Summer is over and the school term is upon us. Getting your children ready for school involves a lot of prep: uniforms need to be bought, labelled and ironed, meals need to be prepped and a route to school needs to be planned.
Getting to school is no mean feat, there are often lots of things to consider depending on the route your child will take. We live too far to walk, but not near a bus route, so I have to drive my children to school, but there are so many other options that parents face.
Getting your kids to school safely
This list will help you consider all the safety options regarding how you get your kids to school.
Walking to school
For many, walking to school is the simplest option. Most schools give places based on how close you live to the school, so it stands to reason that a large number of pupils will walk.
Walking to and from school is great exercise for you and your children, and it helps you teach them road safety from an early age. On those wintery days when it get light late and dark early, it’s sensible for your children to wear something reflective to help cars spot them in the dark.
Hi-vis jackets for children are available, or for something more subtle invest in reflective backpacks and reflective strips built into their coats and shoes.
The school bus
The first secondary school I attended was out of town, so they would put on a school bus for all the kids in my area. There was no other choice that to use the school bus because my parents didn’t drive and public transport didn’t offer a simple route from my house.
The wonderful thing about the school bus was that it was pretty much door-to-door. The bus stop was a few seconds away from my house on foot, and they dropped us at the school gates in the morning (where they collected us from at the end of the day).
Lots of schools have their own buses too, for taking the children on trips and to sporting events. Many use Allied Fleet to provide their buses because they know they’re fully safety approved.
One of the benefits of school bus to get to school (or go on trips) is that it’s probably one of the safest ways to get your children to school because there’s always a sensible adult on-hand. If you’ve got a younger child who uses the bus, you can always wait with them at the stop in the morning and meet them at the stop again in the evening.
Cycling to school
I tend to think of cycling as a safe option for the older ones. Roads near schools get very busy at drop-off and pick-up time, and an experienced cyclist would handle them better. Again, hi-vis reflective wear is a good idea for those darker days and a helmet is a must (even if the kids think it’s too uncool). Invest in a helmet they really love so that they won’t have any issues wearing it.
Driving to school
As I mentioned, I drive my children to school. They attend a small, village school and the roads get really busy before and after school, so I try to park further away on a quiet road. This way, we still get a little bit of a walk in before and after school. We don’t spend long on foot, but I still dress my kids up in clothes with a reflective element, just to be on the safe side.
How do you get your kids to school?