Walking Bus gets pupils to school safely
Pupils from St Mark's Primary School have been using a "Walking Bus" to get to school safely.
A Walking Bus is a group of children walking together to school under the supervision of trained adults – a "driver" at the front and a "conductor" at the back. The children are picked up at designated "bus stops" along the route and walk to school together.
The Walking Bus encourages more children to walk to school and to cut congestion around schools. It is a convenient, safe and fun mode of travel which allows more parents to leave their cars at home. It is also highly visible and supervised by trained adults, which reassures parents who are concerned about letting their child walk to school on their own. Parents will also find that they have extra time in their days as they don't have to do the "school run".
Any adult known to the school can volunteer. Police checks are carried out on volunteers to ensure their suitability to work with children.
All volunteers are trained and provided with a pack detailing guidelines relating to their route. Reflective high visibility tabards for children and jackets for adults are provided and it is usually recommended one of the volunteers carry a mobile phone.
There are two Walking Buses at St Mark's, both of which started just before the summer holidays. One of the Walking Buses starts at the Park & Stride point at St Mark's Church which means children who live too far from the school to walk all the way can still take part.
Chair of South Lanarkshire Council's Roads Safety Forum, Councillor John Murray, said: "The benefits of a Walking Bus are not only visible on our roads but also in our children – research has proven that they are more alert when they get to school and are more ready to learn after walking to school.
"There are great benefits to their health, they gain invaluable social experience by interacting with their peers on the journey to school and they also achieve a greater sense of citizenship and the local community as they begin to look more closely at their environment.
"Not to mention the important road safety skills they learn by walking to school. And of course most importantly for the children – it's great fun."
The Walking Buses are used in primary schools throughout South Lanarkshire.
Notes:
- South Lanarkshire Council recommend that there should be two adults to every 15 children. The 'driver' should lead at the front with the 'conductor' at the rear, and any additional helpers should be interspersed in between and hold hands with any child under 7 years of age.
- When and how often the bus operates is up to each individual school. Schools throughout South Lanarkshire use the Walking Bus concept.
- The route will have been agreed by all parties and thoroughly risk assessed by South Lanarkshire Council. The need to cross roads will be kept to a minimum and use made of safe crossing places. If there are persistent problems, such as road works or parked vehicles, then an alternative route should be looked for and, again, risk assessed.
- The bus must stick to a strict timetable and only two minutes will be spent at any one stop at the maximum. If a child is not travelling on the bus on a particular day, then the parent should contact the bus co-ordinator to let them know in advance. Details can be agreed by the school and highlighted to parents in correspondence.