Managing 200 students across nine daily bus routes was a nightmare for Pinehurst School in Auckland. With no real-time visibility, reception staff were overwhelmed by anxious parent calls, temporary drivers were hard to manage, and some students were even riding without paying. The school was running blind until they discovered RollCall's comprehensive bus management system. Within two years, they've transformed their operations from reactive chaos to proactive control, reducing staff stress, eliminating reception bottlenecks, and giving parents the real-time information they desperately wanted. "It's the first piece of software I've had that exceeds my expectations," says Business Manager Jon Horne. Discover how RollCall helped Pinehurst turn their biggest operational headache into their smoothest daily process.
Established over a decade ago, RollCall is a groundbreaking school bus management system purpose-built with the safety of children at its core. Leveraging the latest technology, RollCall ensures seamless tracking of student movements on and off buses during daily commutes, school excursions and multi-day camps.
RollCall delivers real-time visibility to parents, school staff and bus drivers. Offering peace of mind that our most precious cargo is safe at every stage of the journey.
Our platform is trusted by schools across Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia. Notably, RollCall has proudly served New Zealand independent schools for more than six years, building lasting partnerships grounded in reliability and care.
One of those are Pinehurst School in Auckland. Pinehurst School is a private co-educational school catering to around 1,000 students from Year 1 through to Year 13. Pinehurst prides itself on delivering a strong academic offering alongside a supportive, well-structured learning environment.
With an average of 200 students using school transport daily, Pinehurst operates nine bus routes, varying from 30 minutes to an hour. While transport is well managed, staffing can be unpredictable, with temporary drivers sometimes required to fill in – adding complexity to an already dynamic situation.
Previously, managing this setup relied on manual processes: spreadsheets, scattered notes, and a lot of back-and-forth between the school and transport providers. Pinehurst had no real-time visibility over where buses were or which students were onboard, leaving staff in a reactive position when things didn’t go to plan.
Pinehurst’s transport operations were running blind. Without a centralised or real-time system, the school relied on manual workarounds and fragmented communication, putting pressure on staff and creating daily disruptions no one had time for.
· Bus live location was mostly invisible, making it difficult to respond quickly to concerned parents.
· Reception was overwhelmed during morning delays, as late-arriving students had to report before going to class.
· Communication between school staff, parents, and bus drivers was inconsistent and time-consuming.
· Some students were using the bus service without paying, due to weak verification processes.
· Temporary drivers were difficult to manage and support under the existing system.
“I used to get a lot of calls from parents,” says Jon Horne, Business Manager at Pinehurst School. “They’d always assume the bus had left without their child. The bus could have come early, it was usually running late, but the assumption was always, ‘They’ve missed it.”
With limited visibility over bus movements, staff were constantly fielding calls and chasing updates. The school needed a way to reduce the administrative load on reception, streamline communication between all stakeholders, and provide families with real-time information, without adding more work for staff.
When they discovered RollCall, it ticked all the boxes.
RollCall was the first school-based system that brought all the elements together. It offered full visibility over every route and student, with a simple interface that made daily use intuitive for staff. Communication became seamless, with the ability to message the relevant families when delays or issues arose.
Importantly, RollCall removed the anxiety around student whereabouts. If a child wasn’t where they were meant to be, the system could immediately confirm whether they were on the bus or not, eliminating worst-case scenarios.
Unlike other solutions that focused solely on vehicle tracking, RollCall delivered an end-to-end bus management system that brought everything into one platform. There was no need for expensive hardware or complex installation. It was a flexible, mobile-first solution that worked from day one, moving with whoever was doing the run.
“It’s the first piece of software I’ve had that exceeds my expectations. It’s awesome. I love it.” - Jon Horne, Business Manager at Pinehurst School
At Pinehurst, RollCall is ingrained in the school’s daily operations. Each morning, the system is launched on a large screen in Jon’s office for an immediate overview of all active bus routes. This quick snapshot confirms that services are running smoothly. In the event of a delay or disruption, Jon can notify reception and teaching staff. When a bus broke down before starting its route, parents were informed in advance, before their children even left home.
The impact has been significant:
· Reduced stress and improved staff confidence.
· Eased daily administrative workload.
· Reduced reception bottlenecks.
· The easy-to-use platform led to quick adoption and increased productivity.
· The team gained greater operational control with real-time transport information.
· Enhanced safety – the school is now confident that every student using the service is properly accounted for.
· Increased revenue.
“My first response to any parent when they’re asking about the buses now is, ‘Have you downloaded the app?” says Jon. “Because that tells you exactly where the buses are at any one point.” And the parents who have, love using it.
The onboarding experience was another highlight. The RollCall team supported Pinehurst throughout the roll-out, helping map routes, streamline implementation, and offering proactive, responsive support from day one.
Having been using RollCallfor nearly two years, Jon can’t imagine life without it. For schools still relying on spreadsheets and manual processes, Jon’s advice is, “Just get RollCall and make your life a lot easier.”
The friendly team at RollCall are available to share more great resources just like this and answer any questions you might have about simplifying your school’s transport operations. Don’t hesitate to give us a call on +64 9872 0302 or email Amanda at amanda.rottura@rollcall.com.au
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