Walking School Bus




73% of students at Willow Park Primary live
within 1km of the School.

But .....
50% of students always travel to School by car!

We can offer a safe way for your children to walk to school with their friends.....

Click here to download Consent Form

The latest form of environmentally friendly and healthy school transport .

A Walking School Bus comprises of volunteer parents who act as ‘drivers’ and ‘conductors’ escorting a group of children on their journey to and from school. They walk along a designated route, collecting and dropping off pupils at signposted ‘bus stops’.
Since it is powered by good old fashioned leg work, it promotes healthy exercise. By encouraging walking, it also helps reduce traffic and pollution near schools. New friendships are founded as children meet other pupils from outside their own class or year groups.

Willow Park Primary School operates four Walking School Buses each morning.
Approximately 10% of our pupils walk to school by Bus. We welcome new passengers and are always open to the idea of new bus routes starting up.

How do they work? Are they really safe?

At all times on a Walking School Bus the safety of the children walking on the Bus is the top priority. The following guidelines are adhered to:

• The Bus route will have been safety audited by Traffic Safety Engineers and Road Safety
Co-ordinators from North Shore City Council. The audit will have identified any issues of
concern and measures recommended to address them will have been taken. The need to cross
roads will be kept to a minimum. The audited route will be adhered to at all times.
• Drivers and Conductors on the walking Bus will wear fluorescent highlighter vests for visibility.
• Volunteers are given guidelines on operating a Walking School Bus. Training sessions,
presented by Police Education Officers and / or the NSCC Road Safety Co-ordinator are run
quarterly for volunteers.
• There will be a minimum of 1 adult for every 8 children walking on the Bus.
• The Walking School Bus will operate each school day during term, rain or shine.
• Walking School Buses operate on a strict timetable, and will not be able to wait for latecomers.
Parents are responsible for getting the children to and from the point where they are picked up
or dropped off by the Walking Bus.
• Parents must give written consent for children to use the walking School Bus, and also inform
the route co-ordinator which days the child will / will not be using the Bus.
The Walking School Bus Co-ordinator for the school will keep signed consent forms on record.
• It is the parents responsibility to notify the Driver for the day if for any reason (eg. illness) their
child is not walking with the Bus when expected.

Road Safety Guidelines for the children:

Please take the time to talk to your child about these guidelines before they join the Walking School Bus. It is very important that they understand the need to follow instructions on the Walking Bus, and that they are told how to walk safely.

• Children are given instructions on how they should behave on the Walking Bus. They must
behave sensibly and follow the Driver’s and Conductor’s instructions when using the Bus.
• The children are asked to walk along the pavement away from the kerb in an orderly manner.
• Where possible they should walk in pairs, but they must allow other pedestrians to pass easily.
• The Driver will be at the front of the Bus, and the Conductor at the back. The children are asked
to walk between these two adults at all times.
• Any child who continually misbehaves or endangers others in any way will be reported to the
School Principal.

Who are the Drivers and Conductors ?

A Walking School Bus can of course only operate if there are parents and caregivers willing to volunteer some of their time to help run them.
At Willow Park we encourage all parents who would like their children to be part of a Walking School Bus to volunteer a little of their time to help operate the Bus. There are generally two parents on each Bus trip, but when these ‘duties’ are shared on a roster then the load for any one family can be quite small.

We would encourage each family to take at least one turn each week on the roster of Drivers and Conductors. That would give you extra time on the other four mornings!

We realise that there may be times when this is not possible, and if this is the case we will still try and accommodate your child on the route you have chosen. If however it is not possible to take your child on some days because we would be exceeding the 1 adult to 8 children ratio, then we would put your child on a waiting list to join the Walking Bus when another pupil leaves.

We look forward to welcoming your child on to one of our Walking School Buses.
Attached are the current Walking Bus timetables for the routes operating. Please contact the co-ordinator for the route nearest you to arrange for your child to join that Walking Bus, or talk to the School Co-ordinator if you are interested in a new route..
Please also complete the attached consent form and return that to the School Office before your child is due to start walking with the Bus. 

Click here to download  Consent Form

Walking School Bus Co-ordinator: - Julian Paul - ph: 480-0440
TravelWise Co-ordinator: - Val Lee - ph: 418-1332

Happy Walking !