ICS Parents

starstar1688

I am a new ICS parent too.  The school is going to start on Thursday, but I have not received any info about the school bus arrangement, I called Jackson bus Co, they only said to wait for the call.  I got a friend's friend working for Jackson as ICS bus driver, he said this company's buses are the most shabby ones compared to others, and the bus fare is more expensive, I wonder why ICS still likes to choose them as partner?

The other thing is the school time,  it is much earlier than other kindergardens, a bit difficult for small kids.

siubosiumao

I feel for you. I am in a similar boat. I also considered taking only the return trip. Unfortunately, its really a big hassle to take my kid to school by myself.

If you look around other kinders, most school bus routes takes about one hour (my kid went from sai kung to kowloon tong last year and the route takes 1hr 15 mins). however, since the bus needs to arrive at SM (Shek Mun) at 7:40am, that's the reference time the bus company is using.

I chatted with Principal Beverley this morning. She said that the transit between Shek Mun to Jubliee takes about 20 mins minimum (including offloading the R1/R2 kids from the big bus, to the small bus, offloading from the small bus, taking the lift up to the 7th floor, going to washrooms and getting ready for class). The drive from Shek Mun to Fotan is 10 min without traffic, and with traffic in the morning, its usually longer. So if you take that into account, arriving Shek Mun at 7:40am, getting all the kids ready to Fotan, would get them in between 8:00-8:10am. Kindergartens opens at 8:10am officially but Principal Beverley reassured me that if the kids are there early, they would be let in earlier for sure and won't be waiting outside.

Another data point, a staff at the kinder told me that the bus has been CONSISTENTLY LATE last year and bus kids always arrive 10 mins late (8:40am instead of 8:30am). I am suspecting there might be some performance issues going on here and the school might be using the differences in start time to condition the bus company.

So what alternative do we have? I discussed with Jackson about having a kindergarten only schoolbus (so we can skip the whole SM ordeal), unfortunately, he told me that there are only about 20+ kinder riders in the morning and they are ALL OVER NT and Kowloon, which means that if you organize a route just for kinder kids, the improvement might not be that much since the bus will be going all over to pick up kids. This is the downside of having a very small kindergarten session. The majority of parents live in Shatin/Fotan area and do not require schoolbus service.

But I have not given up. I discussed with Jackson regarding chartering a private bus for all the kinder kids in kowloon. There are about 10 of them in the morning. Since the first two weeks is quite busy, we will start discussing such possibility about end of August. So we can explore if there is anything we could do to improve the situation for all.

I have a feeling that Jackson Bus company feels that the kinder kids is "pork bone" for his business (a.k.a. small size, special return trip, etc), so he has been discouraging me to NOT have my kid take his bus actually which I find to be quite interesting. Its a business decision for the bus company to want to pack as many kids as possible in the fewest number of routes instead of considering the kids' schedules.

原帖由 bearlee 於 09-8-11 17:39 發表
Ooooo.... I just come across this thread.

My boy will also start his schooling on Thursday and we were just notified that the schedule of school bus is rediculous.  We live in Tai Po but my kid was r ...

lamheng

I  contacted Mr. Tong before my little daughter start school.  Finally, they arrange the school bus for her.

I think ICS should monitor the school bus service and further discuss with them in order to know the difficulty of the school bus company, solve the problems.

If the kindergarden starts later, may be 9:00, problem can be solved.

starstar1688

My house is about 10 minutes drive from ICS kindergarden, but till now it takes 40 minutes to reach home by school bus.  I actually followed the school bus for the first day, I found out that a lot of time is wasted at ICS Shek Mun campus for changing the bus and waiting for primary students and seconday students.

tommyzoe

Regarding school bus service, this is really a hot topic every year around schools. I would like to suggest every ICS parent to make comment about the school bus service through PA.

siubosiumao

Tommyzoe, so if its a hot topic every year, which tells me that this bus company is not providing the level of service that the parents want. Then, why do we still have him serve ICS? Are their political reasons involved?

I have been discussing with the kinder PA, Andrew, regarding this issue. He is very concerned about this situation and is collecting inputs and polls from parents who are having problems. PLS CONTACT HIM ASAP IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY with Jackson's service. If you need Andrew's contact, pls PM me.

btw, I just found out that Jackson's school bus on the return trip from Fotan DOES NOT HAVE SEATBELTS!!!!!! Since the ride is so long, the kinder kids were all falling asleep and on the verge of hitting themselves on the row in front of them because THERE ARE NO SEATBELTS!!! Can any existing parents explain to me WHY ICS HIRE A BUS COMPANY THAT DOES NOT OFFER SEATBELTS??????????

原帖由 tommyzoe 於 09-8-19 01:28 發表
Regarding school bus service, this is really a hot topic every year around schools. I would like to suggest every ICS parent to make comment about the school bus service through PA.

tommyzoe

I mean that school bus service is a hot topic in every school, not only found in ICS.

:)

Suzanne503

My son has join ICS since R2.  He real enjoy the school, always share his experience and happiness with us after school.  Make your choice to choose ICS.