- Students
- Parents and guardians
- Education Establishments
- Operators (including transport crew)
- Other relevant parties (Social Workers, SENCO’s, Caseworkers)
Expectations of students
To ensure the smooth and safe running of the service, we expect the following:
Waiting for the transport to arrive:
- Students must wait at the designated pickup point, ensuring that they are not on the road or obstructing any other passengers.
- Students must not obstruct access or encroach on nearby properties (for example, sit on someone’s wall)
- Students must have their bus pass or fare ready prior to boarding the vehicle.
- Students should aim to arrive at the designated pick up point a minimum of 5 minutes prior to the departure time. Should the vehicle not arrive within a 30-minute window then students are to return home and parents and guardians are to make alternative arrangements.
- Students must be ready at the pickup time for home collections, the drivers or passenger assistant will not knock on doors.
Whilst travelling on the vehicle:
- Students must find an available seat and remain seated throughout the journey. The driver will ensure that the capacity of the vehicle is not exceeded. There may be occasions where p[assengers are expected to stand on vehicles where there is a standing capacity.
- Students must use seat belts where fitted.
- Students must not make excessive noise on the vehicle as this can cause a distraction to the driver.
- Students must place rubbish in bins or take it with them when leaving the vehicle.
- Child locks may be engaged on smaller vehicles, this is for passenger safety.
Parents and guardians
- Parents and guardians of students on smaller vehicles are to advise the driver of any short-term absences when known.
- Parents and guardians are to ensure there is a responsible adult at the home address both in the morning and in the afternoon to receive the student or to meet from the bus where deemed necessary.
- Parents, guardians and education staff should ensure medication is handed to the Passenger Assistant prior to a student boarding the vehicle.
- Parents, guardians and education staff are responsible for assisting any students in and out of vehicles.
- All students must follow this code of conduct and be aware of unacceptable behaviour and potential consequences of their actions.
Unacceptable behaviour
The below are examples of unacceptable behaviour:
- Bullying (physical and/or verbal)
- Fighting
- Distracting the driver
- Carrying a blade or any sharp instrument or weapon
- Smoking, vaping, or drug use
- Moving around the vehicle
- Throwing objects around the vehicle
- Taking photos or videos with mobile phones or other devices
- Verbal abuse or spitting
- Assaulting any staff
- Vandalism or damage to the vehicle
- Discriminatory behaviour
In cases of vandalism, parents and guardians will be financially responsible for any damage caused by the student’s behaviour.
Travel suspensions
Should any incident occur on the vehicle, the transport team will investigate, and travel may be suspended. Suspensions may be issued immediately following an incident and continue until the investigation is concluded.
During suspension, the travel arrangements will become the responsibility of the parent or guardian, irrespective of the student’s statutory eligibility to transport.
Education establishments may also take their own actions if they deem that behaviour is unacceptable on transport or whilst waiting for transport.
Any criminal behaviour will be reported to the police.
Suspension lengths can range from one day up to a full term depending on the nature of the incident. The length of suspension will be decided by the transport team and will depend on the seriousness, possible consequences and any previous behaviour issues or suspensions.
Should an incident be regarded extremely serious or poor behaviour not improve after the above actions have been taken, we reserve the right to permanently remove a student from transport.