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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

School Bus Full - Safeguarding issue?

30 replies

connectsystem · 14/12/2021 10:40

This has happened a few times now.

Used to be x2 school buses, now consolidated into x1.

Basically its a full capacity bus, x70 seats (larger bus) all full.

Usual driver ill. Wrong bus arrives (smaller capacity) - not enough seats... a handful of children have to get off the bus, as there are upto x10 seats short...

My son is the last pickup bus stop, one of the last kids to board the bus. Totally reliant on older kids getting off so he gets a seat. He is 12. Normally, we are both on our way to work at this time of the morning.

The reason we are paying £100 a month is for peace of mindd that he is getting to school and back. Surely this is a serious safeguarding issue?

OP posts:

TeenMinusTests · 14/12/2021 11:06

Was this a one off?
Did the older kids get off so the younger ones could get on?
Does your DS know what to do if the bus ever doesn't arrive?

12yos normally make their own way to school, and you should have a backup for broken buses - eg he has a front door key and goes home and phones you.

Unless SN, doesn't sound ideal, but doesn't sound like 'serious safeguarding' to me either.

Seeline · 14/12/2021 12:04

Most 12 yos make their own way to school.

How far away is school? What sort of area is the bus stop in? What is the alternative way to get to school - walking in remote area, along country lanes, or leafy residential area? Does he have money/card to get public transport?

Not sure if safeguarding is the concern. If I was paying for a service, I would be annoyed if it wasn't provided, but if it is a one-off, these things happen.

negomi90 · 14/12/2021 12:20

I'd say its a shit service issue as opposed to safeguarding.
Unless its is a special provision for vulnerable (intellectual/physical) children. Then saying the bus is full, not safe, so we're not stopping isn't safeguarding.
If however you've paid for a reserved seat, then its not giving you what you paid for.
If you've just paid for a bus pass, then its shit but you have less rights as on lots of public transport, if the bus/train is full you have to get the next one. I appreciate that with a school bus you can't get the next one, but its the same principle/theory.
I'd look into alternate (proper public transport) options if I were you. And try for money back.

Tee20x · 14/12/2021 15:07

Bad service but not a safeguarding issue.

EduCated · 14/12/2021 16:26

If the older children get off, presumably at that point it is close enough to walk/travel by other means?

By all means complain about the crap service, but agree with others that it’s not safeguarding.

Suzi9989 · 14/12/2021 16:58

Have you spoken to your child, were they OK?

fatmincepiesandcheese · 14/12/2021 20:13

How far is it to school?

explodingeyes · 15/12/2021 07:34

£100 a month for bus? Is it a long way? As most Yr7s get their own ways to schools by all sorts of means it's more poor service than safeguarding. I'd be asking for a refund

Theremoresefulday · 15/12/2021 07:36

Bad service. Not safeguarding.

prh47bridge · 15/12/2021 09:07

It is poor service, but I don't see it as a safeguarding issue. As you are paying for the bus, I presume this is either an independent (fee paying) school or you live less than 3 miles from the school. If it is the latter, most children of your son's age would cycle or walk to school.

You certainly have a case for a partial refund if your son wasn't able to get on the bus, but I don't think trying to argue it as a safeguarding issue will get you anywhere.

Pamsresearch · 15/12/2021 09:10

I'm surprised anyone's asking passengers to get off to allow other passengers on.

If it's OK for older kids to get off and walk, it's OK for a 12yo to walk, surely?

The bus company shouldn't be selling more passes than they can accommodate though.

Pamsresearch · 15/12/2021 09:12

@explodingeyes

£100 a month for bus? Is it a long way? As most Yr7s get their own ways to schools by all sorts of means it's more poor service than safeguarding. I'd be asking for a refund

I paid £100 pm for my DC's bus passes, it was 4 miles (not our catchment school so no free travel).

Public transport outside big cities is expensive.

TrashyPanda · 15/12/2021 09:53

Why would older pupils get off before the bus reaches the school? You seem to expect this. Is it because the school is only a mile or so away?

Why didn’t the pupils just stand on the bus if there weren’t enough seats?

Mistake by the bus company, but not a safeguarding issue.

