Dear Parents/Carers

Following the governments guidance, we must put in place measures to ensure everyone is kept safe and well.

We must make decisions that we think will keep the service running in the safest way possible. Therefore, we have put together some guidance that we will adhere to in the event of someone testing positive on the school bus. Please note that this will be regularly reviewed and is subject to change in response to government guidance.

. The government has announced that you are still required to self-isolate if you test positive for Covid 19. This has placed a huge strain on the providers that we commission to get the children to and from school. Therefore, we have been informed that due to the volume of sickness where staff are required to self-isolate, they are now at risk of the possibility of not having enough staff to cover some routes. Whilst we are working hard to make sure we have cover for each day, there may be occasions where we will not be able to collect the children.

. We will do our best to keep the disruption to a minimum, but we may need to close routes for a few days. We will let you know when the route is likely to reopen as soon, we can.

. We will contact you via email as soon as we are made aware of a closure so please ensure your details are up to date with the transport office so we can contact you easily, if you think we do not have the correct email address then please send it to transport.request@lbbd.gov.uk and we will update our database.

. We must remind you that the school will remain open, and it will be your responsibility to ensure your child goes to school.

Whist we appreciate this can be difficult for all parents/carers we need to ensure everyone is kept safe and we feel this is the best way forward.

May we please remind you that a face covering is required when dropping/collecting your child from the school bus, and you will not be allowed to access the bus, except for exceptional circumstances that has been agreed with the crews.

If you have any queries, please contact us on transport.request@lbbd.gov.uk

Thank you for your patience.

Transport Commissioning Team