Hello everyone,
I hope you have all had a good term. The buses have been running smoothly this term along the re-organised routes. The Botley road will close before next term, an event for which we are now well prepared. This will mean that the Wednesday lunchtime buses will be reduced, with the 1&3 route stopping – see below for more details. The bus trackers are providing more timely updates with the new SIM cards – thank you to everyone for being patient while we resolved the issues and got them up and running.
This newsletter has some important updates from the committee. I particularly want to draw your attention to:
- Wednesday lunchtime buses next term (Summer 2023): Bus 1&3 will not operate, and tickets will no longer be required.
- A new process for handling serious or urgent welfare issues involving the school
- A rise in bad behaviour on the buses: please remind your children what is expected of them
Enjoy the holidays and see you next term,
Jamie
Update from the Welfare and Comms Officer
Behaviour
There has been a rise in bad behavior and incidents on all bus routes over the last month. This is incredibly time consuming and concerning. Please speak to your children to remind them of the expected behaviour on the buses.
Please note that children must remain in their seats with their seatbelts on and there should be NO eating and drinking on the bus.
We suggest that the younger children sit at the front of the bus and the older children at the back.
Welfare
We have been discussing the best way to handle serious welfare and behaviour issues on the bus with the school.
The BLOC committee:
- do not have the context available to the school (e.g. is an incident a continuation of behaviour in the playground),
- do not have the same level of experience of handling issues as the school
- cannot always be available on short notice, and
- are not always impartial as parents ourselves.
We have agreed with the school that their pastoral teams will investigate and resolve serious or urgent welfare issues on the buses and recommend any actions required by BLOC.
From now on:
- For serious or urgent welfare issues that occur on the buses please report them directly to the school at principal@europaschool.uk
- For other behavioural problems, queries and issues please continue to contact BLOC (info@blocbus.org). We will involve the school when appropriate for issues reported to us directly.
Gina
Update from the Treasurer
To ensure the buses run smoothly the committee need to ensure that invoices are paid promptly so that the bus company are paid on time. Thank you to everyone who paid their invoices on time.
Invoices for Summer
Invoices for Term 3 were sent out on the 28 March 2023. Please check your spam filters if you have not received them. The invoices must be paid within 30 days to avoid the seat going to another user.
Remember to check your spam filters for invoices if you do not see them. Please do not contact committee members via WhatsApp regarding your invoices as they are unable to help you. All invoice queries must be directed to treasurer@blocbus.org. Please expect a response within ONE WEEK. This inbox receives a high number of emails.
Rita
Update from the Registrar
Registration for 2023 / 2024
Registration for BLOC buses for the next school year, September 2023 to July 2024, will open as follows to current users:
- Full-Time users from 5 May 2023
- Part-time users from 26 May 2023
Everyone who has registered will be sent the Invoices for the Autumn term will be sent by 20th June 2023. A minimum sum of £100 from the invoice must be paid by 4th July 2023 to secure the seat and the balance must be paid by the end of August 2023. If the minimum sum is not paid the seating request will be cancelled and offered to any new applicant.
Other usage patterns after 7th August 2023 – but this will depend on remaining availability and such ‘other’ patterns will only be accepted where the child is using the buses FT . Please note demand is high and there will no confirmation available before this time.
Other patterns where users only use 2 or 3 times a week (AM or PM) are unlikely to be available given the increase in demand due to many parents no longer working from home/remotely.
The link to the form will be emailed to users based on the timelines stated above and a form will need to be completed for each user.
Please note that part-time usage and Other-type of usage, if confirmed, is only offered on a termly basis – it is not guaranteed for the whole year.
Wednesday Lunchtime Buses
Wednesday lunchtime bus 1&3 will cease to operate after this term (no service in Summer Term 2023).
The ticket process for Wednesday lunchtime buses will also stop – any registered BLOC user can board the bus.
We will perform another spot check on the buses early next term to assess the capacity levels and address any free riding issues.
Non-Registered Users
Only those children registered with BLOC are permitted to travel on the buses. This must be abided by given the numerous welfare and safeguarding issues recently reported. Some registered users have gone without seats on buses and had to be picked up by parents. This has happened most recently on Bus 3 and 4.
To ensure that there are not further incidents BLOC need to know about all the children who are travelling on the bus. Please do not invite guests or offer seats on the bus without formally requesting it through the committee.
The school now have a complete list of all users and if they receive a request to place a non-registered user on the bus, they will not be able to do so without written confirmation from the BLOC committee.
We are not currently taking standard requests for ad-hoc usage as most buses are near capacity. If such a request is required, then contact the committee at least 5 days in advance if you have an urgent need.
S7 Usage
To answer potential questions re S7 invoices: you have been invoiced the full amount for the term.
Trials have been conducted in some previous years (not all) of reduced costs in S7 on the premise that students only attend on a small number of days. For example – last year the assumption was that the students would only attend on exam days. However, this was not the case and lots of students studied at school throughout the exam period and many continued to attend school (in June) for muck-up week, the S7 review performance (& rehersals) and other activities.
As we do not have the capacity to monitor daily usage and students may want use the bus in June, we have decided to invoice the full amount this year.
S7 parents always have the option cancel usage now for next term and drive to & from exams, if they feel the FT/PT fees are excessive. It is worth noting that we can’t apply dispensation each time, otherwise we would be asked to discount when pupils attend school trips.
Andre