Connecting West Wight to the Island Free School
 

With great regret,  our bus service between West Wight and the Island Free School will end on Friday 26 July. Sadly we have been unable to contract a suitable transport operator who can do this journey in the 2024/5 school year.

Over the last couple of years, we've seen healthy numbers of pupils use our bus to travel to Ventnor each day - with 33 pupils expected to to use the bus from September. Sadly, our current transport operator is retiring and is unable to provide vehicles after the end of the Summer term.

We have spoken to every bus and minibus operator on the Island with the aim of sourcing an alternative supplier. Many, including Southern Vectis and the FYT Bus said that they simply didn't have any spare vehicles available. Two companies were willing to provide a bus, but these lacked capacity and were significantly more expensive. 

We've reached out to the Isle of Wight Council, the Island Free School and local politicians, but alas no help was forthcoming.

Having exhausted every option, we've regretfully concluded that there wasn't a viable option going forward.

We're hugely disappointed at this outcome and appreciate the impact that this will have on the many families who planned to use the bus next year. We're also very conscious that the result will be many more cars heading to TIFS from September. 

Can we pass on my thanks to everyone who has supported the WWSST bus over the last couple of years.