School Bus Driver Job Description Example

School Bus Driver Job Description Example

What Does a School Bus Driver Do?

A school bus driver is responsible for picking up school children in the morning and dropping them off in the evening, and also conveying them to and from field trips.

The school bus driver job description is similar to that of a nanny in the sense that he/she spends most of his working time around school age children, and just like a nanny he/she is expected to take care of the children that he/she is driving.

Every job comes with its peculiarities and so is the job of a school bus driver.

A bus driver for a school performs the primary function of all employed drivers, which is driving.

To succeed as a school bus driver, you must be comfortable staying around school age children for a long time without feeling irritated by the noise that comes with such companions.

Most school bus drivers are also part-time teachers. They use their free time in between lesson periods and the time the school dismisses for the day to teach, thereby making additional income.

However, except you want to teach in between pick up and drop off periods as stated earlier, no formal education is required to be a bus driver; you will only need good driving skills, clean driving record, and a host of other qualities.

You must also have the right vehicle drivers’ license to be employed as a driver of a school bus.

You must also be tolerant to be able to endure the antics of some stubborn school children.

The driver must be able to communicate in a polite and friendly manner with the children to play his/her role effectively, and must have a good knowledge of the routes around the school area, as well as expansive knowledge of traffic rules.

He/she must be a meticulous driver who must act responsibly at all times as his/her lifestyle may influence the children.

The work description of a school bus driver will usually entail arriving early to work, checking the vehicle for any fault, repairing minor fault if any, and preparing the vehicle for the day’s work.

He/she must be disciplined and safety conscious, knowing that the safety of the children whenever he/she is conveying them to school and events, or taking them back to their parents, depends on him/her.

School Bus Driver Job Description Example

The school bus driver will be expected to perform various duties, tasks, and responsibilities as stated in the job description example below:

• Pick up children from their various homes and drop them off at school every morning
• Convey the school children to and from field trips, excursions, and other school related events
• Ensure that the wards that entered the bus is seated and properly strapped before driving off
• Ensure that the children stay on their seat when conveying them to school, home or any other event. Ensure that the children behave well whilst driving them to school or dropping them off after school
• Show up to work very early so as to be able to check if the bus is in order before rolling it off to the highway to pick up the children
• Teach the children simple road signs and traffic regulations
• Help the children, especially the tender ones to enter and get off the bus
• Carry out regular check and maintenance on the bus
• Carry out simple repairs on the school bus
• Report major flaws to the school’s head teacher or employer
• Ensure that the school bus is always kept neat and tidy
• Ensure safe and timely pick up of the children in the morning and their drop off in the afternoon or evening
• Report any incident or traffic situation that may cause delay to the school’s head teacher using wireless device
• Report any case of accident to employer
• Discipline the children when they become unruly in the bus or report them to the school’s tutorial staff for appropriate punishment
• Follow a predetermined route to be able to pick up the children and drop them off at the appropriate bus stops or houses
• Assist the very little ones to cross the road and ensure they are handed over to their parents, nanny, or any other person authorized by the parents to pick them up after school
• Have knowledge of alternative routes to take when the predetermined route is congested or blocked for any reason
• Report or call the police immediately in the case of any emergency or security situation
• Perform other minor functions and run errands in between pick up and drop period.

School Bus Driver Resume Preparation

The professional experience section is an important item to include in a resume as it proves to employers that you have actually performed the duties and responsibilities of the position you are vying for.

To assist you in creating this section when preparing a resume for the school bus driver job, you can use the work information contained in the sample job description above. These are the work activities for the role that employers will be interested in seeing.

Requirements – Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities – for School Bus Driver Job

Individuals seeking to work as a bus driver for school children will be required by most employers to possess the following skills and qualities to excel on the job:

• A school bus driver must be skilled in driving. He/she must have clean driving history from his/her past positions, and must be licensed to operate commercial vehicles
• Additionally, he/she must possess an in-depth knowledge of traffic regulations and road signs, and must obey them
• He/she must be able to multi task. Asides his/her regular duty of driving the children to and from school, which is a lot of work on its own, he/she may be required to perform other duties like run errands and fill in for absent teachers
• He/she must be tolerant and patient. Some kids could be annoying and stubborn, therefore, the driver ought to have the patience and tolerance to deal with such kids
• Needless to say, he/she must be disciplined and responsible as his/her behavior may affect that of the kids in no small way.

School Bus Driver Skills for Resume

The skills section is also an important part of a resume that provides the kind of information employers generally want to see.

Employers would like to know what skills and qualities you are bringing to your work to be sure you will be able to succeed executing your job description as a school bus driver.

To make the skills section of your resume more convincing, you can use the required school bus driver skills given above with modification where necessary to suit your personality, but make sure you actually have the qualities to avoid giving false information to prospective employers.