It has been a few weeks now since schools reopened their doors to pupils across Edinburgh and the Lothians.
At Lothian, we’re doing everything we can to keep your young loved ones safe.
As of Monday 31 August, the Scottish Government has made the wearing of face coverings mandatory in secondary schools (by adults and all pupils moving around the school, such as in corridors and communal areas where physical distancing is difficult to maintain), and on dedicated school transport by all children aged five and over, bringing it into line with guidance for all customers on public transport. You can read more about this here.
We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who is adhering to the existing on-bus guidance we have in place. You are not only helping us to protect our customers, but our colleagues and their own families who they return home to after a day’s work.
We can never know an individual’s circumstances. Underlying health conditions are often not obvious to other people. Hidden disabilities such as autism, anxiety disorders and hearing/visual impairments often have no physical signs – for that reason, we ask those who can wear coverings to do so, and for everyone to be considerate and kind towards those who may be exempt under Scottish Government guidelines.
As parents and guardians, we ask that you help us to protect your child by ensuring the following steps are taken when travelling with us each day:
- Wash hands or use sanitiser before boarding.
- Board one at a time, never crowding others.
- Wear a face covering (if over the age of five and not exempt under Scottish Government guidance).
- Sit apart from friends and keep your distance from all passengers.
We want to make sure children and young people travelling to school can be confident they’re keeping themselves and others safe, so cooperation with these measures is greatly appreciated.
Schools and parent groups are also welcome to make use of our Safe School Travel toolkit, to help share these messages on social media or in parent/guardian newsletters. Included are assets for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, along with suggested posts and useful links. Download the Safe School Travel Toolkit here.
As always, if you’ve got any questions or queries, please get in touch with us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram or by emailing our Customer Service team at [email protected] – we’re here to help.
More information on school services can be found here.