Bus Éireann must find a way to accommodate incoming first-year students to The Presentation Convent second-level school in Headford by providing a later bus.
This is the view of Fine Gael senator Fidelma Healy Eames. She said parents in the Annaghdown-Corrandulla area are concerned about the early school bus start time their first year sons and daughters will have to take from next week on.
The current bus timetable could see pupils having to board the bus at c7.45am for a school start of 9.10am, and finding themselves at school with “one hour to spare and nothing structured to do”.
“One parent of a new first-year in Corrandulla expressed a major concern about young pupils ‘hanging around’ and it not being appropriate to be mixing with older students,” said Sen Healy Eames. “This view was widespread.”
Sen Healy Eames said that as a “mother and educator” she would share the concerns being expressed by parents.
“Tiredness is a huge factor in first years settling in,” she said. “Such an early bus will make for an extra long school day for students and will impact on their ability to concentrate, especially when it comes to completing evening homework.
“Secondly, there is the issue of being subject to influences - smoking, rough and tumble of school where older pupils and large numbers gather - earlier than is necessary.
Sen Healy Eames is calling on Bus Éireann to revise its timetable to provide a later bus for the children.
“One of the most critical factors in a successful second-level education is a smooth transition from primary to second-level,” she said. “Getting off to a good start, which is conducive to making this major transition easy, is important.”
