Pipers Corner coach guidance

PIPERS CORNER GUIDANCE ON COACH USE

Students must always carry their Kura Coach Card to register onto and off the coach.

Students must comply with the Code of Conduct for Coach Travel. If they do not comply with the code, they will be asked to make alternative travel arrangements.

While staff register Prep girls onto coaches every afternoon, travel on the coaches is not supervised by staff (although we do appoint coach prefects for each coach). Therefore, your child should be in Prep before using the school coach services.

Students who travel by coach are encouraged to carry mobile phones (see below) so that they can inform parents directly about delays. However, they are not allowed to carry mobile phones during the school day and should deposit them at the School Office when they arrive each morning and collect them at the end of each day before boarding the coach home.

While specific routes are contracted out to specific operators, at no time can we depend absolutely on any particular driver or coach servicing a specific route – breakdowns, servicing and testing regulations and sickness all mean that coaches and drivers can vary. The vagaries of traffic and road works mean that routes and timing can also change unexpectedly.

Important safety notice: would parents dropping off and collecting students by car at the coach stops please not park in designated bus stops as this prevents the school coaches pulling into them and endangers both the students and other road users. Thank you.

All parents need to ensure that their child is at the stop in good time each morning (preferably 5 minutes before the scheduled departure time shown below) and, if they are meeting their child in the afternoon, that:

• they are at the relevant stop in good time, preferably actually standing at the stop so as to be visible to their child and vice-versa.
• their child has a clear strategy in place should there be any deviation from the normal schedule for whatever reason.
• their child has a fully charged mobile phone so that they can make contact if the normal routine is disrupted for any reason.

The following instructions have been issued to all coach operators:

• If a coach should arrive early at any scheduled stop, on no account should it depart before the correct time.
• If any child expresses concern that their parent or other responsible adult is not waiting for them (or any other concern), then the driver is instructed to stop the coach and ensure that the parent is contacted via the child’s mobile telephone or by calling Kura to agree a suitable solution.

Students must take responsibility for alerting the driver should they not be able to see a parent waiting for them or have any other concern about getting off the coach.

It is very important that all students have the ability and confidence to look after themselves in case of unscheduled events occurring regardless of their age.