Intermediate School is many students' first experience of taking public transport on their own. Here are a few tips and reminders you can discuss with your child.

Many of our students take public transport to and from school, and we are very lucky to have a range of options including the train and bus. Here are a few tips and reminders to help ensure this goes smoothly.

1) Keep those Snappers topped up. It's easy to forget, but it is a frustrating and stressful experience being caught short. Making the top-up part of your weekly routine can help.

2) Have a backup plan. Our public transport isn't always the most reliable. Make sure you have made a backup plan in case of delays or cancellations. This can be as simple as waiting for the next bus to come. If a delay happens and you are concerned, please call the school office and let us know. We can check up on students by driving down to bus stops etc. 

3) Be on your best behaviour on public transport. We need to be safe, respectful and responsible when riding the bus or train and sharing it with our community. Though this is outside of school, Rāroa will do its utmost to ensure our students and our community have a positive experience. Be on your best behaviour, and let the school know if anyone else's behaviour is negatively affecting your commute. 

4) Squeaky wheels get the grease. If you are unhappy with the service, schedule or other aspect of public transport, let them know about it. In our experience, they can be quite responsive when the issue involves students. Here is the link to their feedback form. https://www.metlink.org.nz/about/contact-us/feedback/