Would you use school transport for a reception age child?

[Themostwonderfultimeoftheyear]

Just that really. Would it be too much for a 4 and a half year old just started at school? DS is quite confident and sociable but obviously still little! The school is 48 minutes walk away and public transport is not straightforward for me to do pick ups using that. It would only need to be after school as DH will do drop off in the car in the mornings but then will have the car all day so I will have to walk from work. No way for me to walk from my work to the school in time but I could walk from work to my home in time to meet the bus.

Our DD has used the school bus since reception when she was only 4. She’s now in Year 4. We did have a few problems with bullying but that’s now resolved. The older children generally looked after her. Some of her school buses have a chaperone but the one serving our village doesn’t.

Good point about a chaperone, will try and find that out.

It's quite common in rural and semi rural areas. The older children look after the younger, the drivers are all DBS checked and seem quite jolly( although how jolly you can be with a dozen excited children on board is another matter! ) Chaperones aren't routinely provided, just for children with medical or behavioural problems.

Ok so I asked in the parent group and there are escorts on there so that's really reassuring. I'm assuming they would keep a close eye on new children.

I wouldn't do it for the first few days but might be fine after that especially if there are escorts.

School should send a TA or someone out to escort all the younger children that use the school transport to the bus and hand them over to the driver. TA would collect all young ones and walk them to the bus to make sure they are on safely. That's what we did when I taught in a village school.

No, I wouldn’t
I’d suck up the hassle for the first two terms and then school bus for summer term

Dont think that would happen now Caaaarl . Should be ok though OP. Strike up a relationship with the driver.

My lo has been getting school transport to school since she was 3.

She goes to special school and there are 6 children in her mini bus with a driver and an escort.

I wanted my children to attend school and had no way of getting there other than school transport, there were chaperones on the primary school buses and all the kids from the village travelled that way.

Our children who use mini buses or taxis are collected together by the TAs and checked onto the bus. In the morning, the drivers accompany the children into school and hand them over to a TA whilst checking them off. We have NEVER misplaced one!

School bus- yes. My DD did it from Day 2. All the reception class children sat together at the front. She loved it. 90% of the school used the buses. Some of the little kids fell asleep on the way home.

It's good to see that people on here have had good experiences :) One of the parents on the school group has a child on the bus my DS would use and she says the escort is absolutely lovely and I should have no worries so that's massively reassuring.

DD1 has been going on a minibus since she was 4 (SN).

My son goes to sn school and it's more normal to be collected . They have a chaperone and he loves it . Scary at first but they get used to it .

Yes we did and mine loved it! A trip on a bus. It was their favourite part of the day. They are older now, 2 are still at primary but KS2 and they still like it.
It's so much easier for me. It is also fantastic if you have an ill child, waiting at a bus stop rather than having to drag the ill one with you in the school run.

PS, no escort on our school bus but a very lovely and experienced driver.

Absolutely. When we first arrived in Aus I was horrified at how many very small children I saw getting off buses and walking home, then I realised that wasn't unusual. If it is a school specific bus then it should be totally safe. My DD did have her bigger brothers looking out for her on the bus when she started Kindy, but tbh the bigger kids all watched out for the little ones anyway,

One big advantage I found... It helped the children become organised. They had to remember to hand their school trips forms etc. They had to remember to bring their PE kit home. They had to look in the lost property box for their jumper. My elder daughter found it calmer as well at the start of the day without parents around.

If it’s a school bus with an escort it isn’t much different to going on a coach for a school trip. I would go for it. I think he might enjoy it!

It doesn't sound like you have any other option? Ideally I wouldn't but needs must!

Well the other option midnight involves me getting a taxi from my work to the school and then DS and I getting a public bus from the school home. This is more expensive and will take much longer for DS to get home at the end of the day as the public bus doesn't link up well. It also would involve him doing a lot of walking when he will probably be exhausted.

Given that I think the school bus is worth trying. If he really doesn't like it then we can go for the taxi and bus option but I think he would benefit more from getting home quickly.

Yes, and as a teacher I'd recommend doing it from the start so it just seems normal.

I grew up rurally and took a school bus for my entire schooling.
It picked me up from the village with a couple of other kids in the same school and we all got off together at the school.
At home time the bus picked us all up from school and dropped us back in the village.
I did this from year 1 I think. No adult on board except the driver. There was usually a couple of bigger children who helped the little ones.