If your child gets taxi to school - are you in?

[alongaround]

If you need school transport (I'm specifically thinking a taxi really) - do you have to be in when they collect / drop off?

Ds has autism and is really settled now in a SEN school and I really want (and need) to go back to work now. But I can't unless he can be left alone for around 20mins each side of the day and put himself in the taxi (he's more than capable now, 13yo and going into yr9 in September)

Currently I drive him as I haven't been able to work due to his difficulties accessing education in the past.

Can you/do you leave him alone for 20 minutes at other times?

Have you tried chatting to the taxi company? I work for a school were every child not in care arrives by taxi. Some have parents in, some don’t.

Yes you have to have someone to meet the child at the home address. It was usually me but when I was working I had a childminder/nanny at the house. The education transport department have a list of rules eg you are supposed to escort your child to the car.

Im not sure if the child is allowed to go to the taxi on their own as they get older although I can imagine if you get to know the driver and there are no behaviour problems you might be able to come to an agreement.

It is really hard to do around work I found.

My dc always had a chaperone too but I think it depends on the needs of the child.

The taxi companies I’ve used with my DDs won’t drop a child off alone.

Pick up technically they won’t do either, but they’ve certainly taken my elder dd when she went without actually seeing me, but they could probably hear me doing my “you’re going to miss the bus!” morning yelling at her siblings so knew I was there.

Unfortunately the chances to work are massively more limited when you have a child with extra needs because of things like that - no-one would bay an eyelid at a 13 yo being left for 20 mins in other circumstances

Pretty sure you have to be there (or your representative) also if they are capable of being home alone they may question why they are funding a taxi) dd has autism but took the city bus from 11, I put her on it and she walked the 10 metres the other end, end of day the duty teacher ensured she boarded for the first year then she could do it alone. It doesn't take a lot for them to withdraw these sorts of things

My DC is also 13 and autistic. He goes to the taxi and comes in by himself. I'm usually home but the taxi driver wouldn't know. Last year we had a driver who checked once if there was someone to meet him, but only because I was just arriving home with his brother and the driver didn't know it was his brother running up to him and not some random bully. I don't know if this is officially allowed, but they're both sensible teens and I leave them alone for a few hours easily on the weekend, so don't see why I would need to be home for this. Mine is in a resourced provision in mainstream though, maybe a specialist school is different? Can you ask them?

I think you're meant to be there but mine get out the taxi and can let themselves in and no one would know either way.

My 15 year old has a chaperone in the taxi. We still have to be there for pick up and drop though.

There is no public transport to most of the SEN schools round here - they're not on bus routes or near the station.

My daughter is at a SEN school. We use a taxi. The way it works with us (and a couple of other kids) is we order a Uber and it’s paid with a pre paid card that the Borough pays for. I have to travel with her because Uber drivers can literally be anyone.
Others at the school who use taxis it’s a school transport company provided taxi and it’s the same dbs checked named driver each time who has to hand over the child and collect the way a parent would - so the parent doesn’t have to travel to.
You will need to ask your school which method you can use.

There is supposed to be someone in for pickup and drop off, but DS’s drivers never, ever got out of their cars, so wouldn’t have known provided he came out of the door in the mornings and could let himself in in the evenings (they did wait for him to go in the door at dropoff). It does give them problems if one of the DC is late and I’m really not sure what they would do if there was no one home and the DC had forgotten their key.

Being able to be at home alone for a period has no bearing on their eligibility for transport, although I agree councils are always looking for ways to get out of their obligations on this front.

i work in the same school that my son attends. He comes in with me in the morning as I can’t trust he’s get in the taxi! However the taxi does take him home in the afternoon and the only person at home is his younger sister. He gets home about 4pm and I don’t get home until at least 4:30.

As I understand it the parent/carer needs to ensure the child gets into the right car/mini bus and is there when the child returns. I couldn't trust my DC to confidently do this himself so I'm here and work remotely-this has always been the case! I appreciate however this is a tricky situation for some.

To answer some questions,

He is absolutely fine being home alone for up to 2 hours (currently due to his age, that's all I leave him for, I would expect more as he gets older!).

We live close (under 2 miles) so he probably wouldn't be eligible for an LEA funded taxi but they do let you pay for it yourselves through some system. His SEN school is almost 100% LEA contract taxis.

Our only other alternative is to let him walk (it's nearly 2 miles on a really busy road and steep hill - I think he'd struggle quickly with the sensory and physical demands. Or a local bus - he'd have a 5-10 min walk either side, the bus covers the bulk of the busy road and steep hill. It's an option but would need a lot of travel training and something I was considering for when he's a tad older.

Currently I'd prefer a taxi but I guess that may not be an option and I'll need to wait another few (brassic) years before going back to work.

As someone else said, no one would blink an eye at a NT 13yo being home alone for 30mins before school

@alongaround I slightly mis-read and thought you meant be in the taxi with him - not in at home.
Every child at my daughter’s school has an individual transport/going home plan so really you would have to discuss with them. Some do take public transport on their own so the school won’t really know if there is no one home.

Why would they? Being home alone and managing public transport/busy school buses are totally separate things.

The driver and chaperone have to deliver the child home safely. I’m pretty sure it’s in the contract you have to agree to in my local authority.

I mean pass them over to the parent/career safely.

That's an interesting question.

I was always in when he returned but I think I had to go to work very early just once and he nipped out so the escort didn't notice.

We had 10 years of taxis!

In our contract we have to sign to say an adult will be home when they return or social services will be called (!) It's definitely worth checking your contract.