Dear All,

I hope, as always, that you are all enjoying the occasional sunny weather we have been experiencing lately and that your children are happily settling in in the spring term. I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who paid their spring term invoices in full and on time.

Please be aware of the following important points:

• Registration for both full-time and part-time users for the 2024-2025 school year will open at the beginning of May and registration will remain open until the end of May, so please remember to register ASAP in order to secure a seat. We had a number of re-registration issues for the Spring term, whereby some part-time users lost their seats. According to the rules of BLOC, the order of priority for bus users is as follows:

1. Current full-time users
2. New full-time users
3. Current part-time users
4. New part-time users

Please note that most buses are close to, if not at, full capacity, so part-time seats will be limited. Furthermore, confirmation that your children have been allocated a seat will come in the form of an invoice, which will be sent out by 30^th June, 2024.

• Concerns raised by parents of part-time users were discussed at the last committee meeting. It’s been agreed that part-time registrations will now be for the full school year from September or for the remaining period of the academic year, depending on when the registration is submitted.

EMAIL REQUESTS AND QUESTIONS FOR THE COMMITTEE

As I mentioned previously, please note that when sending us an email, it may take us up to one week to reply to individual emails.

TRACKER

I understand that most users rely on the trackers that accompany each of the buses when getting their kids ready for school. Technology is not infallible, so whilst it is a useful tool, there are some glitches that occur, particularly when Wi-Fi is unreliable. Therefore, we urge you to arrive at your stop at least five minutes prior to the bus’s scheduled arrival.

GENERAL BEHAVIOUR

I am pleased to report that we have received very few reports of poor behaviour. That being said, please remember to remind your children that they must remain seated and buckled in whilst on the bus. Furthermore, given the wide range of ages of all users, to bear in mind that some language and topics are not appropriate to share in front of the younger children.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

This is just a reminder of who is on the committee:

Chair: Jeevan Vasagar
Registrar: Mathilde Akar
Treasurer: Rita Barrow
Communications Officer: Marianne Bergeron
Secretary: Jamie Downing

I wish you all a good school term as we head into the spring season.

Marianne