school bus pass refused, any ideas?

*Twinkle*

my son had a bus pass last year, ive just applied for a new one and have been refused because we have moved house and live too far away from the school, i am being told to either pay for a "megarider" which is £33 for 4 weeks, or have him change school to one closer.the school he is at now is the best in the whole area, he has settled in brilliantly (which i worried about as he is a very sensitive lad) he's in all the top sets and the teachers speak very highly of him and i have no intention of moving him from there but i cant afford the extra cost of the bus pass.
i was told i could appeal but the chances are very slim of winning it...........the 3 closest schools to our home now aren't even half decent, always in the papers for low standards, bullying, bad ofsted reports ect, one had to close down and re-start again under a different name but is still no better. Any idea's on how i could attempt to win the appeal?

Mupette

We had to get a school bus pass last year when we moved.

Pointers that got this for us is...
I am disabled and so the move was a forced move for my needs
DS was in yr 10 nearing the end and had one more year left at school and they didnt want to disrupt so late in the school.. ie study and exams etc...

refused this year, he goes back to school to start 6th form but aparently has to make his own way there, even though the school has yet to still publish details on applying for the replacement EMA so he can get funding

JodyBPM

£33 for 4 weeks doesn't seem very expensive to me? £1.65 a day or 83p for each single journey...

I wouldn't move your son from the school that he is settled in tbh, it sounds like a good school and he sounds like he is thriving there. I would swallow the £1.65 a day, and make cut backs in other, less important areas assuming he is not close enough to be able to walk.

delain

I do feel your pain Twinkle. For a whole host of reasons my lot go to a non catchment school. I pay £152 a month :eek: to get them there and back on the bus.

ETA I was told not to bother applying for school transport as it is 'my choice' to send them to the other school. If I were to apply for it I'd be told to change their schools, despite the detrimental effect that would have on them!

j.e.j.

If the appeal is not successful, could he perhaps cycle to school, in order to save money on fares? (providing there's somewhere safe to keep the bike!)

Plans_all_plans

There is no way on earth I'd take my child out of a fab school where they'd settled for the sake of £33 a month. I would cut my shopping bill down, get rid of my mobile, not buy any non-essentials in order to get the money together.

Alternatively, I'd contact the school directly about it. Tell them how much you were paying before you moved and ask if there is any way they'd be able to make up the difference. At my school (which was a private school, so it might be different for state schools) there was a fund for people whose parents would struggle with schools essentials i.e cost of travel, uniform, school trips.

elvis86

Plans_all_plans wrote: »

There is no way on earth I'd take my child out of a fab school where they'd settled for the sake of £33 a month. I would cut my shopping bill down, get rid of my mobile, not buy any non-essentials in order to get the money together.

Alternatively, I'd contact the school directly about it. Tell them how much you were paying before you moved and ask if there is any way they'd be able to make up the difference. At my school (which was a private school, so it might be different for state schools) there was a fund for people whose parents would struggle with schools essentials i.e cost of travel, uniform, school trips.

Surely this is a bit of a contradiction, unless I've understood incorrectly?!:D

Whilst I sympathise with the OP, I'm afraid I agree with other posters, £33 per month isn't that much so I'd make the necessary cuts elsewhere.

In fairness, funding for a free bus pass has to come from somewhere and a line has to be drawn or else funding for other things would have to be forfeited.

Another way of looking at it is that you're lucky that your son gets to attend the better school despite you having moved out of the catchment area.

Plans_all_plans

elvis86 wrote: »

Surely this is a bit of a contradiction, unless I've understood incorrectly?!:D

Haha!! I'll explain it a bit better: my friend's dad had a high flying job, but was made redundant one summer, so they paid for her lunches, travel and uniform until he found another job. They also allowed them to defer paying the school fees.

In my parent's case, I was on a scholarship, my sister was on a bursary and there was no way they could have afforded some of the GCSE field trips, uniform etc without the fund existing. Others of my friends were on assisted places and their parents were also likely to need financial help at points. Mind you, you had to submit a whole lot of paperwork, like bank statements etc in order to prove you actually NEEDED help at the point at which you were asking for it.

vax2002

Post the rules or qualification required on the application form.

DaisyFlower

You are very unlikely to win an appeal. If you choose to send your child to a school out of catchment then transport costs are down to the parent.

If he cant cycle or lift share, then you'll have to accomodate the cost in with your budget. You'll be getting child benefit and poss tax credits for him which are meant to help with the costs of children.

The school are very unlikely to pay the travel costs from their own budget as it doesnt always cover the basics let alone fund somebodies choice.

joolsybools

How far away is he from school? If its 5 miles or less then cycling should be the best option. Your local authority may provide cycling lessons for on road cycling.