To ask for my child to be put in a different taxi

[Odearr]

My 11 year old ds goes to a sen school, mainly the needs of the children are semh -he had autism and adhd.
he loves school. Feels safe, everything there is good.
however, my son has been out in a taxi with 3 other children from the same school who are older than him (they are year 9) and this past week he has been threatened with being strangled, put in a headlock, had his phone taken and they kept calling me telling me "I'm f**king your son" "we're beating you're son up"
and today came home with a pumpkin he'd carved at school smashed up and the other child had thrown it at him, put his phone inside it, put pumpkin bits all in his hair and over his clothes.

No way is he getting in that taxi tomorrow, and I have emailed the council transport team and tried to contact the school but waiting on a call back.

AIBU do insist that this transport isn't appropriate or safe and they he's given alternative transport ? I know the la are going to be hard to convince because it will cost
more money, but he can hardly be expected to be subjected to this every day

Even if OP could afford £1200 per month, she may not get a taxi at school run times. In some areas, you wouldn’t be able to because taxis are all being used for school transport.

That isn’t the OP’s concern. The LA has a duty to provide non-stressful transport.

Heaven forbid you need a taxi for business reasons or transport to the train station. We have to schedule around school hours.

That’s awful Op, your poor son. I hope something gets sorted soon.

My DC get the school bus to primary school. There is no adult other than the driver. The school are very hot on bad behavior on the bus and will phone the parents if any is reported. I’ve had to have very strong words with my DS (who is 8) about his silly behavior on the bus. Last year the kids had to sit in specific seats to keep some of them separated. The school also sent out a letter to all parents saying that any bad behavior on the bus would mean no more bus for your child, and I know that one child is not allowed to use the school bus anymore. This is a mainstream primary school.

I’d expect a special school to be very aware of the kids behavioral issues and provide suitable transport. Clearly those specific 4 kids in a 5 seater taxi is not suitable. Seems like the other kid’s parents have already complained, seeing as he now sits in the front.

Kids still need to be safeguarded on the journey. If the driver cannot do this (because driving) then the situation can’t be allowed to continue. I can’t imagine the adult driver can/should ignore a child being bullied in the back seat.

My son is 12 & goes to a SEN high school & still has a chaperone or what our LA calls an escort. They have a larger taxi to include an escort as children aren’t even allowed to sit in the front, the escort has to sit in the back with them too. I wouldn’t be happy whatsoever about this not just because of the issues with the children but this behaviour could cause an accident, it’s dangerous. I’d push even further & find out of others at the school have taxi chaperones & if so why not yours

How can I make this thread about me. 🙄

It’s not the school that provides the transport it’s the local council/LA. The schools don’t have any dealings with which kids are on which route or who is in what taxi, they don’t even choose which company they use. All that is dealt between the LA & the taxi company. The school could possibly get involved with supporting the parent with the dispute with the LA/taxi company but they can’t do anything about providing suitable transport

The OP’s transport problem could be temporary whilst they sort out other transport, so it definitely wouldn’t be that much!
where I grew up our parents had to pay for all the children to get to school so paying for transport isn’t really a new thing!!

Even if it is temporary whilst alternative arrangements are made by the LA, it could easily be £1200. LA transport departments don’t work quickly. And when there are difficulties, it isn’t unusual for parents to need a pre-action letter to sort suitable arrangements. It could very well take more than a month to arrange more suitable transport.

We don’t get a choice at which SEN schools our kids go to nor are they usually anywhere near where we live hence getting transport. My son’s school is almost an hours drive away from our house, in a taxi that would cost £110 each day, do you have £550 a week to get your child to school? Even temporary? As a carer of a child with disabilities (and someone with disabilities myself) I haven’t got that sort of money. I don’t even have the £2383 a month it would cost to send him to school, I have less than that to pay all my bills & mortgage. It’s easy to say just pay it when you don’t actually have to live it

You really aren’t listening are you. I have two children- one I drove to school everyday of her school career. The other needed specialist provision which meant going out of county and was over an hour away. You don’t get a choice.

Ignore the ignorant comments about paying for your own taxi op

For those reading who are lucky enough not to know - if your child has SEN you are highly likely to have to send them to school (if you can find an appropriate one with space that will take your child) - MILES away - I know people sleeping in towns far from home half the week - or children travelling hours to and from school.

These are some of the most vulnerable children in the UK - and they are forced to travel in taxis - being put in awful situations like this - day in day out because of the total lack of provision for sen children.

just be grateful you are never in that position

and what sen parent has 60 quid a day ? most parents of SEN children have already lost their jobs/ seen a huge drop in income after years of supporting their children.

Heartbroken for your son. I hope he is feeling better. And really hope the camera is the beginning of the end of this. I am astonished that the driver did not stop the car, protect your son and call the school when they behaved like this the first time.

Your poor son. :( Can you take him to school yourself?

I'd love to know how this progress OP. I think this post will hopefully inform those outside the sphere of SEND schooling just how difficult it is to have school provision for your child and how few resources there are out there for parents and children.

No its not a new thing ,my parents chose to send me to a Catholic school and I had toi get a bus there and back daily ,the local school was a ten minute walk away ,difference was it was a ten pence journey which even in the 80,s wasn't that much not £60 / day
Also it was my parents CHOICE!

My DD goes to specialist provision and has transport to school. Last year there was a serious incident involving a boy on her bus. As part of safety planning a change of transport was agreed whereby the boy involved was moved to taxi transport. This was agreed with the school who then sorted it with the local authority. In your shoes I'd hit the roof - the travel arrangements aren't safe, all of the kids in the school have an escort precisely to support kids with behavioural issues. They absolutely can and should change the transport arrangements, it took two weeks to take the boy off the bus, during which time my DD sat next to the escort.

Do you really expect people to believe that where you grew up parents regularly paid £60 a day for their children to attend the nearest suitable school?

Even if the situation doesn't carry on for weekend, £60 a day is more than many can afford

Aww, I feel for you as I've been there too. You need to get the school on your side and detail all of what you've said here. But, the transport is usually dealt with by the LA and you will need to take if up with them. My advice is to go in from a safeguarding and safety angle, and as PP have suggested, this could be raised with the police, so definitely make the LA aware you are considering reporting.

You are aware that mainstream pupils have a choice, a child with SEND has no choice of where specialist provision is located, hence why the LA that has a duty to educate picks up the costs.

It's not a luxury and those children end up educated outside of their community, denied the option of making local friends and get to spend their days with other pupils who just have SEND too.

• I would rather there was enough local provision for sen children and that he could attend a school that we could feasibly get to by walking or public transport actually. funnily enough most people aren't expected to pay £300 a week for their dc to go to secondary school so bit weird that you think parents of disabled children should have to*

Absolutely.

And actually they have 4 per taxi or 10 in a bus because they have to travel because the local school doesn't meet their needs - and it keeps cost down.

No one had to pay transport for a secondary school child who's nearest available school they are allocated is over 3 miles away.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment it is pretty usual for parents to have to contribute towards transport for their secondary school children. It’s around £900 pcm. It might pale in insignificance vs the cost of a taxi but it’s not true to say they don’t pay at all.

It is true to say all secondary DC living more than 3 miles from their nearest suitable school receive free transport in England. If you know someone who has to pay, they need to speak to their LA because they shouldn’t be paying, according to the law.

Sorry £900 per year, not month!

Im not sure how it’s dressed up but in my area most people are paying - many years ago my parents paid too!