Schools
buses for schools return Mon 8 Mar
After the Government announced their roadmap out of restrictions on Monday 22 February, they set out the date that schools will return - Monday 8 March. From this date, we expect all buses for schools to return - which includes buses numbered 81-93 and all buses in the 900 series. We are contacting all schools to ensure we have the correct information on opening and closing times so exact timetables will be available soon - please keep checking back.
Once timetables have been confirmed, you will be able to find all routes with their maps and timetables on our services page here. There will also be further information below including a summary for each school and, where appropriate, PDF timetables and maps.
social distancing on board
Our usual school routes 81-93 will generally be running for school children only.
We have also identified some journeys on our network that are heavily used by students and so, to ensure there is capacity, these journeys will be allocated as private services for those schools only and will be temporarily renumbered to include a 9 at the front of their service number (e.g. a journey on sky blue 16 would become 916). Members of the public will not be allowed to board these buses.
Normal fares and tickets will apply on all of these journeys, and children can travel at other times and on other buses if they want to - but should follow the rules around the use of public buses.
Where your child is travelling on a public bus, capacity is limited to roughly 50% to maintain “1 metre plus” social distancing, so we advise that all students think about travelling earlier than normal if there isn’t a specific school route for their journey.
public and private buses – the difference
On private school buses, social distancing is not required because the children are within the same social “bubble” and will be making the same journey on the same bus every day. This means we can use the full capacity of the bus, minus the seats close to the driver, to ensure that all children can get to school as close to normally as possible. Face coverings should be worn whilst travelling as an extra precaution.
Public buses are still subject to the Government's "one metre plus" social distancing rule and as such we can only allow up to 50% of our seated capacity.
timetables and route maps
Click the name of your school to download the map or timetable (when available) showing which buses run to the school.
Please note that there will be some minor amendments, so check back later.
| school | timetables | maps |
|---|---|---|
| Bohunt School | timetables tbc | Click here for the map |
| Bulmershe School | timetables tbc | Click here for the map |
| Denefield School | timetables tbc | Click here for the map |
| Highdown School | timetables tbc | Click here for the map |
| Little Heath School | timetables tbc | Click here for the map |
| Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge School | timetables tbc | Click here for the map |
| Reading Girls' School | timetables tbc | Click here for the map |
| Theale Green School | timetables tbc | Click here for the map |
summary information for other schools
We also serve many other schools in the local area. The table below give information on what the situation should be for each school - but please check back closer to 8 March in case any information changes.
| school | summary information |
|---|---|
| Abbey | The existing route 81 from Caversham Heights will remain, at 50% capacity. The leopard 3/8/9 and claret 21 will run at 50% capacity. |
| Blessed Hugh Faringdon | Existing yellow 26 journeys departing Reading town centre at 7.54am (and an extra journey at 8.04am) and Circuit Lane at 3.08pm will temporarily be renumbered 926 and run as a private service. Jet black 1, lime 2 and other yellow 26 journeys will operate at 50% capacity. |
| Crosfields | Leopard 3/8/9 will operate at 50% capacity |
| Emmbrook | Lion 4 will operate at 50% capacity |
| Forest | Lion 4 will operate at 50% capacity |
| The Holt | Lion 4 will operate at 50% capacity |
| John Madejski Academy | Existing emerald 5 journeys departing Reading Station at 7.50am and an extra journey from Northumberland Avenue at 3.03pm, will temporarily be renumbered 905 and run as private services. Other emerald 5 journeys will operate at 50% capacity. |
| Kendrick | The existing 81 from Caversham Heights will remain, at 50% capacity. The leopard 3/8/9 and claret 21 will run at 50% capacity. |
| Kennet | Jet black 1 will operate at 50% capacity |
| Leighton Park | Leopard 3/8/9, and claret 21 will operate at 50% capacity |
| Maiden Erlegh | Purple 17 and lion 4 will operate at 50% capacity |
| Prospect School |
Extra journeys at 7.46am from Central Reading and 3.32pm from Meadway will temporarily be renumbered 932 and run as private services. Royal blue 33 and jet black 1 and lime 2 journeys will operate at 50% capacity. |
| Reading | Temporary route 80 (from Caversham Heights) will run as private service for Reading School only - please use this service rather than public ones where possible. |
| St Crispins | Lion 4 will operate at 50% capacity |
| St Josephs College | The existing 81 from Caversham Heights will remain, at 50% capacity |
| UTC Reading | Lion 4 and purple 17 will operate at 50% capacity |
| Waingels | Orange 13 and 14 will operate at 50% capacity |
| The Wren | Jet Black 1 and lime 2 will operate at 50% capacity |
| Willink | Lime 2 will operate at 50% capacity. There will also be a temporary service numbered 902 for Willink Students only. It will run 1 minute earlier than the normal 7.55am lime 2 departure from Reading and the 3pm lime 2 departure from Glenapp Grange, Mortimer. |
Direct Debit for annual Boost passes retained
To help you spread the cost of your child's travel to and from school, you can buy an annual simplyReading or simplyNetwork Boost pass via Direct Debit.
Simply choose your product, fill out your child's details (and then yours as the person paying) and then select Direct Debit on the payment page. Please note, Direct Debit is only available for annual passes and cannot be used for termly or other period tickets.
The Direct Debit is taken 10 monthly instalments with the first payment approximately 3-5 days after you purchase the pass. The pass itself will be sent to you within 5 working days and will start from when you receive it in the post.
Please ensure that you choose carefully when to buy your pass to ensure that you receive the card when you want and that there are appropriate funds in your account when the payments are due to be taken.
prices frozen
You will be delighted to hear that we have frozen the prices for the new academic year. The prices are below.
If your school is in the simplyNetwork zone (or you are travelling into the simplyReading zone from the simplyNetwork zone) you will need a simplyNetwork product. If you are travelling exclusively within the simplyReading zone, you will need a simplyReading product.
| duration | where to buy | simplyReading | simplyNetwork |
|---|---|---|---|
| single trip | on bus or app | £1.50 | Varies by route |
| 10 single trips | online or app | £13 | not available |
| all day ticket | on bus or app | £2.70 | £4 |
| 7 day | online or app | £12 | £16 |
| 30 day | online or app | £45 | £61 |
| term | online | £150 | £185 |
| Annual* | online | £395 | £495 |
* The Annual tickets are available to buy in 10 monthly instalments to help spread the cost of our best value ticket. Just select this option on checkout - your first Direct Debit payment will be taken approximately 3-5 days after you purchase the pass. The pass itself will be sent to you within 5 working days and will start from when you receive it in the post.