Harrogate Bus Company's free online teaching idea during lockdown

Bus operator Transdev, which runs The Harrogate Bus Company, has now come up with its very own unique answer - Transdev Teach - a colourful world of fun and fact-finding guaranteed to engage growing minds and instantly available free online.

The nation’s hard-pressed parents are finding out the hard way what it takes to keep children entertained and learning at the same time, as Britain prepares to enter week three of its Coronavirus lockdown.

Transdev Teach is already offering creative youngsters the chance to build their very own bus city, with life-like 3D buildings, roads (and, of course, buses) available for parents to download and print for their children to enjoy creating a fantasy world of fun.

The bus operator has also been working closely with teaching experts to offer an ever-expanding selection of quizzes, word searches and factsheets, to encourage children to find answers and have fun at the same time.

The first subject is electricity – all in honour of the company’s pioneering Harrogate Electrics buses in the famous Yorkshire spa town.

The Harrogate Bus Company CEO Alex Hornby said: “As a parent myself I know it takes a lot to keep youngsters entertained and interested in learning.

"With schools closed for all except key workers and normal learning at a standstill, we wanted to go the extra mile and offer parents a helping hand.

“We’re now working with teaching experts and renowned UK design agency Best Impressions to offer Transdev Teach, with amazing support from teachers to make sure everything we do helps children to learn.

"And the whole family can join in - it’s designed for kids but made for adults to get creative, too.

“We know families can’t just hop on our buses and head to the city, seaside or countryside right now, so we’re bringing them into homes across the North. Parents can go onto our bus company websites at any time and download our Transdev Teach packs – we’ve made them printer friendly and easy to download and use.

“Already we have six different packs of materials to download from our websites, with more to come. starting with a chance to‘Build Your Own Bus City – and we’ll give prizes to the best creations shared with us on social media, using the hashtag #TransdevTeach.”

Harrogate district pub which ignored lockdown hit with prohibition notice

Further packs in the Transdev Teach series will see youngsters finding out more about the world on their own doorstep.

For example, in Harrogate where the bus firm’s electric buses are at the heart of everyday life, families can follow a timeline all the way from the year 600BC to today to discover A Shocking History of Electricity.

Wordsearches, colouring packs and factsheets are all being made available to download free to feed inquisitive young minds with all they need to learn and have fun – with dedicated learning materials tailor-made for six areas of Yorkshire and Lancashire served by Transdev’s buses.

Visit https://www.transdevbus.co.uk/harrogate to find out more about Transdev Teach, alongside up to date bus services information and advice for travel during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Yorkshire tourist chief's plea to support Harrogate's b & bs and small businesses

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you