Considering a 5 hours per day school run

[Cactusowl]

My son has been offered a place at a lovely school which is around an hour away. It’s an independent SEN school and will suit him so much better than his current mainstream.
We are taking our council to a tribunal in the hope they will name the school on my sons EHCP and therefore pay the fees/taxi. The court date isn’t set until October. I have the option to pay for the school myself so he can start in September, I will have to drive him myself for a minimum of half a term or max 3 years if we lose our appeal.

Has anyone done a long school run like this? Was it manageable and did it get any easier? AIBU to even consider this journey is sustainable?

[YellowFish12]

I think it will be ok for DS - he can chill, listen to music, watch something on the iPad, chat to you etc in the car.

For you it’s a lot of driving. I would look to fill my days near the school either with work, volunteering, joining a fancy gym like David Lloyds et.

[khakiandcoral]

@Bananahana

Regardless of who drives that’s a long journey for your son. You don’t seem to touch on that in your post, just on the impact on you.

It’s a no from me.

1 hour is not that horrendous for the child (or the parent), it's actually pretty common.

The issue is having to either do it 4 times a day (instead of 2), or finding a way to use the hours in between.

[ByeClare]

I have a child a similar age with SEN with an EHCP and experience of appeal.

I know how much difference the right (or at least better) provision can make. However I think you need to have some reservations.

This amount of travelling could be very tiring for a child with autism, especially if they're in a taxi with others and can't quite relax in the same way as they would in their own family car.

You say there's an LA taxi route near you - that's great but the Q is, is there room for your DS?

Most importantly, you don't have the school named on his EHCP yet or the LA agreeing to pay his travel. You'd have to have both of these decisions in your favour, and your LA is likely to argue strongly against both because of money.

Also if your DS already has an EHCP, which I think he does from what you're saying, then it's likely the LA's first move would be to try and get his current school to keep to it rather than going to the expense of him moving.

[goosebumps]

Could you volunteer a couple of days a week in the city. Maybe in a charity shop - just to fill up the time. Then one day swimming at a pool in the city and then shopping perhaps. If you only had 2 days a week where you went back and forth it would be much more doable.

[Branleuse]

I would move house rather than commit to this school run. Not just for you, but for the kid who will have to be travelling so much

[Kdubs1981]

No

[Daisy1245]

I do 140 miles, 70 miles to school and back twice. It's not substainable. Not fair on child or parent. Long story but hoping to move house asap. Don't even start it would be my advice. What about if your DC makes friends that live near the school will you travel down weekends too?

[Thewinterofdiscontent]

Children at my school do it ( in taxi’s).

I would consider it as long as they are not especially prone to illness or really serious behaviours. You don’t want to have to do that journey only to have to pick up again 30 mins later.
Also think on to meetings /sports day etc. Long scheleps.

[Phineyj]

Joining a David Lloyd or similar is a great idea. A lot of people work in the quiet room in our local one including me sometimes, and you can exercise. Plus most chains will let you use other branches. One to 1.5 hour commutes each way are common for both students and teachers where I live.

[OneinNine]

I tried this for a few weeks with ds2 and it was tough. Mind you I stopped only because the placement failed rather than because of transport. One issue with LA transport is they do want to make pupils share transport which can add considerably to the journey time (so one hour can rapidly become one and a half) and more crucially the pupils can have conflicting needs. ds2 refused point blank to get in the taxi with a certain other child for instance. ds1 was OK with a journey of just over an hour at secondary but it was quite hard at first although he says he quite enjoyed it by the end.

[ByeClare]

Another thing to bear in mind is that there's currently a big backlog plus a huge demand for SEND tribunal appeal hearings, so a lot of hearings have had to be rescheduled, often with short notice.

This means there's a fairly good chance yours may be pushed back. This means that even if you end up winning, you may not have your hearing in October, then it's at least another two weeks or so for the decision to come out. So regardless of whether you ultimately win, you may end up having to do the journey for longer than to October anyway.

[Phineyj]

Yes I'd do it if my SEN child would thrive in the new school. She's happy in mainstream at the moment, but I'd do it.

[ArianaDumbledore]

My 8 year old's school is 50 miles 1hr 15mins away. He's always gone in a taxi and copes no problem. We can't afford to move and I have a younger child so can't do the school run.

