Walking School Bus

The Walking School Bus Program (WSBP) is a Vic Health initiative to encourage and support more children to walk to and from school, particularly those attending primary school. It is a program where children walk to school in small groups with adult supervision.

It is run entirely by volunteers, usually parents of the school children.
The Walking School Bus Program provides a safe, creative and enjoyable way for children to walk to and from school.
Williamstown North Primary School, Hobsons Bay Council and Victorian Government support and encourage participation in this program.

Hobsons Bay Council have outsourced the Walking School Bus program to ISIS Primary Care. The ISIS Primary Care coordinator for our school is Karleen Joss-Knight.

Why have a walking school bus?

The program aims to reduce the health impact of childhood obesity and related diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, through increasing children’s physical activity levels. There are other immediate benefits of the program, such as:

Envionmental impact of reduced short car trips;
Positive health benefits of regular exercise and fresh air;
Reduction in traffic congestion;
It is safe; children walk under the supervision of trained volunteers;
Adults and children form friendships;
We always get to school on time;
Children are recognised with regular walker rewards;
Children and adults connect with people in their immediate local community;
It encourages positive long-term road safety behaviour, enabling children to eventually work independently.

It is particularly good for children in grades Prep to Four, however all Williamstown North Primary School children are welcome to join.

What does the walking School Bus look like and how does it work?

The program is similar to children getting on a traditional school bus, except the children walk instead of taking the bus.

The bus follows a set route and starts and finishes at the same time each time it operates.
It operates on nominated days of the week e.g. Mon, Tue.
The bus operates in rain, hail or sunshine. (If the weather is dangerous, for example lightning, it will be cancelled.)
There are at least 2 trained volunteer adults who supervise the children at all times.
There are usually several additional adults who join so the bus is well supervised.
A ‘driver’ at the front of the group leads children across busy roads and intersections safely.
A ‘conductor’ walks behind the group to ensure all children are walking together to cross the roads in a safe manner.
Both the driver and conductor will be on the look out for any crossing hazards to ensure all children get to school safely, on time and that they have fun walking.
It is up to parents to get children to the bus stop on time. Just like a real bus, it does not wait and there is no door knocking.
Children must be registered (see How do I register my child below) in order to walk under the care of a volunteer, i.e. without a parent present. However if you would like to try the bus out before registering your child/ren, children supervised by their parents may walk with the bus any time.
Each time a child walks their attendance is recorded, and children are encouraged to achieve milestone walks e.g. 25 or 50 walks.

How do children join Walking School Bus?

Bus Route currently operating at Williamstown North Primary School.

Williamstown North Primary School has one Walking School Bus route currently operating. The bus operates in the morning only. The route has been checked and approved by the Hobsons Bay Council Road Safety Officer, Mike Hull. If you would like to find out more about joining the bus route, please contact the coordinator whose details are listed below.

Click to view Anzacs Route

Starts in Crofton Drive, winds through the back streets of the Rifle Range and then exits through Anzac Cresent. It then goes along Bayview Cresent, Victoria Street, crosses Kororoit Creek Road and the railway line and enters school via Pentland Street.

Walks on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday to school only

Coordinator: Rachel Roads

Email: findingroads@westnet.com.au Mobile: 0409 406 465

How do i register my child?

If you would like your child to participate in the program, parent/guardian completes two forms and forward them to the coordinator of the Walking School Bus route (see Bus routes currently operating at Williamstown North Primary School above for details). The two forms are downloadable from here:

Enrolment Form

Medical Information

The coordinator will then confirm with you that your child is registered to start walking. Children do not have to walk every day that the bus is walking; they may register for fewer days than the bus actually operates.

If my child want to walk, do I have to volunteer?

No. Whilst the bus relies on volunteers, parent participation is not a prerequisite for a child to join. We have a number of children who walk whose parents do not walk with us. We have also noticed, however, that the most frequent and regular walkers usually (but not always) have a parent who is a regular volunteer on the bus.

Role of Parents

Parents will be asked to:

Give consent to permit their children to participate in the Walking School Bus^.
Make sure that WSB program has up to date contact, medical and emergency information
Notify school/volunteers if your child/ren has any special needs.
Ensure that your child/ren arrive at the bus stop on time and is clear about the arrangement of getting to and from school if they miss the bus.
Notify WSB School Liaison person in advance if your child/ren will not be participating in the Walking School Bus.
If making alternative arrangements for your child/ren to arrive at bus stop that this permission is provided in writing to the WSB Liaison person.
Encourage children to follow the rules of the bus and be respectful of others.
Ensure that child/ren are appropriately dressed for the different weather conditions (including being sun smart, wearing appropriate footwear and when necessary wet weather gear) and that their school bag/backpack is reasonable for them to carry.
Communicate any concerns to the WSB Liaison person that you may have regarding the operation of the bus.

Role of Children

Participating children will be required to:

Behave appropriately and respect others that use the bus.
Arrive on time at the designated ‘bus stop’.
Inform school staff and remain at the office if they miss the Walking School Busafter school (not applicable unless we implement an after school bus).
Agree to be Sun Smart and wear appropriate clothing and footwear.

Volunteering for the Walking School Bus

Can I volunteer just one day a week?

Most volunteer parents walk only one day a week, whilst their children may join the bus two or three days a week. Once the bus is up and running, many volunteer parents find that it actually frees them up a couple of mornings a week when they no longer have to get their kids to school, because they are on the bus.

