Distress over school bus no-show on first day back

"He's standing at the window, looking out the window, saying, 'Mummy, where's my bus? Where's my bus?' and it's heartbreaking."

Angela Wilson's son Finn, who has Down's syndrome, was due to have his first day of the new school year in St. Gerard's School in west Belfast on Monday.

But a bus organised by the Education Authority (EA) to take the 13-year-old to school did not arrive, leaving Finn and his family distressed.

A number of other pupils were also affected. The EA said they "sincerely apologise to the families impacted by the disruption".

Ms Wilson told BBC News NI that Finn loved going to St. Gerard's and was looking forward to the new term.

"It's his first day back to school, and he's eager to get into school and see his friends," she said.

"It's heartbreaking for me as a mum to watch him looking out the window, saying, 'Where's my bus?'"

Ms Wilson, from north Belfast, said that as Finn was going into his third year at St. Gerard's, she had contacted the EA over the summer to check his transport to the school would be in place for the new term.

"Last week and the week before I called the Education Authority to try to find out what the situation was with his bus going to school," she said.

"In the past, he's got taxis and buses.

"I was told that someone would ring me back, and no one has rang me back.

"I was left wondering whether a bus was going to turn up or not, because I had literally no information."

She said Finn was also distressed.

"We have to try to keep Finn calm—we don't want to disrupt his morning as that will then disrupt his whole school day," she said. "That can affect his behaviour when he gets into school."

"We were ready for 07:30; the bus usually comes about 07:40, and then it didn't come.

"We thought that maybe it's delayed, and we waited right up until 08:00, and we then had to ring a family member to come and bring him to school."

Ms Wilson has three other children, one of whom was due to begin post-primary school on Monday.

"She was panicking, saying: 'I cannot be late, I cannot be late, mummy' because she wants to make a good impression," she said.

"I have three other kids to get out to school as well, so I had to try to stay calm and not show my kids that I was panicking."

When contacted by BBC News NI, a spokesperson for the EA said they were informed at very short notice by the third-party provider that they were unable to facilitate the route.

“We understand the distress this has caused, especially at the start of a new school year, and will continue to work to try and minimise future disruption as far as possible," the EA added.