Working closely with the headteacher and pupils at Fulford School, and York Pullman bus company  a new voluntary service called 'YorTXT' will be available from Thursday November 5 2009.

YorTXT is an SMS service that will:

• notify students and parents/carers of alternative arrangements when buses are running late or have broken down
• enable pupils to inform us discreetly by text about any issues such as bullying or unacceptable behaviour on buses
• enable parents/carers and pupils to tell us about problems or complaints they have allowing us to monitor the quality of service much more effectively

Sixth Form Monitors on each York Pullman bus service will also be using YorTXT to report any concerns that they encounter on their journeys to and from school.

The new 'YorTXT' SMS service is a voluntary one. The phone numbers of any student or parent involved in the pilot will not be given to any external party, including the bus operator.  No record of phone numbers will leave the council.

How it works

The number for you to text will be 07786 209033 (standard network text charges apply).  Please save this into your mobile phone so that you don't forget it when you need it!

Sending a message to the school

Depending on what your message is about, you will need to pre-fix your message with the most appropriate of the following words:

BULLYING <message>  eg 'BULLYING I saw a first year bullied by Joe Bloggs on F26'

VANDALISM <message>  eg 'VANDALISM A fourth year smashed a window on F22'

COMPLAINT <message>  eg 'COMPLAINT Driver goes too fast on F26'

FEEDBACK <message> eg 'FEEDBACK York Pullman provide an excellent service'

CHANGE <message>   eg 'CHANGE Bob Smith new mobile number 07799 123456'

Any comments will be treated as confidential and passed onto the school for appropriate action.  You do not need to give either your name, or the name of anyone else.  If you do give your name, please be aware that the school may wish to contact you directly about your message in order to follow up any areas of concern.

When reporting a change to your mobile number, please ensure that you include your name and new telephone number on the text message, otherwise the system will not be able to recognise who the message came from, and therefore be unable to update.

Receiving a message

If you have subscribed to the YorTXT service, you are set up to receive updates regarding any changes to the bus service that you use, such as significant delays or cancellations.

If you have any questions about this service, would like to give your comments, or have not yet registered but would like to, please contact the Education Access Team