To feel cross that it's going to cost £120 per month in bus fairs to get my dc's to school

[NotMostPeople]

I have another year to go until DS starts secondary school, but when he does this is what it's going to cost. £2 per day, 3 children. We were just under the distance to qualify for a free bus pass however that's irrelevant now as the free bus pass has been cut for everyone. To be honest we can afford it but I'm sure that there are lots of families who wouldn't be able to and it makes me cross.

People seem to assume just because it is a sen school transport comes free, but that is not always the case as they still have rules for who qualifies.

My son is now 16 and i take him and collect him from his sen school. It is just over 2 miles away down a dual carriage way.

Let's start a MN campaign - free fares to school on public transport.

Pedantic I hear what you're saying but in this area we have a two tiered education system. Surely the top tier should be available to everyone regardless of income?

Also when the eldest child is offered a place in a grammar you don't know if subsequent dcs will also pass the exams so what should families do? Turn down a place just in case?

Since Grammar Schools are supposed to be the great enablers of social mobility it's a bit crap if they are spread far and wide an poorer families can't afford the bus fares. So much for that great theory. And if you live in a grammar area you mibght find that your closest cactchment high school is not actually genjuinely comprehensive - because of the grammar system.

None of this is of the OP's making, and as someone lucky enough to live within easy walking distance of a good comp AND to enjoy free bus travel for under 16s (thank you, successive London mayors) I have huge sympathy for people who have to budget for this cost.

costs me £5.60 per day for DD. thank god its the final year.....then get ready for the college bus.....ha ha ha....just wait!

then uni....DS currently costs me £40 per week in shopping.....£30 if he wants to come home at weekends....

it gets dearer as they get older!

Robyn, i agree. My eldest has two working legs & is perfectly able to get himself to school by foot, bike or bus... so he does.. whatever weather. I'm an old git & had to walk 2 miles to school along a dual carriageway - did me no harm

I drive my youngest to his local primary school, he is disabled, he isnt able to get himself there no matter how short the distance or simple the journey. But he is still only 10. Next yr he goes to SN school.
I will have to do battle with the LEA to fund transport or drive him myself, there simply is no other choice.
But, thats life!

Loveweekends We moved into this house 12 years ago and I remember having the discussion when she was 1 about how convenient it was going to be for her to walk to high school. 5 minutes nice safe streets. You pay your money and make yer choices.

Lucky you that you could afford to buy a house 5 mins from the school

In our LA the buses for the (state maintained) grammar schools are put on by a private company, and parents have to buy into it.

cantspel- it's completely unfair that a child with SEN attending a school that can meet their needs of any distance should have to self-fund transport IMO. So much for looking after those in society that need looking after .

Aurely DLA would cover those costs?

I live 5 minutes walk from my younger sons high school but my older son needs a different type of school and i cant live in 2 places at once. Maybe my older boy could pitch a tent in on the playing field to save me the journey each day?

Cantspell thats so wrong, I feel cross but you must be livid.

RobynRidingHood it is not just a matter of paying for it myself but the fact he needs taking even at 16. I cant just give him his bus fare and send him on his way.

Children cost money. That's all there is to it. You knew when you applied you would have to pay so pay. Btw if there is no safe cycling route to your child's school I will eat my hat suggest you raise that with your local council.

NotMostPeople you get to the stage where you are just gratefull to get them in a school that meets their needs that you dont have the energy left of be livid.

Exactly BoffinMum!

My DM can take the bus for free, while I sweat over how I will pay for the bus fare when DS2 and DD reach high school age.

One of the reasons I chose the school DS1 goes to was because travel was free. Sadly that is no longer the case.

We are 2.9 sodding miles from our catchment primary.

I've always just driven. More than the £2 bus I'm sure, but the bus service takes 45min to do a 20 min trip.

We live in the middle of nowhere, so it did mean I saw people

Calculating the petrol, I sometimes wish I'd appealed it. No way is it a safe walking route, single track roads and blind bends.

Walk? Bike?

Makes my blood boil that transport to the Grammar schools isn't free.

I feel any child with the ability should be able to go there, regardless of their parents income.

But bus isn't the only mode of transport, families that insist on sending their children to further schools but can't afford the transport don't have to use the bus, they can walk or cycle.

Robyn - That ever stretchy DLA that covers the additional cost of having a disabled child, it goes nowhere near. It helps yes & im grateful and as ds2 is severely disabeld we qualify for the highest payment BUT as cantspel said its not only about the money, its another element of his life that he is totally reliant on me.
It is actually easier to get a place at SN school than it is to get transport.
DS2 got a place as it was the school that BEST suits his needs & it has availabilty, he meets the criteria etc etc.
To qualify for transport we have to PROVE that the local school cannot meet his needs.
Its all about the wording & the budget.
But as cantspel says there really isnt the energy to fight the LEA transort section.

Our normal catchment school is a grammar school/ secondary modern (called something else now but that;s what it is) depending on whether or not you pass the 11+.I get cross at people talking as though GS is some elitist middle class pushy parent thing.It is normal catchment school and 7 miles away from us so we get home to school transport laid on.Til they get to the 6th form and are expected to pay which is non-means tested

socharlotte do you happen to live in Bucks? I do and we only have the choice of grammar or secondary schools. There are no comprehensives here at all.

Ok I've thought about it again and now I change my mind. I think that as attending school is compulsory then transport costs should be provided if schools aren't at a reasonable walking distance.

I thought a secondary was the same as a comprehensive?

secondary is the same as comprehensive - basically any non selective LEA funded 11-16 education is secondary/comp.