Driven by Safety

Story appeared in the 2015 issue of QMS Connections Magazine.

BY LEANNE SCHULTZ, OPERATIONS & HR MANAGER

For many QMS students, the face of the school is the first one that greets them in the morning and the last one to say goodbye to them each afternoon. It’s not their teacher, their principal, or their friends. It’s their bus driver.

L-R: Cara Hallam, Mavis Weatherbee, France Bournazel

With a bus service spanning from Mill Bay to Salt Spring Island to Nanaimo, the Transportation Department at QMS is an integral part of the school’s commitment to the safety and wellbeing of its students. In addition to the regular school runs, Queen Margaret’s fleet of buses and vans transport boarding students to and from airports and ferry terminals. They are also vital to the school’s ability to provide a wide breadth of experiential education experiences, transporting classes on field trips near and far.

Pre- and post-trip checklists, daily cleaning, and regular vehicle inspections are just some of the ways that the dedicated team of QMS bus drivers ensures that the transportation of the school’s students is not only safe, but exceeds current fed-eral and provincial safety legislation. But student safety isn’t just about the working mechanics of the bus—it’s about extending the QMS environment, where students are protected and feel comfortable to be individuals and learners, even before and after school hours. Bus drivers at QMS work hard to cultivate and nurture enduring relationships with students. They liaise with parents, teachers, and administrative staff to ensure the students’ wellbeing is maintained, and are an integral part of creating a positive school experience from start to finish.