School bus nightmare

[Twogirlsandme]

My year 7 is currently traveling by school bus to her new secondary.
The first day she wasn't keen on the bus, she's fairly quiet and not very worldly wise and hated the shouting, swearing etc. I encouraged her to sit with friends and stay out of the way of trouble makers. There have been constant niggles about the bus, name calling and silliness but nothing huge since.
This morning I got a text from her saying a year 11 was calling her a gremlin and a midget :( This was upstairs on the bus and my daughter decided to go downstairs as she wanted to get away from the name calling. Then other kids were throwing water bottles down the stairs and then pouring water down (not directly aimed at her I don't think). She was terrified and text to say she was scared.
I called her tutor and spoke to head of year and he is going to get on the bus before it leaves this evening and have a word a our behaviour. Also going to speak to the driver.
But there is no adult on the bus. I'm not sure this is going to get any better.
I could take her and pick her up but it's a 45 minute round trip twice a day. Part of me wants to do this and part of me thinks I need to help her build resistance to this kind of stuff.
Any advice?

I think that sounds pretty unpleasant. I wouldn't want to be on a bus with people calling me names and tipping water everywhere. The school should be taking it pretty seriously and if they don't then I'd be concerned.

So, if it didn't stop pretty quickly I'd do the school run. Her confidence will shrink, not grow, in that environment. She can always try the bus again later when she's a bit bigger and has perfected her icy glare!

Is there a later, less busy bus that she could wait for?

Also tell her not to sit upstairs and, if possible, sit somewhere where she can see the driver. This shouldn't be necessary, but it might make her feel safer.

Call the bus company too and ask them to liaise with the school. Most buses have cctv so trouble makers can be singled out. There is no need for it. It is s paid service whether it be by parents or local council, both the school and bus company should be responsible for safe travel.

Is this a public bus or a school charter? The driver has a responsibility to monitor behaviour and report to school when there is trouble,

It's a school bus. Parents pay. There is no service bus that goes to the school.
I hadn't thought about CCTV cameras. Will ask about that. Will also call the bus company.

Thanks.

Older students in the bus -6th formers and prefects- should be looking out for the younger ones.
Also on the school buses run by my DDs school, Y7s sit at the front. Then Y8 s etc
Persistent bad behaviour results in your bus pass being taken away and you have to find another route to school. (This is also the case on the public bus that DC gets)

There's normally a pecking order on a school bus - year 7s sit downstairs as near to the front as possible.

Tbh being called a gremlin isn't THAT bad is it? Particularly as they probably thought she was fair game sitting upstairs....

I can understand her feeling intimidated and agree the school should be acting to calm things down, but I think this is part of growing up and going to big school. As long as she sits near the front, with friends, and learns to blot out the noise, she'll be ok, and soon enough be one of the big intimidating kids herself!

Get her to sit as near to the driver as she can.
THe behaviour is well within the bounds for a school bus
BUT

I'll bet that between now and half term the Driver will pull rank ...

in the buses round here there is a layby about a mile from anywhere
if the kids are kicking off the drivers pull up, get out, lock the bus and stand by it waiting till every child is sitting quietly before driving the rest of the way to the svhool

it magically works for the rest of each academic year .... every year

It's the start of the year, it will settle down. Someone will complain to school, there will be an investigation and witness statements taken and someone will be warned and/or their bus pass removed. Not that it happens at the start of every year with my son's bus....

As someone said, there is a seating order and here upstairs is the realm of the older pupils, so going back downstairs was the right thing to do. If she rides it out for the next couple of weeks things should get better and as time goes on she'll feel less of a new girl.

DS had it easy because when he started there were six of his primary classmates getting on at the same bus stop, they were able to stuck together until they had assimilated. If she can find a couple of bus buddies to stick with the settling process will be easier for her.

year 11 was calling her a gremlin and a midget

I think she needs to toughen up a bit!!

Bus driver / company doesn't really want full water bottles being chucked about, I'd go in with that hazardous angle.

If it's a school bus the school should be issuing a warning letter to all the parents who use the bus saying that bad behaviour will result in them being removed.