Most parents have fond memories of the school trips
they went on, which is why they are always
impressed to see just how many times the
school minibus has been used each month.

The school minibus is not only a vehicle that transports students from A to B and back again.  It is also an extraordinarily powerful advertising message to parents of students in your school and to those who are thinking of sending their child to your school.

Now I know that when I normally say “advertising message” in relation to minibuses people think of the logo and name of the school painted on the side of the bus.  And that of course is a fair place to start.

But there is a second issue that can have even more impact than the logo on the side of the minibus.  For if, on your school website, you log all the school trips that your minibus or minibuses have been used for, you can then use that list as a statement to the parents of just how involved your school is in Learning Outside the Classroom.

Of course just putting up the log of all the trips each month is not enough by itself, for you also have to direct potential parents to that point on your website and you have to let them know the benefit for each trip.

So you will need to have a page that says, “Learning Outside the Classroom” and a link to it from the home page.

This simple device works as a way of impressing parents, because most people do see “Learning Outside the Classroom” as a highly beneficial concept. 

This is because what most of us remember most positively about our own school days are the days that stand out – and that often means the days that were different.  The days when we left the school and went elsewhere.

So your log might well include the date, the name of the group (eg Year 10 history students), the place visited, and the reason for the visit.

That’s all it has to be – although you might well want to write a brief introduction at the top of the page into why Learning Outside the Classroom is such an important part in your school’s educational policy.

Obviously you need a school minibus which is modern, safe, and itself a positive advertisement for the school – which is why Benchmark focuses on leasing minibuses.  The policy means that you don’t have to collect the money for the minibus from years of fundraising.  All you have to do is to ensure that you have the monthly leasing fee available – and then you can proceed.

You can find more information on our website or give us a call on 01753 859944.

That is the opening of the statement on school owned minibuses provided by Hampshire Local Authority.  It is clear and to the point and it is unlikely that anyone involved in education would want to disagree.

As such the statement is unremarkable – although it is particularly interesting that the Authority has chosen to write “safe and reliable” at the very start of the document. 

Such an assertion – that the minibus must be safe and reliable in order to be an invaluable resource – is hardly controversial but the fact is that it still needs saying for the simple reason that there are a number of school minibuses in use which are anything but safe and reliable.

The reason for this is not hard to see.  Indeed one only has to look at news stories in local papers which mention school minibuses to understand the situation some schools have got themselves into.

The fact is that most school minibuses are purchased after various dedicated parents and supporters of the school have worked hard to raise the money to buy the bus.

Surely nothing can be wrong with such laudable activity!  And indeed there isn’t anything wrong with fundraising to buy a minibus – until the bus starts showing signs of wear and tear. 

For then the problems can really begin, as it would seem embarrassing to the point of being heartlessness for the school to start raising money all over again to pay for a major overhaul for the bus.  Indeed even a complete set of new tyres might have to be delayed if there is no money available in the budget.

Sadly, the fact is that many schools that do buy a minibus after a huge amount of hardwork by supporters of the school, tend to under-estimate the cost of maintaining the bus once it is over a few years old. 

They then get to the stage where there is neither money to pay for the repairs and maintenance needed, nor the funds to buy a new bus.

However there is a way around the issue, and that is for the school to lease the bus.  In this way the cost of the maintenance of the bus is known week by week, month by month and year by year.  These costs can be built into the school’s budget, and so never come as a surprise.

Better still, everyone knows that when the lifespan of the bus comes to an end a new lease can be taken on, meaning that as and when it wants to, the school can deal with the issue of the aging bus.  Meanwhile the school’s fundraising efforts can be centred elsewhere on other much needed equipment.

If you would like to know more about our leasing options take a look at our website.

Alternatively call us on 01753 859944 or email us at minibus@benchmarkleasing.co.uk

Although it is difficult to find someone who would admit it, when a vehicle has an accident that will cost more than half the cost of the vehicle to repair, insurance companies tend to write the vehicle off.

Generally speaking, many of us do that when our own vehicle has one breakdown too many.  It gets to the stage where there just doesn’t seem any point in going on with the old car, so it is written off, and a new vehicle brought in.

