My DS's primary has just converted to an Academy. (Chosen, not forced, our LA intends all schools to be Academies by September 2015)
They have had one unusually small intake (current Y6), and one unusually large intake (current Y4). In September, we will have an extra class, due to the Y6 1FE leaving, and a YR 2FE starting.
The school wish to change the start times from 9am infants, 8.55am juniors to 8.45am infants, 8.40 juniors.
They are saying that it is to do with the fact that they will be the largest school in our town (with a 2FE+bulge class in what will be Y5), and that it is causing issues with lunchtimes.
While I can see the logistics of lunchtimes being a headache, as the school doesn't have one large hall, but two small halls, at opposite ends of the school (was 1.5FE just 8 years ago, 1FE 9 years ago, has grown very quickly), the fact that many people have to travel to the school by bus, on a very busy, multiple bottle-necked route seems to be overlooked.
The school know that quite a lot of their pupils have to travel there, and that getting there just 15 minutes earlier might mean leaving the house 45 minutes or more earlier, due to traffic jams.
They have asked any objections to be put in writing. How best to go about this?
(As actually, I STRONGLY object. To the point of steam coming out of my ears. Most people I know that catch the bus just can't manage that, for various reasons. Mine would be getting my 15yo DD with LD's out if the door at 8.05am, but others have their reasons too.)
I can't see why they can't FINISH 15 minutes later - as 3.15 would not be as much of a problem to travel home by bus as travelling TO school in rush hour on unreliable buses is.
So, they can choose to make life harder for the parents that travel by bus by starting 15 minutes earlier OR they can have the extra 15 minutes without making life harder for the parents that travel by bus.
Maybe I will suggest that, due to congestion in rush hour here?
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School looking to change start times...
CouthyMow · 12/05/2013 03:17
A 7.30 start?! 
My buses don't start early enough for me to catch one to get there at that time - the first bus is 7.20.
So that would work sooooo well without the infrastructure around it being sorted.
I can see that while I can write my objections, this is likely to he a done deal. It just makes me irritated that my DS2 will go from having a reasonably good record for having minimal late marks, to probably being late the majority of the time, through factors outside both his and my control.
It's not fair on him to be constantly late, and it's not fair on his class or teacher either.
I can't make the buses run on time, and I can't leave before DD does. So this will be a PITA for me and anyone else who has to use the buses. It's not our fault the service is unreliable.
If I didn't have DD to deal with, an earlier start time would actually suit me better, as it would give me time to drop off DS2 with my friend who will be taking him 3 days a week from January so that I can cross town with DS3 to get him to the SN Nursery on time, an hour's bus ride away in rush hour.
BUT, I DO have DD to worry about, and while in most quarters it is being welcomed at the school, the ones of us that have to rely on the bus service are never going to he able to manage to get there on time.
Afternoon school run times are much quieter by bus - in the mornings, we have traffic destined for the mainline train station to London, plus I live very near a business park, which the morning rush hour buses serve, but the school pick up buses don't - thus making the journey time shorter in the afternoon due to bus routes differences, AND the lack of traffic attempting to get to work.
The school don't liaise with the bus company as the buses are meant to be every 12 minutes. Unfortunately, between 8.00am and 8.35am, there isn't usually a single bus that can get through the station roundabout bottleneck, and 3 turn up at once every day, at some point between 8.35 and 8.45.
(No, I can't walk, despite it bring a relatively 'short' journey of 2 miles, I'm disabled with Arthritis and my 9yo DS2 is also disabled and has limited mobility)
I leave the house between 8.10-8.15am, am lucky to get a bus between 8.35 and 8.45, and either just make it to school on time, or am late, more often than I would like to be, despite leaving the house 40-50 minutes before I have to be there for a 2 mile bloody journey.
Does that tell you how bad the traffic is?!
Leaving earlier won't make a jot of difference, because I can't get on a bus that hasn't turned up because it's still stuck in traffic.
That's why the earlier start times will be impossible.
DS1 has a breakfast club this week, because it's SATS week for him.
We left at 7.45 to be there for 8.30. We got there at 8.45. 
Leaving earlier didn't make any difference, because I can't get on a bus that isn't there!
I can't see why putting the extra 15 minutes on the morning rush rather than the afternoon rush seems more sensible to the school, when they know the traffic issues, and they even have teachers late and caught up in it all quite often.
Seems aimed at making things easier for parents that work or aren't on a very low income, and can afford to run a car, at the expense if those who, for whatever reason (epilepsy and arthritis in my case) can't run a car and are reliant on an abysmal bus service.
Why is an extra 15 minutes, which I have no dispute that they ARE needed, so important to be at the start of the day rather than the end.
I doubt an extra 15 minutes at the end of the day would be terribly detrimental to outside school activities, whereas it will be very detrimental to my DS2's educational record if, due to the morning buses, he is repeatedly late.
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