Courts will argue that it is a practice known to Schools for parents to leave pupils before hours or collect them after hours, and in that acceptance is the obligation to provide supervision. However, there is some mitigation which can be made. We recommend that a note is sent to all parents at the beginning of term advising them of the hours at which the School can accept responsibility for their children. A sample circular would include:

“The School will open to receive pupils at the hour of 9 a.m. No responsibility is accepted for pupils arriving before that time. Classes will commence each day at 9.15 a.m. No pupils should arrive later than 9.10 a.m.

Classes will end each day at 3 p.m. Parents who wish to have their children escorted home should make their own arrangements to have them met at the School gate and the person to escort them should be at the School not later than 3 p.m. as the School cannot accept responsibility for looking after the children after that time.”

NOTE: The times shown are for illustrative purposes only. When issuing such a circular you should insert the actual times which are in operation for your school.

There is no simple answer as to what constitutes the ‘correct’ level of supervision. However, it is advisable that the following influencing factors be taken into account - age, maturity and number of pupils as well as the topography of the area that requires supervision.

The degree of supervision by a teacher should be that of ‘reasonable care’ i.e. equate to the supervision levels of a careful parent. This is supported in Rules 121 (4) and 124 (1) of the Rules for National Schools and Section 23 (2) of the Education Act 1998 which oblige teachers to take all reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of pupils and to participate in supervising pupils when the pupils are on school premises, during school time and/or on school activities.

If the bus is organised by the School then it is the responsibility of the Board of Management to organise supervision. The pupils are still legally the responsibility of the School as this would be deemed a School related activity.

If the bus is organised by a third party (i.e. the school have no involvement), then the responsibility for organising supervision on the bus lies with the provider of the service.