It's a special independent and we won at tribunal. It really is the nearest suitable school.

Good luck with the tribunal, I found it soo stressful and was convinced we'd lost.

[cansu]

Personally I would wait for the court date. If you don't win the case, you can then reassess and think about whether the drive is doable. I would also be wary of paying for the school yourself as that gives the signal to both the LA and the tribunal panel that you can and will fund yourself. I have been through three tribunals successfully and the key is proving that only this provision can meet need. If you can get them to accept this, you will get the taxi funded and the school. If they think it's a preference and that you can afford it yourself, then you won't get it.

[ByeClare]

I should have said that if it were me, I wouldn't do it. I'd move if there were no nearer suitable provisions. That amount of travelling, particularly if having to share with others on a long round-the-houses-route would really not suit my child with SEN. Nor me, although that is a secondary concern, when you have a child with SEN, you really need all the energy and mental sharpness you can get.

[Dithercats]

Yes don't assume he can just be added to the taxi run 10 mins away.....no other children could be added to my DC for example due to their needs - it's simply not that easy to assume your child can fit into the LEA arrangements EST in Sep 2021.

The LEA can say at tribunal oh you have withdrawn from state provision, are paying for private, and are transporting your child to school.....why do you need us involved as your child is no longer under LEA.
Rightly or wrongly they can (and prob will) say that. Use caution.
Like PP said they aren't seeing DS as a priority if the tribunal isn't till October....we all know term starts September after all.

Good luck. It's hideous that we fight so hard.

[SeeSection]

Maybe house swap during term time?

[bonfireheart]

OP, my nephew has SEN and EHCP and went to a mainstream secondary school which the council chose for him (over the independent school my sister wanted him to go to) the council then sorted out the transport for him (a free minibus with other SEN children). Might be worth finding out if your council does similar.

[Zzelda]

@ThePlantsitter

I wouldn't start doing anything that you can't continue tbh. I'm my experience councils love saying 'well you're doing it now, surely you can continue'. I'm not an expert though.

They wouldn't have that option if OP wins the appeal.

OP, any chance of applying to bring the appeal hearing forward?

[Zzelda]

I think that’s way too far for a child and you if you are driving.

Technically it isn't too far for the child as he's at secondary level. Official government guidance says that the recommended maximum for children of this age is 1 hour 15 minutes each way.

[Beautiful3]

No I wouldn't do this. My nephew attends a sens unit at a school 45 minutes away. However he has to share the taxi with two others, so it takes 1.5 hours to get there. He's always tired and hungry, as a result.

[Twoforthree]

Isn’t there a closer school?

[Blurp]

Obviously you don't want to move, but is there any possibility that you could rent somewhere a bit closer for a couple of years and rent your own house out to cover the cost?

Or if you can afford it, get an Air BnB for at least a couple of nights each week, so you could drive to school, go to the Air BnB to work/relax, stay over there, and then drive home on the second evening? Obviously an expensive option, but if you found a good place you might be able to negotiate a long-term discount or something?

[doubleshotespresso]

Fellow SEN parent here. We have accepted a place for September that necessitates a journey which takes an hour and a half door to door, despite only being a couple of miles away (damned Khan and his LTN /Cycle lane nonsense). We have no choice but o accept as this is literally the only setting that can meet needs within the borough. It sucks as I am committing to basically spending all my daylight hours being stuck in the car.
However, the alternative is to continue home schooling as we have in excess of two years. It sucks it really does, but for the right place I am prepared to do the distance.

[CatkinToadflax]

Two of my friends do a similar length journey and have been doing it for years. It’s incredibly hard work. Their DC both qualify for LA funded taxis but for specific reasons the parents drive their children themselves.

My DS goes in a taxi - he’s the first pick up in the morning and last drop off in the evening, so a journey that would take a very minimum of an hour straight from our house to school, with added pickups and traffic can take up to 1hr 45m. It’s a very long day. He has got used to it and he does his homework in school. Sticks his headphones in in the taxi and zones out. When he first joined the school he weekly boarded, to avoid the long journeys. This isn’t right for every child (and I’m sure many SEN schools don’t have boarding houses anyway) but it worked for him for a couple of years.