Anyone know anything about school transport regulations?

[weegiemum]

Hi there, I'm hoping someone can help me here.

My children go to school on a council-provided bus as we have opted for bilingual education which the council provides. They get picked up and dropped off near to home, about 5 mins walk away. They leave the house at 8am (for a 9am start) and arrive home at 3.30 (from a 3pm finish). Up until now this has meant a (roughly) 35 minute trip in the morning and a (roughly) 25 minute trip in the afternoon.

We have been contacted today to say that "to ensure that those young children who are picked up at an earlier time in the morning will have less daily travelling time in the coach". To facilitate this, my 3 children (age 6, 8, 10) have been given an extra 35 mins a day in the coach, now being dropped off at 4.05 instead of 3.30!

Does anyone know if there is a maximum travel time that children are allowed in free school transport?

It turns out (gossip, of course) that the reason this has happened is that one mother of a new pupil has threatened legal action as her pfb was spending too much time travelling - less than my dc! - and as she is a solicitor and her husband works as an editor on a national newspaper, the council have given in!

My children will now be spending 95 mins a day in transit. I could get them there on public transport in about half that time!! But I would have to pay for that. Maybe I am at fault as I chose to send them to a specialist school? They can't now transfer into a local primary as they have very different needs in terms of literacy and all other subjects as they speak Gaelic in a school setting and dd2 hasn't leaned to read or write English at all yet.

If anyone knows if there are any national guidelines about this I'd be really grateful - especially if they are Scottish guidelines - have googled but can't find anything!

TIA!!

Contact your councillor and ask them to look into it.

Contact the SNP member of the Scottish Parliament and complain.

Write a letter to the Council asking them to re-consider their decision.

Make a request to see all the councils paperwork and ask them for a statement of reasons how they arrived at that decision.

Form a protest group and fight them.

A councillor could ask in a council meeting for the decision to be reviewed. Protest outside the next council meeting.

I don't think there is a maximum time limit set, just guidelines as to what might be considered a reasonable time limit for children of certain ages to travel. i used to work as a school bus planner, but that was a few years ago, so am a bit rusty now. if you get in touch with your local authority and ask to discuss it with the school travel co-ordinator, they should be able to advise.

I haven't really any experience of children attending specialist schools, but know that where children were travelling to schools such as faith schools, where there were less suitable schools available in the area, there was an expectation that children would travel for longer, than children attending their nearest school (but who for example qualified for free transport due to their walking route being unsafe.)

It may be worth you having a look at this website also, to see if they can advise. Although it is for a consultancy, the woman at the had of it is considered to be the leading specialist on home to school transport in the UK; they might be able to help.

HTH??

You might find useful stuff in HERE

eg
"54. Best practice suggests that the maximum
each way length of journey for a child of
primary school age might be considered to be
45 minutes;"

Thanks everyone. Am off to look at links etc.

I don't want to get in a fight about it, but it is an awfully long day for a 6 year old, and I have a sneaking suspicion that as I requested the extra bus stop near to us last year due to dd2's mobility problems (a medical condition rather than a disability - oh how that makes a difference!!!) that we are now being penalised for this!