A side question on school buses.

Do your children pay a fare on the bus, do parents buy some kind of pass, or is it free. No one has ever mentioned fares on school buses so how does it all work?

Coutesy of the tax payers!

It came as a shock to me how much parents had to spend on kids at the beginning of the new year. Well maybe not the actual cost, more that it was the kind of BASIC stuff that was provided when I was at school.

Then when you consider the free bus to/from school it seems okay. A good deal, in fact.

I still think the tennis ball thing is funny.

We have to pay $135 per child (or a maximum of $270 per family) for the bus pass

Last year I had a momentary panic - not about the kids getting to school 'cos the bus stops outside our neighbour's - but about them finding the right bus to get home again - there were tons of the buggers lined up in the school car park ! The teachers and drivers are sooooo used to the initial slight chaos for that first few days - they will assist your child hugely if needed. Within a week or so, even the youngest and shyest kids will find the whole school bus scenario rather old hat !