Of course that approach only works if you have the money to buy the new vehicle.  Or if you have been leasing the vehicle.

For this is where vehicle leasing comes into its own.  If your lease deal includes the arrangement whereby the leasing company also services and maintains the vehicle, then the problem is theirs. 

When the vehicle gets too old, they have the job of finding you a new one.  And as for when we think about minibuses, this is pretty much the best solution.  

Put another way…

You drive the minibus, the leasing company does the maintenance.

An unexpected problem occurs, the leasing company sorts it.

The minibus ages somewhat, the leasing company offers to supply a new one.

It is, to my mind, the most efficient and effective method of running a school minibus.  There is no question of having to ask generations of parents to run marathons and climb mountains in order to raise money.  

There is no long delay in getting a replacement bus when needed.  There is no thought of the vehicle suddenly being unavailable because of breakdown or accident.  You just keep using the minibus.

For more information take a look at our website.  Alternatively call us on 01753 859 944 and we’ll talk you through the different options.

This week I typed the phrase “School Minibus” into Google.co.uk and then read through the first six pages of listings that the search engine offered.

Leaving aside the inevitable advertising sites that always dominate any such search results, there were three types of informative article that Google offered links to.

The first and most common listing came from schools detailing how the school minibus is used to help parents do the school run, noting the daily pick up points and timings.   Obviously an important point for schools as a way of saying to parents that their child will be able to get to the school, even if there is no obvious bus route.

The second most common website that was found related to the technicalities of operating a minibus, with such matters as insurance, driver qualification and so forth.  In fact most of these were pretty much non-stories since although there are inevitably some regulations, just as there are for driving a car, there is nothing particularly onerous or unusual. 

Finally there are a couple of stories from newspapers in which schools talk about their fundraising activities across a number of years which have recently resulted in the purchase of a bus.

So what’s missing?

First, I didn’t find any stories talking about how, because of the minibus, the school was able to run certain trips and visits for students, which, without the bus, they could not have organised.  To me that is a rather sad omission. 

Yes, of course, knowing that the school bus will pick up students at the railway station at 7.45am and drive them to school, is very important and encouraging.   But then so is the fact that the students are able to have weekly swimming lessons, or go on field trips.  I felt it would have been good to hear of such activities.

Second, and as I have mentioned before, while some schools offer the stories of heroic multi-year fundraising activities, there is nothing about the fact that the years and years of waiting for the finances to fund a bus can be overcome by leasing the vehicle.

Perhaps the problem is that overall that is not much of a story – although to me it does show that the school knows what’s what in the world of finance.

If you would like to know more about our leasing options take a look at our website.

Alternatively call us on 01753 859944 or email us at minibus@benchmarkleasing.co.uk

Minibuses are expensive, and perhaps you just don’t have the money in your fund, or indeed in any school fund, to buy a new minibus.

Which is why we have introduced the leasing of minibuses to schools.

Through this arrangement we, as the company that leases out the minibus, also take over the maintenance of the minibus and thereby undertake to keep the vehicle fully operational at all times.

A minibus which is leased is simply paid for on a monthly basis, and some schools find it is possible to fund this without taking anything from the school’s capital account.

In those cases where trips are paid for by contributions from parents and the PTA, it is possible to allocate a part of those payments towards the cost of the minibus.

In other cases the minibus can be funded through a small monthly deduction from the school’s income, and sometimes the PTA also agrees to make a monthly contribution.

Not only will a new minibus help the school arrange beyond the classroom activities but it will also be a statement to prospective parents about the breadth and scope of the school’s vision.

Benchmark Leasing specialises in the supply and maintenance of school minibuses. If you are interested in the benefits of a minibus do call us on 01753 859944 or click here to see what we can offer.

A story in a local Northumberland newspaper recently told of a village school whose minibus was stolen. 

The minibus was a vital part of this particular rural school’s life, and its disappearance meant an immediate curtailment of several school activities.

Worse, as the Headteacher commented to the journalist covering the story, “We are insured but the insurance will not by any means cover the value of the bus to us.”

