Your Child and School
Travelling to and from school or college
Over recent years, The Welsh Government (WG) has done a lot of work to try and improve school transport for children and young people to ensure that any travel to and from their school or college is effective and safe.
Policies set out by the WG have resulted in many improvements to school transport. More children have been offered transport to school and specific safety standards have been introduced. The installation of seat belts on all school buses has been a major priority and will become compulsory in October 2014.
In addition, an ‘All Wales Travel Behaviour Code’ has been produced to improve safety. The hope is that this code will tackle any unacceptable behaviour on school transport.
What is the Travel Behaviour Code?
The Travel Behaviour Code or Travel Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of children and young people travelling to and from their school/college or any other place of learning. It applies to all pupils up to 19 years of age and all modes of transport, including car, bus, taxi, train, walking and cycling. There is a ‘School Bus Travel Code’ which includes additional guidance for pupils who travel to school or college by bus.
Why is there a Travel Code?
Although most pupils behave responsibly and safely when travelling to and from their school or college, irresponsible behaviour threatens the safety of pupils and can have tragic consequences. The aim of the Travel Code and School Bus Travel Code is to encourage positive behaviour i.e. behaviour that is responsible and safe and improve pupils’ safety.
What does the Travel Code mean to me (the parent) and my child?
Your child must follow the Travel Code as the Code will be part of every Welsh school’s Behaviour Policy. If they do not follow the Travel Code there are consequences.
If your child does not follow The Code, his/ her head teacher and the local authorities will take disciplinary action against your child. What action is taken will depend on the severity of your child’s irresponsible behaviour. This could result in taking away your child’s right to school transport and even expulsion from their school or college.
Very dangerous or life-threatening behaviour could lead to Police involvement.
As a parent you would then be responsible for finding an alternative way for your child to get to school or even find another school or college for your child to attend.
www.travelcode.org/pdfs/The%20Travel%20Code%20and%20Bus%20code.pdf
Helping my child to follow the Travel Code.
Your child or young person is responsible for following the Code but you have a responsibility too. As a parent you should:
- Make sure that your child understands the Code.
- Encourage good behaviour and ensure they follow the Code.
- Be aware of the consequences of your child not following the Code
Download The Travel Code here and talk with your child/ young person about it. There is also a Travel Code interactive website. Click here to visit this site! There is a summary sheet you can download available here see Pupil Advice sheet.
Make every journey a good one - Stick to the Travel Code!
The Travel Code encourages pupils to make every journey a good one and to stick to the Travel Code. Learners are also encouraged to ‘Tell a teacher, driver or parent’ about any bad behaviour they see when travelling from home to school. Learners should take responsibility for their own behaviour, leading to a safer school transport experience.
Source: Welsh Government website and WAG Dec 2009 learner travel (Wales) Measure 2008 travel behaviour code statutory guidance and www.travelcode.org