School transport

sunnyone

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Sorry, had to run out earlier. As I said, contact the education transport section of your council. You could also speak to someone who deals with statements for advice. As your daughter has a statement, when it is updated to name her secondary school, you should be able to get transport for her.

If there are others who live close enough to you and attend the same school, your daughter might be on a minibus or in a shared taxi. Otherwise, if she is the only child in the area who needs special transport for that school, she is likely to be in a taxi on her own - the taxi driver will have enhanced CRB Disclosure and it is likely to be the same driver every day.

Transition does start in year 5 for children with statements. You should have a regular review, followed by a transition review (my son's primary tried to get away with just a transition review, but an inclusion oficer attended at my request and the SENCO was told, quite clearly, that she could not adjust the rules to suit herself). In the reviews, mention that you have concerns about transport and what is expected - this should then be minuted and acted upon.

Also, don't just accept that the nearest mainstream school iss the right one for your daughter. Have a look at any that are reasonable to get to. I made the decision for my son to go from mainstream primary into a special school when he went into year 7 - he wouldn't have managed in mainstream secondary. However, I know of other children who have not gone into special school, but who attend a school that is best for their needs - and it isn't always the nearest school. Somebody I know lives about half a mile from a mainstream secondary school, with a good reputation for children with autism - it has a special unit, but the pupils join mainstream pupils in art, PE, etc. She looked at this school, among others, but did not feel that it was the right school for her son. She had decided on special school, but was advised by Parent Partnership to look round a school on the other side of town, about five or six miles away. The child now attends that school and has a taxi provided each day.

Thankyou for saying much of what I wanted to without my dodgy mind tonight, Im trying to think but Im on overload......................

wheezy

Thank you so much for the very positive response and information. I will feel stronger fighting her corner now.
We will now have a look around the other schools and see what they are like.
I am so relieved I can't tell you. Thank you again :A

carlislelass

neighbour has a son with DS, they have two cars{one is a motobility}, special needs school is in the next street but he still gets special transport. is this fair?

stroodes

If your daughter is getting dla, isn't this meant to go towards help. If she is not getting dla perhaps she should.

24skins

carlislelass wrote: »

neighbour has a son with DS, they have two cars{one is a motobility}, special needs school is in the next street but he still gets special transport. is this fair?

We live five minutes from my son's special school and he still goes on transport, he also receives HRM although I use this for taxis rather than a Motability vehicle. In our case it's school policy to transport all pupils - 20 of the 68 children attending the school are wheelchair users and the school only has one entrance (for obvious reasons), having 20 WAVs + 50 other vehicles every morning would be a logistical nightmare, so they use 7 escorted minibuses instead. It's not ideal for me as a working parent (it's an inflexible arrangement, he's picked up and dropped off at the time they determine), but I fail to see how it's unfair to anyone.

bribri_2

It's not ideal for me as a working parent (it's an inflexible arrangement, he's picked up and dropped off at the time they determine), but I fail to see how it's unfair to anyone.

I hope you don't mind but I am really cross on your behalf. It is unfair on you. Probably a waste of resources as well. So it is unfair on council taxpayers. Most importantly it is probably unfair on the child as they are lose some autonomy about travel to school.

It suggests to me that the school rather than creating a transport plan have worked things to suit themselves. It is unlikely that all parents will want to bring the child themselves so they only need to make arrangements for a few. Is this a city school or more rural?

24skins

bribri wrote: »

I hope you don't mind but I am really cross on your behalf. It is unfair on you. Probably a waste of resources as well. So it is unfair on council taxpayers. Most importantly it is probably unfair on the child as they are lose some autonomy about travel to school.

It suggests to me that the school rather than creating a transport plan have worked things to suit themselves. It is unlikely that all parents will want to bring the child themselves so they only need to make arrangements for a few. Is this a city school or more rural?

I disagree - what would be unfair is if an exception was made just for me and my son - there are 67 other sets of parents in the same boat as me, with as many commitments as me, who would feel most put out if the rules they have to abide by were bent for my one child. The bus that picks him up would pass my house daily anyway, so there is no massive taxpayer drain and he would be unable to attend school independently so that isn't an issue either.

In answer to your question it is one of only two (soon to be one) freestanding special schools in Aberdeen City and children are transported from up to an hour away, we just happen to live in the same area. He's attended special ed since the age of 3 and has always been on transport so I'm well used to it by now - in my circumstances it's restricting, but for those that live half-an-hour or an hour away it's one/two hours extra childcare for free. Swings and roundabouts, as they say...

SingleSue

Be careful though Wheezy, both youngest and middle sons are statemented, with both it was decided that the out of catchment high school was more suited to their needs (by the LEA, advisory teacher and the outreach teacher from the specialist autism school), yet when it came to it, transport was refused as we had chosen an out of catchment school!

It's not so bad now that they are both in the same school but when one was in one school and another one 5 miles away and both had to be there at the same time, it was a wee bit of a headache.

Mind you, youngest didn't take well to transport when he was in the specialist autism school for a couple of terms, so much so that alternative arrangements had to be made and eventually, when it became unworkable, a return to the unit attached to his mainstream school. Middle son however, was brilliant with the transport to his specialist unit before he returned to mainstream education in year 6.

wheezy

Thanks Singlesue. Eldest daughter goes to a different secondary school out of catchment and we already know that they won't transport there. That school has also said that they have no other children with similar needs and no experience.
Yes we could use dla whilst we are in receipt of it (hrc and lrm).
We have now been told that we should look at a mainstream school 15 miles away that's set up for children with medical needs. It has a very poor Ofsted compared to other school and lots of reports of behaviour issues. We shall visit in the new year and see. I have been told that if they directed us to that then they would transport. 15 miles seems a long way everyday though.

SingleSue

15 miles sounds a very long way, especially if you are needed to be there quickly, you would really need to make sure they would be providing transport (they said transport would be provided to me as they had decided where they would be best placed but when it came to it, they decided it wouldn't be.....appeal was put in but still a no)

Another word of advise, visit as many schools as you can, not just for the special needs provision but also for the layout of the building, is it escape proof etc...I did this for youngest as he struggles to cope with more than just the education side of things, the layout of the building was just as important. With middle son, it had already been decided that the catchment high school would be completely unsuitable due to his problems during primary school and the children who would be attending...plus the fact the school said "No way!"

As it is, the school they both attend has been excellent even if the early days were stressful in regards to transport, I still have the drive every morning and evening (plus all the other times when I am called to the school - my average for school runs is 100 miles a week) and it can get very eek during the more adverse weather but it has been worth it.

It does mean however, that I must have a car as public transport is rather spotty to say the least from here to there and costs an absolute fortune (did it for one week when my car was off the road and one day of school runs cost me more than fuel did for a week in my car!)