In other words the school was, as a result of the theft, unable to continue with many of its planned activities, and it saw no way of gaining enough money quickly to allow it to buy a new bus.

That bus was owned by the school, and not leased, but it does raise the question as to what would have happened if one of our leased buses had been stolen? 

In fact I have to say that I can’t recall any of our buses ever having been stolen. Indeed the fact that the school had insurance that would not cover the cost of a new bus suggests that the vehicle in question was quite old. 

This raises an important point, for security systems in minibuses have improved dramatically over recent years, which probably explains why that school’s bus was targeted.

So the theft of a recent model is much less likely than the theft of an old model, but if it were to happen to one of our leased minibuses, then we would deal directly with the school’s insurance company, taking quite a large administrative load away from the school.

What’s more we generally have some stock for urgent situations and would be able to supply a replacement within 7-10 days in most cases.  We also have a daily rental facility that could supply a stop-gap vehicle within 4 working hours.

The supply of a bus within a few hours however does come at an extra cost, but it is normally possible for schools to be able to get this cost covered within their vehicle insurance policy.

There’s more information on our website.  Alternatively call us on 01753 859944.

It is a sad fact that some methods of purchasing are deemed more newsworthy than others.

For example, if you type “school minibus” into Google and then click on the News option at the foot of the page, you will be taken to a range of stories about schools that are raising money to buy a school minibus.

There are tales of teachers doing a sponsored run to raise money for the bus, PTAs working for years raising money and so forth. 

And although the stories are all about great deeds and hard work, what lies behind these headlines are years and years of students not having a resource that could really improve the quality of education (especially learning outside the classroom) that they receive.

What you will struggle to find, should you ever be inclined to do this sort of search, is any story that talks of a school that discusses the idea of having a school minibus, sets up the details, and then a couple of weeks later, takes delivery.

Of course you could argue that this is because no schools achieve this.  No school can decide to have a minibus and then go and get it.

And yet this does happen, and its occurrence is increasingly common.  For a growing percentage of schools choose to lease their minibus rather than buy it.

The prime benefit of course is that you get your new minibus now, rather than after years of fundraising. 

What’s more, if you are doing fundraising in order to pay for part or all of the leasing cost, parents become much more willing to give for the simple reason that they know the money they give will be for a minibus that their children will be using – rather than one that will only be purchased in years to come.

Of course the newspapers won’t like it.  “Ely school has just £1000 to go” as the Cambridge News put it or “Braithwaite minibus appeal gets yet another big boost from fundraise” as the Keighley Times wrote, are the sort of headlines papers insist on running.

“School signs form to lease minibus; delivery next week” is not going to make it past any editor.

However the truth of the matter is that leasing is by far the best option for most schools.  If you would like to see the details, and talk about how you can arrange to have a minibus up and running within weeks, please do call us on 01753 859944, visit our website or email us at minibus@benchmarkleasing.co.uk

Of course, it is possible that you absolutely adore keeping a check on the roadworthiness of the school minibus.  Or it might be the case that someone else has taken the job on and is doing the checks for you.

If either case is true, then I’d like to offer my congratulations – because the truth of the matter is that in most schools looking after the minibus is actually listed within the school’s risk assessment as being down to your department.

But if you are the person with whom the buck stops, there is something you can do the lessen the load.

First off, it is fairly obvious that the newer the minibus, the less likely there is to be a problem.  But, as we all know, few schools have the money to buy a new minibus – hence the ageing fleet.

However, where a minibus is leased the huge upfront payment for a new bus disappears.  And. what’s more, there is an second benefit.  And it is this…

Maintenance and servicing, (including tyres, clutch, battery, etc) can be covered within a leasing agreement. 

So you get a double benefit.  A new minibus, which is less likely to have problems plus the option of having a professional undertake all the standard maintenance and servicing.

This effectively reduces the onus that is put on the person who is nominated in the school’s transport policy to look after the minibus.  Indeed, it was to overcome issues and difficulties such as this that we introduced full maintenance as part of our minibus leasing. 

