Transport to school

Travel Guidance for September 2020

As of September, there will be two types of transport provided for students travelling to school: public and dedicated transport.

Public transport refers to routes that are also used by the public. All students are expected to follow guidance on social distancing before using public transport to school. Those using public bus or train services must adhere to the direction of the companies at all times. Further guidance for bus services and trains or can be found below. The Government advice is for students who previously used these services to use other means of transport to school, where possible.

Dedicated transport is solely for students travelling to and from school. Government guidance states that social distancing rules will not apply to students travelling on dedicated transport.

Start of the day

Buses and taxis arriving at the bus park on the A2 arrive from 8.15am to 8.35am.
Students remain seated on the bus until a staff member has released one year group at a time.
Once released from the bus, students sanitise their hands and follow the one way system to their year group line on the field.
Students are then released to go into the main school, a year group at a time to avoid mixing between year groups.

End of the day

Students leave their classrooms with their classroom teacher at staggered times before 3pm, so that congestion points are avoided.
Before entering the bus, students line up in their year group lines and sanitise their hands.
Students are then released in year groups to enter the buses.

Further information for all bus services to the Sittingbourne School please click on the relevant link.

Travelmasters
Arriva
Chalkwell

Key Guidance Points for Railway Travel

Check the timetable before you travel. Timetables change on 7th September, the week after schools go back, with more services becoming available
Maintain social distancing wherever possible, so that you are 1 metre or more away from everyone else, including school friends
Wear a face covering when using public transport. There are exemptions for those with certain medical conditions and other circumstances.
Behave responsibly. Many passengers may be anxious about travelling on busy trains at the current time, so please behave calmly and quietly, and follow the rules.

Further information can be found here;
https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/backtoschool

Face Coverings

Coronavirus (COVID-19) usually spreads by droplets from coughs, sneezes and speaking. These droplets can also be picked up from surfaces, if you touch a surface and then your face without washing your hands first. This is why social distancing, regular hand hygiene, and covering coughs and sneezes is so important in controlling the spread of the virus. The best available scientific evidence is that, when used correctly, wearing a face covering may reduce the spread of coronavirus droplets in certain circumstances, helping to protect others.
Face coverings should be worn at all times before entering any of these forms of transport. Unless there is a reason for exemption, in which case you will require an exemption card.

For those students using Travelmaster services the following message from Travelmasters is: if your child requires an exemption card, please apply here: http://www.travel-masters.co.uk/school.htm. Travelmasters services will only accept Travelmasters exemption cards.