At 12 surely you have made plans for situations like this?

NothingIsWrong · 15/12/2021 09:57

I pay for my children's bus to school as county withdrew funding for travel to catchment schools if there was another school within 3 miles. So to get them to their catchment school 8 miles away I pay £55/month/child. If it doesn't come or there isn't space, they don't go to school as there is no service bus or walkable route (along an A road dual carriageway at rush hour). I have a couple of very kind friends who would take in the event that they miss the bus, which has happened a couple of times, but by the time we would have realised the bus wasn't coming it would be too late for that.

BungleandGeorge · 15/12/2021 10:02

Why would you expect older children to get off? What is your contingency plan for when the bus breaks down/ gets stuck in traffic/ doesn’t arrive?

explodingeyes · 15/12/2021 11:30

@NothingIsWrong I genuinely had no idea LAs could do that! If you have two DC that's £100 for a catchment school and money that a lot of people won't have. 8 miles is impossible to walk too

luverlybubberly · 15/12/2021 11:49

It's not a safeguarding issue because many year 7s make their own way to school but have you discussed contingency plans with your son ? It's not unheard of for things to happen like buses breaking down or not turning up.

Are the older children who get off attending a school near the stop where your son gets on? Or do you mean they should walk the same route that drives your son?

MagnoliatheMagnificent · 15/12/2021 11:59

You need some sort of backup plan, however it’s worth discussing with the bus company to see what their stance is.
My daughter goes to a state school 10 miles away. Sometimes she gets the bus (which would cost £100/month but is pay as you go), sometimes either myself or a friend are able to do the journey. Is there anyone who lives near you that could help, even if just for emergencies?

NothingIsWrong · 15/12/2021 15:25

[quote explodingeyes]@NothingIsWrong I genuinely had no idea LAs could do that! If you have two DC that's £100 for a catchment school and money that a lot of people won't have. 8 miles is impossible to walk too[/quote]
I do have 2 at school, so £110/month. Their logic is that you can send them to the nearest school rather than the catchment one if you can't afford it

explodingeyes · 16/12/2021 00:10

@NothingIsWrong
In our area we don't have catchments but neighbouring LA do.
Due to over subscriptions 95% have to choose catchment school to get in anywhere local. Some catchments are odd shaped areas but generally is a school close by. Priority is given to them.
So to penalise you for opting for a catchment school is an alien concept for me.

prh47bridge · 16/12/2021 08:58

@NothingIsWrong

If you named the nearer school as your first preference and failed to get a place, the county must, by law, provide free transport to the allocated school. In my view, arranging catchments so that your catchment school is 8 miles away when there is another much closer school is something of a scam as most parents will name the catchment school as first choice, thereby meaning that the county won't have to fund transport.

luverlybubberly · 16/12/2021 10:45

As an aside, my son is in year 11 and they are having GCSE mocks until they break up. He couldn't get off a bus and walk because he has to sit his morning test at 8:45

DropYourSword · 16/12/2021 10:52

I also do think it’s a safeguarding issue, but that’s possibly because I now live in Australia and there is a very famous case here about a 13 year old kid called Daniel Morcombe who was abducted and killed whilst at a bus stop.

NothingIsWrong · 16/12/2021 15:26

@prh47bridge

It's an interesting historical one - the village school and the catchment secondary have been there for 150 years or so, the nearer secondary was built in around 1970 but the catchments weren't altered. So the nearer one feeds from 5 primary schools in the town, but all the villages around feed to the traditional secondary in a further away town.

The nearer school is undersubscribed, catchment very over subscribed, so while technically that is true, it just would never happen in real life.

It annoys me, but it's worth it to me for them to go to the catchment school, and the bus means I can work full time, so...

lanthanum · 16/12/2021 18:32

@trashypanda
If the bus isn't designed to take standing passengers, the driver would be in deep trouble if he allowed it and there were an accident.

I don't know who made the decision about what to do, but if it was a case of older kids volunteering to walk the last mile (or wait for the driver to come back for them after dropping the rest) so that the younger ones were safely on the bus, well done them.

Bus company at fault - and they put the driver in a very difficult position.

Getting a contingency plan set up for any future occurrences would be a good idea.

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