For a map showing school bus routes and the school enrolment zone please visit http://uattki.icepick.co.nz



Matarau Bus Information

Matarau School buses service the following areas...

1) Pipiwai Road
2) Otakairangi Road
3) Rushbrook Road to Swamp Road
4) Three Mile Bush Road to Church Road

Bus Entitlement ..
Children have an automatic entitlement to use the bus service if ..

1) they live more than 4.8 kilometres from the school
2) they live more than 3.2 kilometres from the school and are under the age of ten
3) they have an existing bus entitlement to another school. (This is called transferred entitlement and involves children from outside our school zone who choose to attend our school rather than their closest school. These children have entitlement to catch the bus from its most distant route point).

N.B. Many children who do not meet these age / distance criteria also use the school bus. This usage, however, is at the discretion of the bus contractor who has the right to charge for this usage at some future date if he chooses.

Bus Routes
Established bus routes must be both safe and economically viable. Funding is not provided to run buses down side roads. In most cases buses should travel no closer than 1.6 km to the home of the most distant eligible child and should not extend beyond 1.6 km from the mid point to the next closest school.

Applications for extensions and alterations to the bus routes need to be made to Multiserve Education Trust – Transport Management Division. Extensions depend on issues like numbers of children, safety and economic viability. Sometimes privately funded extensions can be negotiated with the bus contractor.

Bus Stops
These are determined by the bus contractor as safe drop off points within reasonable proximity of a cluster of homes. The number of stops must always be limited if buses are to run to reasonable times.

Conveyancing Allowance
Is payable to families who live more than 2.4 kilometres from the nearest bus pick up point whether or not they choose to use the bus.
Application forms for Conveyancing Allowance are available from the school.

Catching the Bus in the Morning
Parents are responsible for the safety and behaviour of children prior to bus pick up. They should take all reasonable measures to ensure that children arrive in time to catch the bus and that they adhere to safe roadside behaviour.

Catching the Afternoon Bus
The school will take all reasonable measures to ensure that children are placed on the correct bus at the end of the school day.

A duty teacher oversees bus departures and ..

1) Checks departing children off on bus list
2) Checks for alterations to usual travel arrangements where we have been advised of these by parents
3) Ensures that efforts are made to locate children who are not present in the bus line and where we have not received notification of alternative travel arrangements. (all unaccounted children will be called once over the PA system and the junior rooms will be checked by a monitor)

Where a child misses the bus ..
While all efforts are made to locate missing children there is a limit to how long a bus can be held. This situation is greatly helped when parents remember to advise the school office beforehand of any alterations to usual plans. Where a child misses their bus parents will be asked to arrange pick up of their child from school.

Changing Buses ..
Where parents wish their child to catch an alternative bus (i.e. not their usual bus) prior approval must be sought from the school office (no later than the morning of the day in question). Approval will depend on loadings.

Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES will children be allowed to travel on an alternative bus without a prior phonecall or written note signed by their caregiver.

Key Responsibilities of Parents ..
When a child will not be travelling on their customary bus it is the responsibility of parents

1) To advise the school office by note (signed) or phone call no later than 2:00 PM on the day in question

OR

2) To write their child’s name in the appropriate list on the portable blackboard kept in the corridor between rooms 5 and 7

Parents are also expected ..

.. to support the school in dealing with any misbehaviour on the bus

.. to support the driver and bus monitors in maintaining order and safety on the bus

Misbehaviour
The school will take all reasonable measures to educate children on aspects of safe bus conduct. In the event of misbehaviour children and parents will be advised of concerns and will be supported in efforts to modify this behaviour.

The school reserves the right to remove children from the bus for a specified period of time (or indefinitely if warranted) where the persistent misbehaviour of that child is a threat to the health and/or safety of themselves or others.



APPROXIMATE BUS TIMES – MORNING

 

APPROXIMATE BUS TIMES – AFTERNOON