to enforce masks."

In reality who would enforce it? They could be refused access to the bus until they put one on but as soon as the bus drives off what happens?

Again who do you expect to be driving them?

My yr 8 dd is exactly the same. Year group bubble at school but sat on a packed bus with all years and no masks.

I'm driving her in September. I'll pull her out of I don't believe the school is safe. It's awful normally with fights and bullying so I can imagine coughing on people will be the new thing for the idiots to do.

Steve and Freddie

My daughter's headteacher has effectively said that pupils will be in a bubble of 4k students as they share school transport with 2 other schools. This is ridiculous and makes a mockery of the bubble concept. The school has students travelling from several different counties being a grammar school with a huge catchment. It's not the school's fault though, it's the governments for effectively washing their hands of the situation. I said on another thread that the government guidelines are not fit for purpose and seem to be more realistic for primary schools. The increase in people driving their children to school will cause gridlock combined with people returning to work.

My daughter's headteacher has effectively said that pupils will be in a bubble of 4k students as they share school transport with 2 other schools. This is ridiculous and makes a mockery of the bubble concept.

Agreed, that is ridiculous.

SAGE released a report yesterday which called for the term bubbles to be dropped for schools. It says stuff about public and school transport too.

Here:

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/903374/S0621_Risks_associated_with_the_reopening_of_education_settings_in_Sept.pdf

At my son's school they have separate year group bubbles with separate toilets, staggered lunch and break times.

At the end of the day they finish at ten minute staggered intervals. We've been told after all that palava, the first classes to finish are then to wait in the playground for all the other bubbles to finish so they can all get on the bus together for the 20+ mins ride home.

It's utterly insane.

To be clear about the 4k bubble comment. The school are going to keep students in year group bubbles whilst they are in school, although we haven't had the full guidance yet, but I think the head was making parents aware of the reality of the situation. She also has the "can do" attitude which some people on mumsnet seem to think is the only thing stopping schools going back! I feel for teachers, I really do. The transport situation was chaotic before this with an adhoc system of private and public routes loosely organised by the county council.