Can someone tell me about free primary school transport?

[FlightOfTheBumblebee]

DS has been allocated a school more than 2 miles away from us via the shortest walking route so we're eligible for free transport from the council. I know as the parent I'm not also entitled to the transport, so how does this work? am I supposed to put a 4-year-old on a bus by himself?? If it's a taxi, will someone be there at the other end to make sure he actually goes into school (I'm not going to trust a taxi-driver to do that!) or is it just left up to him?

He's summer-born as well so very young and I just don't see how this is going to work. is there anyone else who's been in a similar situation? What happened?

the short answer is yes you are supposed to put him in the bus or taxi on their own, and no there is no guarantee that he will be met at the other end.

BUT
in many places especially where it is a regular thing, they may be systems in place. My cousin used to drive a taxi for a special school. There was a pool of a few drivers, all CRB checked and all knew the procedures, they took the children to handover to staff etc. But that isn't necessarily the norm. Other special schools have adults who travel in taxi as the escort with kids. But both of those may only apply to special schools.

many schools in rural areas have all their kids arriving on buses even from reception age and have staff meet the bus and get kids into the playground etc. But they are schools with experience.

So I guess it depends on the school and situation.

My DSis is a taxi driver and for school runs she always has an escort in the car. Escorts are DBS checked and collect from your door and then make sure the child is in the building before leaving

DS gets a free taxi to school and he has an escort who sits with him in the back. But he goes to a SN school out of county. Most SN pupils in borough get a minibus, but there aren't any other pupils going to his school so it's just him.

Taxi drivers at our school take the kids to the office, no escort, there are usually a few of them in the taxi

Driver's who do this at our taxi office soe seem to have have a wife, girlfriend or friend with them as a chaperone , no idea who pays them but i know i have seen two girls on facebook who have taxi drivers as hubbies and they escort the kids into school, appear to get paid, Sorry don't know anything other than what i have seen on FB posts

Thanks everyone, that's really helpful. It's not a SN school, but I doubt we're the first to be in this situation for this particular school so hopefully they'll have some sort of procedure in place.
Having spoken to a couple of other Mums near me today DS isn't the only one to be placed there from round us so if there are a few children from the area they'll at least all go together (or we might be able to share lifts!).

This is common in rural areas but around me quite a lot of people did not use the school transport until the children were a bit older. It can be quite useful to meet your child at the end of the school day and chat to other parents. Getting parents to agree a rota of lifts can be difficult. They may have older children who stay behind for clubs, have children who go swimming after school, or even visit friends. I hope you can get this organised and I think you will find the school is well versed in getting the children from the taxi into the school.

We have a SN unit at our school and children attend from all over the county. Most come in taxis without an escort. There is a TA whose job it is to meet the children from the taxi and take them into class, and to do the same thing at the end of the day.

One mum felt her child was too young for this and we agreed, but it has now not been possible for her to take up the free transport now that he's older - not sure why.

Are you a London Borough?
They tend to say Bus is free for children. But in my borough, parents have successfully made the council pay for taxi.
You will need to have nerves of steel and politely demand.

My DS (5) goes in a taxi with an escort who waits in the playground until it is time to line up and the teacher appears. He is collected from within school by the escort at the end of the day. At my dds school country kids get a bus without an escort but the driver takes them into the school office and collects from there. For this age group the maximum travel time each way is 45 minutes. If you get a taxi, don't assume the journey will be short as you are only a couple of miles away; they may fill up that 45 minutes by driving round picking up other kids.

Hi LL0015, no, not London.

SuburbanRhonda - that's my worry, if we say no to the transport now because he's too young then when he's a bit older will we be able to have it?

Thank you everyone for your comments! I really appreciate it. Hopefully we'll get it sorted. We've had an email from the Council saying we're eligible and just have to reply to take it up so I think we'll just say yes we want it and then find out whether he'll get an escort, what the mode of transport will be etc later.

In my rural area it was a taxi because there were not that many children. With a statement to a school which meets special needs, there should always be transport offered because of the distances involved. However there can be a problem if the council cannot find a larger minibus (or people carrier) or they have a contract for a certain size of vehicle for a specific amount of time, eg a12 seat minibus for a year. It would then cost them a lot of money to vary the contract. The parent, presumably , would not wish to pay for the variation. Therefore it can be better to take the transport immediately. We had a mix of taxis and people carriers depending upon the number of children going to the local catchment school. If it was full and you were a latecomer, you might have to wait, but not necessarily if there was a space. A space was not guaranteed though.

We've been allocated a school 2.6 miles away so we also qualify for free transport. Our letter regarding the school place says it's a free bus pass. Which in our situation would mean getting the hourly bus, then I'd have to hope the hourly bus works out timing wise for the way back then repeat twice in the afternoon. Even though it's free, the better option for me is to pay for the train which is much quicker and more convenient. I don't drive so I'm still a bit about how I'm meant to get to this school in the first place.

The trouble is that school allocations are not made on a parental ability to drive, or not. You might be able to get your child a lift with another parent. How do other children near you get to the school? Do they all use the bus?

travellin

In my LA the qualifying distance goes down as the child gets older, as they are deemed better able to walk longer distances.

My DS got a taxi last year at 4 yo. His driver used to wait with the other mums outside the classroom! There was no escort so I did have my concerns, but the drivers were all lovely, his teacher took it upon herself to check ID if it was a driver she didn't recognise, and I had watchful mum friends in the playground who all reported the driver held DS's hand, chatted to him about his day etc. The LA also provided a booster seat if you're concerned about that aspect.

MrsGrimes I argued for a taxi on the basis that there was no public transport that worked out time wise - we'd have been waiting over an hour for the bus home. You can make your case on this basis especially if the walk to/from the bus stop ticks any of the 'unsafe' boxes, eg poorly lit etc. Make sure they are aware of the reality of your journey.

I'm in a rural area and almost all the kids are brought in on buses from reception onwards. Dd1 starts in September, and I'm struggling a bit with the idea of sticking her on a bus alone, but I'm told it will be fine. The drivers are excellent and keep an eye on the kids (and if for any reason the parent isn't there to meet them after school they keep them on the bus and ring), the teachers meet the kids off the bus and put them back on them, reception kids are allocated an older child as a "bus buddy" for the first few weeks of term.

Our taxi children have to be handed over to a member of staff. Member of school staff signs a clipboard daily to say they've accepted responsibility for that child from the minute they're handed over.
Thousands of children do this daily all over the country from very young ages and I would highly doubt any school doesn't have a system in space for it.

My reception aged DD goes on a school bus. It is great, lots of them go from the three villages on the route. The teachers sign them on the bus and then I sign her off when I collect her.

We had to fight to get dd on the bus as apparently the don't provide transport until they're five. Luckily the bus driver helped out. Dd loves getting the bus, all the children in the village get it and then a TA/office worker meets them at the school gate. It's a mini bus and the driver used to be a music teacher.

This is our catchment school so might be a bit different.