On the bus

We have been a busy class over the last couple of weeks. A highlight has been the beginning of our bus outings. We are happy that everyone is now working well as a group on outings, so we are challenging ourselves to use the public buses.

We started by deciding where to go. We planned to go to The Palms mall on the Orbiter bus. We walked to the bus stop and waited.

We waited some more.

When the bus came we either used our Metrocards, or we used money to buy a ticket for the bus.

We know that we need to sit quietly on the bus. We can have a quiet talk to each other. We need to stay in our seats until we arrive where we want to go.

Aimee was so quiet. When a lady she didn't know sat beside her, she sat quietly and looked out of the window.

Lots of people listen to music on the bus. William had his i-pod with him so he listened to music quietly.

Alex likes to look for other buses and trucks while we drive along.

James thought the bus ride was awesome!

He gave it a big thumbs up!

 When we got to the mall we had a treat. Everyone had an ice cream. William didn't want his one so he gave it to his best friend Matthew.

We all need to take care of our own rubbish. Alex and Rawiri disposed of their rubbish independently. At the food court if you look around you will see where the rubbish bins are. Don't leave a mess on your table!

Even though he didn't want to have an ice cream, William had lots of fun on our outing.

After visiting the mall we needed to get back to school. We walked to the bus stop. When a bus came we got on. Oh no! Smoke started coming into the bus and the driver said "Quickly get off the bus." We all followed instructions from the driver and got off the bus. The bus driver got his fire extinguisher out and went to the engine of the bus to stop the whole bus catching on fire. Can you see all of the smoke around the bus?

The poor bus needed to be fixed before it could take passengers again. Luckily there was another Orbiter bus in a little while. We got on the next bus and went back to school.

We were so impressed with how well everyone followed instructions from the bus driver. In an emergency, like a fire, we must always follow instructions straight away so that no one will be hurt.

Learning to ride on the public buses is a very important skill for our students. Many of the students in the Allenvale Transition programmes work on bus skills. We have students in some classes learning to travel from home to work places or school independently, and we have others who are learning the basics of behaving appropriately on public buses. We sometimes see former Allenvale students out and about on the buses. It is a great way of getting around when you don't drive a car.