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A school bus driver has lost his job after footage emerged of an expletive-laden rant directed at misbehaving pupils on a school trip.
The unnamed driver threatened to ‘punch’ students from Ark Alexandra Academy in Hastings, East Sussex, if they did not put seatbelts on as they returned from London‘s Science Museum.
Footage from one passenger’s mobile phone also shows the former Wise Coaches employee calling out the secondary school pupils for littering and smoking on the coach.
He can be heard shouting: ‘I mean it, f***ing do it or else you’re getting f***ing punched up.’
The school raised a complaint following the July 11 incident saying it was ‘concerned’ after complaints from staff, students and parents.
A school bus driver (seen in red) has lost his job after footage emerged of an expletive-laden rant directed at misbehaving pupils on a school trip to the Science Museum in London from Ark Alexandra Academy in Hastings, East Sussex
Footage from one passenger’s mobile phone shows the now-former Wise Coaches employee calling out the secondary school pupils for littering and smoking on the coach, and threatening to hit them if they do not do their seatbelts
However, one parent whose child was onboard pointed out there were seven teachers onboard at the time.
Gill Lane told the BBC she was anxious about keeping her children at Ark Alexandra Academy after the incident, ‘because I don’t know if I can trust them to keep them safe’.
She added the the members of staff had ‘failed’ children who were subjected to the rant, saying that her daughter was ‘visibly upset’ when she came home.
Ark Alexandra Academy said that they expect high standards from third party providers, but also from students – both in and out of school.
They added the school takes ‘prompt and appropriate action in line with our behaviour policy’ when its children do not meet said standards.
Nevertheless, Hailsham-based Wise Coaches, which was established 77 years ago, revealed that the driver had ceased to work at the company after incident, despite labelling the children ‘disruptive’.
They expressed their ‘deep regret’ over the incident and condemned their driver’s behaviour.