Not only do the schools that use our service get a new minibus without having to use current capital to buy it, they also get our certification that the bus has been checked by qualified engineers.

Given that the majority of school minibuses on the road are over five years old, this approach can be particularly valuable.

If you would like to know more take a look at our website – www.minibusleasing.co.uk/school-minibus.php. 

Alternatively email us at Minibus@benchmarkleasing.co.uk or call us on 01753 859 944.

Consider the parents’ evening. Consider the open day when prospective new parents visit the school. Consider the school minibus.

Now at first sight there may not seem to be much that links the school minibus with the days when parents and prospective parents are in your school.

But if you’ve got a smart, clean minibus with the school’s logo on the side parked just beyond the door that the parents will enter, you are making quite a statement.  A statement that says, “this school is involved in the education of the whole child – we go beyond the classroom.”

Of course, it is possible to go a lot further.  Having got your smart and clean minibus in the car park, the next thing you should ensure you do is have a picture of it (with students inside, waving – but obviously not leaning – out of the windows) and put that in the prospectus.

You can put the minibus on your website too – indeed it is increasingly common to feature the minibus with students on the home page of the website. 

What such pictures say is, “This school is adventurous.  This school has activities beyond the classroom.  This school lays on extra-curricular activities.”  Of course, to you it might just be a picture of a minibus with students in it, but still it does carry all these messages.

And, as always, if the picture clearly shows the bus with the school’s crest and name on the side, so much the better.

Next, in both the printed prospectus and on the website you can put further information concerning the use of the bus, the clubs and lessons that benefit from it, and so forth.

Of course, if your minibus is rather old and looking the worse for wear (or indeed if you don’t yet have a minibus) there is a problem – but it is easily one that can be overcome.

Because there is no need to save school funds to buy a minibus.  The easiest route forward is to lease the minibus.  In this way you get the funding  spread over a number of years plus the bus serviced on a regular basis.

If you’d like to know more about leasing a minibus for your school do take a look at our website at www.minibusleasing.co.uk/school-minibus.php

If you would like more information please email us at Minibus@benchmarkleasing.co.uk or call us on 01753 859 944.

If, however, you would like to go back and read our past commentaries these are on www.minibusleasingblog.co.uk/

Schools lease minibuses in order to get their students from one place to another – that goes without saying.

But it is sometimes easy to forget that the minibus will always be available to play a second part in the school’s life – that of publicity.

The most obvious element in this is the fact that it is possible to put the school’s name and logo on the sides of the bus.  If the bus looks clean, modern and smart (as of course it will if you lease a minibus) then whenever and wherever the bus is seen in your neighbourhood, it is an advert for the school.

Quite simply it says, “this school has a quality minibus”.  (It says “quality” because many people equate quality with cleanliness.  They shouldn’t do, but they do).

 However that is only the start.  Having got your minibus on the road, the next thing you should ensure you do is have a picture of it (with students in it, waving out of the windows) and put that in the prospectus. 

 On your website there is the opportunity to have several pictures of the minibus in use. 

 What these pictures say is, “This school is adventurous.  This school has activities beyond the classroom.  This school lays on extra-curricula activities.”  Of course it is just a picture of a minibus with students in it, but still it does carry all these messages.

 If the picture clearly shows the bus with the school’s crest and name on the side, so much the better.

 Next, in both the printed prospectus and on the website you can put further information concerning the use of the bus, the clubs and lessons that benefit from it, and so forth.

 All of this differentiates your school not just from the school that doesn’t have a minibus, but from the schools that have a minibus but don’t make much out of the fact.

 In short, all you have to do is four things.  

1. Keep the bus clean, so when it is seen out and about it is a credit to your school.
2. Put the logo and name on the bus, so everyone can recognise the school from the bus.
3. Take pictures of the bus with students looking cheerful.
4. Use the pictures on your web site and in the prospectus

And then, having done all that, you move on to the next stage, which involves having the bus parked in a prominent position on open days and parents evenings, so it can be seen, send press releases to the local paper each time the bus is used for a particular special activity, and mention the bus when prospective parents are being shown round the school.

In short, your bus becomes a primary marketing tool for the school.