Best Practices for Kindergarten Transportation Safety
The following are examples of Best Practices that can be put in place to support the safe transportation
and return of Kindergarten students to their parents or guardians.
Kindergarten Tags:
Kindergarten students have a coloured tag on their bag indicating their stop location. The tag also
includes the school name, route number and the bus operator’s phone number. The Kindergarten
tag helps the driver ensure the JK and SK students are getting off at the appropriate location.
When making a Kindergarten tag please use the template provided below so that we maintain
consistency with font type and size.
Colour coding of the bus:
Schools with multiple buses have colour coded kindergarten tags that correspond to a particular
bus route (e.g. Route 099 is Blue). The colour will ensure that kindergarten students board the
correct bus at the school. The visual aid will help the school staff and bus driver.
Colour cones:
In addition to the coloured kindergarten tags, coloured cones may be used to help identify the
location of the bus in the line-up at the school in the afternoon. This will ensure that kindergarten
students board the right bus or congregate together with other students on the same bus before
the bus arrives at school in the afternoon.
Seating plan:
Kindergarten students should always sit at the front of the bus, close to the driver. A seating plan
should be constructed in a coordinated manner between the school staff and bus driver. The
seating plan should be organized by stop, which will help the driver associate Kindergartens with
their specific stop.
Loading order:
Kindergarten students can be loaded on the bus before the older students. This facilitates the
seat selection to ensure the seating plan is followed.
Bus Patrollers:
Bus Patrollers can assist the bus driver in ensuring the Kindergarten students get off at the
appropriate stop. The bus patroller program is run in the 3rd week of September and is extremely
important in keeping the students on the bus safe. Notifications for this program are sent to each
school in late August.
Bus Buddies:
A “Bus Buddy” is a Kindergarten student who is paired up with an older student who is getting off
at the same stop or the stop after the Kindergarten student. The older student can help their “Bus
Buddy” exit the bus if their parent or responsible adult is waiting at the door (or stop them from
exiting if that person is not present).
Offloading at the bus stop:
The Kindergarten students are the last to get off the bus at every stop. Parents are required to
approach the door to receive their Kindergarten student after the older students have been let off.
The driver will ensure that Kindergarten students are met by a parent, caregiver or appropriately
aged sibling. Kindergarten students should be reminded that if they do not see their parent,
caregiver or appropriately aged sibling, that they should re-enter the bus and tell the bus driver.
Training:
The school is encouraged to train Kindergarten students to recognize their seating arrangement,
stop order, bus buddy, bus colour or coloured cone.
STSWR, in cooperation with the Police Services, Fire Department and St. John’s Ambulance,
provides formal training to the school patrollers in September of every year.