Buses

Bus Eligibility (Rules set by the Ministry of Education)

School transport assistance eligibility criteria

We are funded (via routes set by the MOE, arranged through a Transport Entitlement Zone and contracted to bus companies to manage) to offer school transport assistance to eligible students only.

To qualify for assistance, students must meet the following criteria:

• they are attending their closest (state or state-integrated) school

• they live more than a certain distance from school:

  • 3.2km for Years 1-8

  • 4.8km for Years 9-13

• there is no suitable public transport available.

Ineligible students

Transport service providers may also transport ineligible students.

Please note, we cannot, under our supplier contracts, require transport service providers to carry ineligible students.

If the transport service provider agrees to carry ineligible students, the following conditions must be met:

• prior written agreement obtained from any school affected by the operation of a daily route

• all students are seated

• the vehicle doesn’t deviate from the contracted route to pick up ineligible students

• all ineligible students are advised of the conditions of transportation which must be signed by their caregivers

• transport service providers may also charge ineligible students a fare.

• There may be situations where ineligible students need to be removed from Ministry-funded services (for example, due to overcrowding or for not meeting the above conditions). 

Transport Entitlement Zone (This map is set by the Ministry of Education)

To arrange pupil transport on a bus service, please contact the school office. 

Please note:

• Bus routes are set by the Ministry of Education.

• These contracts are then tendered out to providers.

• Our provider is Ritchies Gore.  Here is the link to their website with contact details: https://www.ritchies.co.nz/gore 

• Ritchies employs the bus drivers and owns the buses.

• The bus service is not a door-to-door service.

• Our Transport Entitlement Zone allows those within it to travel, free of charge, on the MOE-defined bus routes to our school.  

• If a bus is full, ineligible pupils may not be able to travel on it.

• If a child is travelling on a bus from outside our TEZ, parents will need permission for the school's TEZ they are travelling through and will be required to pay a travel charge to Ritchies. 

• Parents are welcome to transport their child into our TEZ and, by doing so, get on a bus within our TEZ. This would require space on the bus, as that bus service is first and foremost for eligible students in our TEZ.

• Our Buses are:

  • Homestead Bus (Route D140311): This bus collects children from west of the school up State Highway One towards Invercargill. It is shared with Menzies College, which means there are senior-aged (Year 7 - 13) children on that bus. It also means that after school, this bus leaves our school later, as we have to wait for Menzies to finish.

  • Seaward Downs (Route D140315): This bus collects children south of the school down Seaward Downs Road. It only has Edendale Primary School students on it.

  • Brydone Bus (Route D140309): This bus collects children north of the school up State Highway One towards Mataura. It is shared with Menzies College, which means there are senior-aged (Year 7 - 13) children on that bus. It also means that after school, this bus leaves our school later, as we have to wait for Menzies to finish.

  • Fortrose Bus (Route D140313): This is not one of our designated buses.  It is a Menzies College bus only.  Hopping on this bus requires a per-trip payment to Ritchies. When Menzies is closed, this bus does not run, so parents of children on that bus will need to transport their children to and from school. Further, as the bus passes through other schools' TEZs, so permission from them is required (Tokanui School and Gorge Road School).  If this is not granted, parents must bring and pick up children or travel into our TEZ and use our existing specified buses.

• One-Offs: For students who want to have a visitor join the bus to travel to or from school on a one-off situation, we do ask that 

  • The student provides our school (and bus driver) with a note from parents/caregivers (before the visitor travelling) 

  • OR have the parent/caregiver phone our school office at 03 206 6959. 

  • Further, Ritchies, who runs the buses, must be notified at their office on 03 208 9902. 

  • Please note that this is not a door-to-door service, and children will be dropped off at the point closest to the destination. Parents will need to coordinate with the person their child is going to regarding having an appropriate person there to support their child if further walking or transport is needed.

• Change of Arrangements: We must have all changes of arrangements, especially relating to buses, into the school by 2.30 pm to give the office staff time to use the established system to share the change with the students. 3.00 pm is too late and risks interruptions, causing the message to be lost in the busyness of that time when children, staff, and adults are all converging on the office.

Bus Routes (All routes are set by the Ministry of Education)

Below is the Ministry of Education bus route map generater.  

Under 'Search by Route Number' you can type in the numbers that we have next to each route and that should show you the set Ministry of Education funded route.  If you live off the set Ministry of Education bus route, you will need to meet the run at a safe point.