Ds year 7 school transport from LA.

[Boshboshbish]

Ds starts year 7 sen school tomorrow. He's pretty nervous. Just trying to keep it calm for him and not make it a big deal keep it positive. Just been saying to him you get to come home early on a frday. Theres no home work. I'm really worried he won't like it. Hopefully he will.

I haven't even told his father because he's an arse hole.

I applied for transport for him but because we are under 3 miles away. There has to be some sort of assessment. Whilst I travel with him. I don't really understand how that works. He would be totally different with me compared to alone.

It will be because of the 3 mile rule they would expect you to drive him. It's the same across the country unfortunately.

I don't drive. But yeah in general I know that. I'm just woundering about the assessment bit. Not sure how they decide if hes capable if I'm with him

Each council will have different rules unfortunately. You can get round the 3 miles but it is difficult.

I think my op was written badly. Ds is going to a sen school. Because we live within 3 miles. The LA want to do some kind of assessment. To decide if he gets transport I think maybe watch? That's all I can think of. But he would very totally different if I'm there so I don't understand how it works because of the fact I'm with him.

What are they expecting him to do? Travel to the sen school via public transport alone?

It says this.

Due to your child not meeting the distance requirement from home to school, panel have decided that an observation needs to be carried out. The observation will entail your child travelling to school accompanied by an adult either via walking or taking public transport.

It said this in the email. I don't really get how it works if hes with an adult he's not doing it on his own.

Ah they are saying basically they expect you to take him to school and pick him up, hence why doing the assessment with him. If he behaves "fine" then they won't award a taxi, if he kicks off or whatever then they will. Its basically giving them a get out of jail free card.

I don’t know if this will help you, but it doesn’t hurt to have a read through it, and if you feel the LA are acting unfairly then you could possibly take it further. If you feel he has the right to transport after reading it then maybe contact you local MP for help.

https://www.ipsea.org.uk/news/home-to-school-transport-understanding-your-rights

Yeah i get that i just don't know how. Because I'm worh him =no worries

I'm not with him = panick. So how would they see that side.

Thank you that's really helpful.i guess I have to wait for them to do their observation first and take it from there.

Surely though they are seeing if he can be taken by you on public transport or walking? If he manages it fine with you then that’s what they’ll expect you to do. If not then they’ll provide transport so he can get there.

How far are you from the school OP? Is it within walking distance?

Are you saying you don’t want to be taking him to/from school and that’s why you want transport?

I have my own difficulties. But I don't want to get into that. I'm just trying to understand how they observe

They probably want you to get an Uber or taxi to take him yourself. Councils are cutting budgets.

I don't know how they'll observe, but it was watching from a distance, I guess they need an adult known to him to cover themselves for safe guarding purposes.

An awful lot of children around here have been walking three miles to school since primary (a massive village, which transport doesn't cover every angle). If you really want him to get the funding, encourage him to walk (unless he needs walking aids and can't). That way, they can see it at the worst case scenario, ie can he walk that within a reasonable amount of time. While doing it, encourage him to make observations himself before crossing the street and perhaps say 'goodbye' to him around the corner so they can see how he copes going through school grounds on his own and into the school - this is something that's going to happen every day if he hasn't got transport, so they may as well see it how it could be.

SEN or not, keeping it calm and exciting is the best way to move forward. Crossing the road, going into school on his own, suggest a minute or so before, so he hasn't got too long to think about it - maybe suggest he shows you so you can see how much he's growing up.

It really annoys me how councils hide behind the completely irrelevant 3 mile rule for SEND transport.

we had transport and dc is just over a mile from school - still had to appeal despite the same council having issued him a Blue Badge.

What would the route to school be? Why can’t you travel it with him? This is what they will ask and what they will look at.

My SEN child attends a placement over 10 miles away and I have to drive him there and back everyday. It’s a commitment but it’s worth it so they can access education. The plan is that they will eventually access public transport (I’ll still have to drive to the bus stop) and it’s built into their ECHP that we are working on road safety and independence. There is no way they could currently safely walk next to and cross roads unsupervised let alone use public transport.

But it is clearly detailed into the ECHP that we are aiming for independence but it will take longer than a NT child to achieve.

It's not only about the actual travel. He's scared of roads. But he will not show it outwardly. Then there's panic if he was to miss the stop. He wouldn't know what to do even after explaining. He would possibly stay on the bus till end of route or get of at a random stop,or if a bus stop is closed on diversion. On top of that its 2 buses to get there. Plus he could be vunerble around strangers.

The statutory walking distance doesn’t apply if DC cannot reasonably be expected to walk to school.

It will help you to read the government’s transport guidance and the legislation around transport. It will also help to read some of the articles from when the previous version of the government’s transport policy was introduced because there is some discrepancies between the legislation and the guidance particularly around accompaniment. It is possible to challenge LAs where they refuse because parents can accompany DC.

Do you have evidence to support your transport application?

I will look into it.
No the only thing I have is a support type letter from primary senco.

Does the EP report not mention anything? Has DS not had an OT assessment? What about SALT and a clinical psychologist?

By ep? Do you mean ehcp? No it doesn't say much it only talks about inside of school about his learning what support he needs. And his communication. Clinical psychologist was about about around years ago.

Sorry, EP is educational psychologist. It sounds like further assessments would help DS in general. You can raise this during the next annual review process.

It is possible to secure transport without evidence from the professionals I mention, but sometimes such evidence can be helpful when applying for transport.

Only thing i have is this.