These questions are specific to Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girl’s but will apply generally to all contracts that we are asked to manage, regulate and appoint operators to run by the Yellow School Bus Standards of Service.

1. Will the operator be using buses or coaches and will they be single decker or double decker?
Safety of school transportation is where we wish to lead the way and in the USA, of the 468,000 buses that travel daily transporting 28.8 million school children not a single one is a double decker. So why on earth should parents send their most precious cargo on a double decker with standees on any school journey day in day out. All contracted operators throughout the whole of the UK will be required to use only single decker vehicles that are known for their impressive safety records. No double decker vehicles are intended to be used on any of the routes run by the Yellow School Bus Company.

2. I live in a rural area will the Yellow School Bus collect my child from home?
We have been surprised at the wide catchment area that the Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girl’s attracts and in determining a sensible distance to cover it, it was decided that a radius of 15 miles around the school was sufficiently appropriate to ensure the girls end up with a journey time less than 1 hour from the furthest point. If you live beyond the 15 mile radius, then you can still register and we can inform you of the nearest pick up point and you can then drop your daughter off at the point nearest to the 15 mile boundary.

3. Can you please advise me of the route?
This page will be updated as soon as the routes are finalised. Our provisional routes were based on a questionnaire sent to all the parents who initially wanted a service. Based on that information a North Route and South Route were planned. We now need to accommodate not only the original parents who requested the service but also new girls starting in September in year 7. The post codes of all sign-ups are taken and then imported into a proprietary software program based on Google maps to work out the optimal route and optimal number of stops to ensure journey times do not exceed 1 hour point to point. It is once we have done this, that we will be able to finalise the routes and inform you if we will be collecting your daughter from home because you live on a main bus route or from a nearby stop close to home where a cluster of girls have been identified. We will look to cater for all requests for home to school transportation if you are on a main route but do not want to compromise the journey time and let it exceed 1 hr from the farthest pick up point.

4. My daughter does after school activities on some days do you have any late buses?
Given the exclusive nature of the service we will be running, it is not possible to have multiple services as of yet running on the same route to accommodate afterschool service. However, if the number of signups warrants more than one bus on a specific route, then we will conduct a survey to see if the demand is there for an activity day that is universally acceptable to all the girls on that route, if that is the case then we will definitely be able to accommodate any reasonable request. In addition to this and as a gesture of good will we will only charge half price for a day upon which a child does not use the service and goes to an after school club. These credits will then get adjusted against the following terms invoice.

5. What happens if my daughter is ill or we have a bereavement in the family?
On days that your daughter is ill or your family suffers a bereavement we will then provide a half rate reduction for the time that your daughter is off school and this will be credited against your next invoice. It is imperative that a copy of the letter or note sent to school is all that you will need to send to the Yellow School Bus Company via scan and email or fax. A credit for that day or days off will be applied to your account on your next invoice.

6. I am a single parent and cannot really afford this because I am on benefits?
You are possibly in a position to qualify for free home to school transportation and must contact the school immediately as they may be able to assist you. We offer an option to pay monthly for those who are single parents and or in receipt of benefits and we ask that if in doubt then simply contact the school and then speak to us. We will endeavour to try and find the best solution so that your daughters’ educational experience is not compromised due to travel.

7. What if my daughter is late and we miss the bus in the morning?
One interesting feature we will look to deploy to deal with this problem is an automated alert 5 minutes before the child is due to be picked up and for any no show to be then immediately sent a text to the parent / child of the next 3 bus stops ahead to see if they can catch upto board the bus on the other bus stops. These details will also be provided to you on signup. The driver can alert the office which is manned with customer support staff to then contact the parent and text message the post code of the next three stops. As a policy of confirmation of sign up – all parents will be notified of their next 3 pickup points should this every happen.

We are also developing unique software that enables automated face recognition so that physical passes will no longer be required and any no-shows will immediately be called before the bus departs and immediately the following 3 stops are texted to the mobile number on file for the parent as well as any numbers we have for the child.

8. My daughter wants to sit on a journey next to her friend, can they reserve a seat together?
Well if you reserve early enough then that is entirely possible. When signing up please can you specify your daughter’s friend’s details so that we are able to pair her up with her friend. We are intending for the contracted operator to be providing coaches especially adapted for school transportation of children with dedicated luxury seats and 3 point seat belted so it is a good idea to notify us early if you want to travel with your friend and your coach seat is allocated.

9. What time will your services be running?
Stay tuned on this page. Given we do not want any of the bus routes to be taking more than 45 mins to 60 mins it is imperative that we leave at a time that is both sensible and takes account of morning traffic delays. We intend to insure that the girls are never late and so from the furthest pickup point on the 15 mile boundary the morning pick up is likely to be around 7.00 am to 7.15 am and no later than 7.30 am. The final routes and times will be notified to all parents who have signed up and will be publically available on the website in due course.