Eltham Booking Terms

Coach bookings are prioritised for daily users (5 days a week) of the coach service either for a single journey (am or pm) or a return journey. All coach bookings are eligible for use of the late service at no extra cost. It is possible to book for a different stop and/or route on different days to suit family requirements, capacity permitting.

Bookings made for a full term or more are discounted compared to the Ad hoc (prebooked) price. Journeys that have not been booked in advance will be charged at £12 per journey, e.g. if a student travels in to school and back home again on the service without a booking the total charge for that day will be £24.

Ad-hoc bookings that are not taken, or cancelled via the Kura app, are not refundable.  Please refer to the cancellation policy set out below.

Parents/guardians must register/re-register pupils each year for the coach service, using the Kura App or Portal Booking windows and registration periods will be communicated throughout the year.

· Parents/guardians accept that bookings are made for the entire school year and are for five days per week – either as a one way or return journey.

· Journeys booked but not taken are non-refundable. Any journey cancelled, ad hoc, via the Kura app or portal, will not reduce the amount charged. Cancellations must be made in line with the cancellation policy set out below.

· The School offers coach service bookings on a first come first served basis. Although the School will do its utmost to accommodate all requests for use of the service, the School has no obligation to increase capacity on any route.

· Parents/Guardians paying for bookings via the Kura app or portal accept that Kura software facilitates the transaction between parent/guardian and the School only, and is not in possession of any funds or account information.

· Students must only travel on the route for which they are registered / booked.

· Ad Hoc journeys are strictly subject to availability and may be booked up to 90 minutes before a route commences where capacity allows. Students must use their pass to tap on and off the vehicle or provide the driver with their name if requested. Parents will be invoiced directly by the school for any ad-hoc journeys taken but not booked.

Students must use their pass to tap on and off as they board and disembark the vehicle for every journey. Older students travelling with a phone may download the Kura App and use the QR code when boarding and disembarking.

· Parents accept that it is their responsibility to ensure their child is at the morning pickup point 5 minutes before the scheduled stop time to allow for an on-time departure.

· Parents/guardians are asked to remind their children that when travelling on the school coach they remain bound by the School’s Behaviour Policy. In particular, students must be seated and must wear their seatbelts throughout the journey. They must not distract the driver with inappropriate behaviour.

· Users understand that road traffic conditions can change without notice and delays incurred enroute are not within the company’s control.

· Junior School students must be met for the PM and late service, other than for students in year 6 where specific written permission has been sought in advance by their parents.

· Junior School students should remain on the coach at their stop until the person meeting them is at the coach door to collect them.

· Where an adult is not present to meet a Junior School student by the published arrival time, the drivers are instructed to keep the Junior School student on the coach, to contact the control centre and ask them to contact the parents whilst they proceed with the route. Parents will then be asked to meet the student at a stop further along the route by agreement. Should the control centre not be able to contact the parents the child will be returned to the School and will either take the late service if still available or remain at the School until collected by the parents. Please be aware that additional charges may be incurred if a coach has to make an unscheduled return trip to the school.

· Only larger items should be stored in the hold under the coach. All other items should be taken on board the coach.

· Only the driver is permitted to remove items from the baggage storage area under the coach:.

o Under no circumstances should anyone other than the driver enter the baggage area to retrieve a bag.

o Under no circumstances should anyone other than the driver open or close the doors to the baggage storage compartments.

· The driver will wait until all those that have disembarked at a stop have been handed their luggage and moved away from the vehicle before re-entering the coach and initialising the electric door closure

· Any changes to a student’s use of the School Coach Service (for example: frequency, route, home pick-up stop) must be made via the Kura app or portal and adhere to the cancellation policy

· The School reserves the right to make route alterations after publication but will provide notice of any such action.

• Parents/guardians wishing to withdraw their children from the service entirely must provide a full term’s notice, by email to [email protected] , and copied to [email protected] or forfeit the full term’s charges in lieu.
• For example any cancellations made that fall during the Michaelmas Term are liable to use and pay for the service until the end of Lent Term. Any cancellation made that falls during the Lent Term & Summer Term are liable to use and pay for the service until the end of the academic year.
• Ad hoc bookings are non-transferable and non-refundable. The ad hoc booking window is open up to 2 hours prior to the start of the route to allow for flexibility.

· Occasionally, there will be disruption to the service, owing to breakdown or road conditions / congestion.

· Notifications about service delays or disruptions will be pushed to parents via the Kura App. Parents are asked to ensure they read the FAQs about using the App (Observers and Passengers – Kura (zendesk.com) to ensure they are best placed to receive important information.

· If a coach is cancelled or severely delayed, we recognise that parents may, where they are able to do so, decide to transport their child to school themselves on that day. However, parents must not offer lifts to other students unless they have permission from their parent to do so. If in doubt, please contact the School before offering a lift to another student.

· In order to maintain safety for all, particular attention will be paid in 2024/25 to:

o Students using their pass to tap on and off the coach for every journey

o Only placing large bags (e.g. large sports bags / large instruments) in the baggage storage area under the coach

o Ensuring that only the driver retrieves bags from the baggage storage area

o Using seatbelts

· Parents are asked to ensure their children are aware of these requirements and to support the School and Kura in ensuring these arrangements are applied consistently.