The more volunteers we have, the more days we can run the buses.

How do I become a volunteer?

If you would like to become a Volunteer on the program, you need to be

18+ years of age.
Be in reasonable health to supervise children walking safely to school.
Be available to walk one morning a week (or more) as a volunteer.
Undertake a 2-hour training program.
Complete a “Working with children check” form. Applications can be obtained from the office or any post office. Click below for more information.

WSB-More information about the Working With Children Check

Once you have applied for your WWC card, obtain 2 copies of your letter of application (received shortly after you lodge your application) or your card (which takes up to 8 weeks to receive). Forward one copy to Rachel Roads (WSB coordinator for Williamstown North) and one copy to the school office. All correspondence to Rachel Roads can be left with the school office.
We encourage parents, grandparents, retirees, University/Tafe students and the general community to apply.

Please complete the forms and provide to your walking bus coordinator.

WSB Volunteer Agreement ISIS

WSB Volunteer Application ISIS

Remember you will also need to undertake training and obtain a Working with Children Check form to be eligible to start volunteering.

If you would like to support the program but are unable to walk, please contact Rachel Roads, as there maybe other ways that you could contribute to making this program run well in your community.

Role of volunteers

Volunteers will be required to:

Walk on their nominated days, at least one day a week;
Organise the emergency walker in their place when they are unable to walk;
Determine whether the bus should be cancelled in dangerous conditions on their nominated day, and notify participants and volunteers in time.
Assist children to walk safely to and from school.
Treat children who participate at all times with respect and friendliness.
Take responsibility for the safety and conduct of participating children during the operation of the Walking School Bus.
Undergo volunteer training.
Undergo a police check.
Follow the Walking School Bus Handbook for guidelines and procedures at all times when on duty.
Follow WSB emergency procedures in case of an emergency as outlined on page 8 of the WSB Handbook.
Be Sun Smart. This means wide-brimmed hats and sunscreen to be worn Terms 1 and 4 and on sunny days.
Liaise with the ‘School Liaison Person’ and ‘ISIS Primary Care Staff’ concerning program activities and any issues that may arise during the day to day operation of the WSB.
Maintain regular monitoring practices as set out in the program Handbook eg. Completing attendance checklists and Incident/Accident report forms.
Maintain the WSB kit/backpack and ensure that all items are replaced if needed.

How do i start a new walking School Bus?

Bus coordinator

Each new bus route requires a coordinator. The primary role of the coordinator is to

Take responsibility for the overall operation of the bus;
Recruit volunteers and children participants;
Keep everyone, particularly volunteers, motivated and interested,
Enthusiastically encourage participation,
Deal with problems quickly and effectively.

The coordinator must be very committed to walking and even when other volunteers may not have the same level of commitment. The coordinator should, insofar as possible, always walk on their allotted days, and be prepared to step in at short notice when others may be unable to walk.

The coordinator tasks include;

Keeping records up to date, for example;
- When the bus starts up, there is a lot of paperwork in registering families on the bus.
- Once it’s up and running, there is just the occasional change to registration details.
- About once a term, a new attendance sheet is produced by the coordinator (takes about 15 minutes).
Undertaking to ensure effective communication between volunteers (email is very useful);
Ensuring volunteers are trained and appropriately police checked;
Rostering volunteers and emergency volunteers to cover the number of children registered to walk;
Raising issues promptly with relevant persons; e.g. volunteers, parents, council, the WSB School Liaison Person (Rachel Roads) or ISIS Primary Care.
It helps a lot if you are computer savvy.

I found that getting our bus up and running was a lot of work, but it’s paid off. Apart from all the other benefits, now that it’s up and running, there are two mornings a week when I can take the kids to the bus stop and wave goodbye!

Steps in starting a new Walking School Bus

A: PLANNING THE ROUTE

These are steps are undertaken by the coordinator of the new Walking Bus route.

You need to find at least 3 people (including yourself) in your immediate vicinity who are willing to become volunteers and able to walk together at least one day a week. (I recommend buses walk at least 2-3 days a week but it’s not mandatory.)
Nominate which day/days you would start with.
Walk the route together to work out your preferred route. Draw the route on a map printout.

B: COMPLETING THE PREREQUISITES

These steps are undertaken by the coordinator of the new Walking Bus route in coordination with the WSB School Liaison person, Rachel Roads.

Walk the route with the Hobsons Bay Road Council Safety Officer. An electronic map is then produced.
Volunteers do the volunteer training (2 hours, run at the school or in the vicinity of the school).
Volunteers submit their Working with children check copies to the office and to Rachel Roads.

C: LAUNCHING THE BUS

These steps are undertaken by the coordinator of the new Walking Bus route in coordination with Rachel Roads.

Organise and communicate a launch date with the School administration and ISIS primary care.
Publicise in the school newsletter.
Collect and collate enrolment and medical forms for children.
A few practice runs are highly recommended before the actual launch date!

If you would like to know more, please contact the Walking School Bus Liaison person for Williamstown North Primary School.

Rachel Roads

Email: Rachel Roads

Phone: 0409 406 465

The ISIS Primary Care Coordinator is Karleen Joss-Knight. She works in Hobsons Bay on Thursdays.

Email: Karleen.Joss-Knight@isispc.com.au

Phone: 0413 657 192