Missed out on free school bus pass by 0.1 miles

Hammyman

SuziQ wrote: »

I must be a helicopter mum as none of my children have walked to school alone-and that only being 3 streets-until they were in their last year of juniors at around 10 and a half or so

You must live in a really rough area. Around here, its not uncommon for year 4 and 5 pupils to walk themselves to and from school.

Half_Price_Sky

She's just got back from her first day, apparently she loved it! She said the bus only cost 50p each way which at least cushions the blow somewhat as the local Arriva and Stagecoach buses are usually £1 for a child single and I was expecting this to be similar.

The local PTE Merseytravel does weekly passes for around £7.50 and term time passes for about £74 but I think it will still work out cheaper paying the driver every day.

We're still going to lodge an appeal as the worst they can do is say no again. On the direct.gov site it does mention that the distance is measured by "walking distance" rather than as the crow flies.

I was thinking of printing off the Michelin map which lists the walking distance as 3.0 miles and attaching it to the appeal form. I will also request for them to explain exactly how they make their measurements.

How would we go about getting them to measure the distance with a surveyors wheel?

Her mum is in receipt of DLA but she gets that for her younger son and not the daughter in question. Would that matter? I didn't notice anything in the qualifying criteria that mentioned DLA anyway. We live together and I work full time and that normally excludes us from most hand outs.

I wouldn't be happy with her riding her bike to school. At least not yet. There are a lot of busy roads round our way. If she wants to cycle in another couple of years time we may reconsider it then.

In answer to one of the other questions yes she is traveling alone. The bus stop is virtually opposite the house. I persuaded her mum to let her get the bus by herself once a week for her final term at primary school just to get her used to it.

Anubis_2

SuziQ wrote: »

I'm sorry if I am making an assumption here as you don't state this except when discussing the safety of her walking past a park, but is she going to be travelling alone at that age? I must be a helicopter mum as none of my children have walked to school alone-and that only being 3 streets-until they were in their last year of juniors at around 10 and a half or so (to get them used to making their own way to secondary as none wanted mum to accompany them there!)My ex used to run free school transport for a local authority and all the appeals there used to be dealt with by the education department, but he said in his experience it was rare for anyone to win an appeal.I don't know about now, but they used to use a sort of template to put over the map which showed who was in/out of the qualifying area-maybe you could ask how they measured the distance as a
starting point to lodging your appeal as it may not be a fair method depending on the area you are living in.

Does the school organise a 'walking bus' or could you maybe start one yourselves? My son's school has a couple of those going from different
directions, with a rota for parents to supervise and it works well and the kids
love it.

I a presuming the child is 11 since they have started secondary school. Only the letter stipulates the rules are from 8 years of age, not that the actual child is 8 who this concerns.

I do think the set age of 8 years old though is a bit low, it really should start from secondary school.

thriftychick

I would be interested to know how much everyone has to pay for their bus passes to secondary school.

My children are both at secondary school (it is our nearest but not our catchment school). We have to apply each year for a non entitled bus pass which this year went up, with no warning, by 33% to £600 each. If I wanted to pay by installments as I have done previously, it would have cost a further £200 for the year. So I had to pay the full £1,200 in one go.

Fiver29

paddedjohn wrote: »

AFAIK the distance will be measured 'as the crow flies' so you are probably well too close to appeal successfully using that method.

No they changed the 'as the crow flies' rule. We are 0.1 miles short too. I used to buy a bus pass for DS, but after about 3 months he decided he wanted to walk with his friends anyway. And now DD has gone this year she's walking too.

Sixer

It's £500 for sixth form bus passes in our area. No more to pay by instalments and I think it was £470 if paid in one go. I went with paying per term. Certain benefits passport a 50% discount (I think income JSA, income ESA and IS, but don't quote me).

kingfisherblue

thriftychick wrote: »

I would be interested to know how much everyone has to pay for their bus passes to secondary school.

My children are both at secondary school (it is our nearest but not our catchment school). We have to apply each year for a non entitled bus pass which this year went up, with no warning, by 33% to £600 each. If I wanted to pay by installments as I have done previously, it would have cost a further £200 for the year. So I had to pay the full £1,200 in one go.

My son gets a free bus pass to school as I am on benefits (carer for my older son, who is disabled) and in St. Helens, this qualifies for a free pass if living over two miles away. If he didn't get a free pass, it would be 50p each way and i think this is the standard amount on all school buses in the area.

Half_Price_Sky, a weekly pass will work out £2.50 a week cheaper. This term there are fourteen weeks, so if you paid 50p a day, it would cost £140 a term. You would pay just over half that if you bought the term time pass at £74.

looby75

thriftychick wrote: »

I would be interested to know how much everyone has to pay for their bus passes to secondary school.

£240 per term (can't be used in school holidays) so £720 for 39 weeks travel. The council used to contribute £80 towards the cost per term but thats stopped now so it's the full £240 per term to find

sunnyone

looby75 wrote: »

£240 per term (can't be used in school holidays) so £720 for 39 weeks travel. The council used to contribute £80 towards the cost per term but thats stopped now so it's the full £240 per term to find

Looby, now the council has changed the rules on spare places my friend has to pay £87 per term to get from the sticks into Durham, its 6 miles each way, how does that equate to how much you pay per mile?

looby75

sunnyone wrote: »

Looby, now the council has changed the rules on spare places my friend has to pay £87 per term to get from the sticks into Durham, its 6 miles each way, how does that equate to how much you pay per mile?

it's a lot less than we have to pay, DD's school is 5 miles each way, but our bus co is arriva which is the most expensive of all the bus cos round Durham. What co is your friends bus pass for?

last year one of dd's friends travelled from consett every day and his pass was less than half of hers even though he had much further to travel :eek: