Southill Junior School took off on a major Bus & Train Adventure as part of their Green-Schools Travel Programme on 26TH June 2012. The purpose of the day was to educate students about alternative transport modes available within the city centre. The action day kicked off with a guided tour from bus inspector Ger Doran where he explained all of the safety measures on the bus and why buses are a Greener option than taking the car into town. In preparation for the day the students prepared questions to ask the bus driver such as ‘how long does it take to go to cork’ and ‘A full bus would be the same as how many cars full of people?’. When they arrived at the station they headed for the second part of their journey which was a train journey to Ennis.
For many of the students involved it was their first time on a train so it was a considerably exciting day for them. Upon arrival at the station they had a picnic and then conducted another interview with the ticket collector as well as learning all about how to buy a ticket and what type of signage you find at train stations. They even visited the lost and found department to see what strange things people leave on the train. On the way home the students pulled out their Bus Eireann notebooks and jotted down all of the things they saw on the train journey home. Green-Schools and Southill would like to thank Bus Eireann for their incredible support of the initiative and for making the day that little bit more special for the students of southill. According to Tina Frost (Green-Schools Coordinator) ‘ Bus Eireann were so accommodating – they gave each child a notebook and a pencil to commemorate their journey, the inspectors were just so helpful and pleasant to the kids and really made the day fantastic for them’