Sn school transport problems - anyone with experience who might help?

[JKSLtd]

Ds2 (5) gets the bus to his sn school. He loves going on the bus.
Last year they offered to pick him up earlier than usual as I was always waiting with ds1(7) & baby dd when they arrived. This was brilliant as I was running late for ds1 and was about I ask them myself if his timings could be changed.

They are now in trouble for doing this and are not allowed to do it anymore :(

The children must be picked up in distance order and he is the closest to sch on his bus.

So they want/have been told to pick him up at 8.20.
Ds1 starts at 8.25 and it's a short drive away.
He will be late every day (that my dh can't help cover as he works away a lot, ie every morning this week) :(
And dd is now at pre sch (same site as ds1) though she starts later so won't be late but will be eventually if this carries on.

We thought it would be a simple thing to request that he be picked up first instead of last (like last year) but it's a bureaucratic nightmare.

If they get him first it would be about 7.50/7.55. They are meant to arrive at sch about 8.40. This means he could be on the bus for longer than the allowed 45mins.
Bear in mind e loves being on the bus, they are happy to have him on the bus and it worked perfectly last year.

We now have to submit forms and letters and care plans (not sure we even have one of those?) and a panel of experts has to meet to discuss the case. A psychologist & a head teacher (not his) included in that panel.

It is crazy. And we can't use the fact that it will make ds1 late as part of our 'case' at all as that is irrelevant to them.

So we need to explain how focusing on ds2 in the morning, getting him ready first and out the door is important to him or he gets stressed and anxious (this is true btw but we just learn to cope with it).

Any ideas? Sorry if it's long and waffly, I'm faced with paper and pen and forms and wondering what to say...

I will ring his Head in a bit and she wants to help.

Can't help but I know a family in a very similar situation and it's terrible. They have a slightly different problem (outside council boundary by 1 street so no transport available) but ultimately means that the child or their sibling will be late for school. Despite involving MP it's not moving forward and she is basically waiting for the school to escalate the lateness issues when it happens daily, as currently no one is listening about 'potential' problems.

Sorry I have no words of wisdom but I hope that you get some support.

Thanks ImpatientOne - that seems to be the only path others are going down from other sn boards as well as on here.
I will have to try and speak to ds1's head about lateness I think.

Good luck x

Thought I'd come back and update as I know it's annoying to never hear the end.

So, we were called to a meeting at the Council with some senior figures and they saw sense so he's being picked up first again & phew!

Don't think they'd realised how stressful the whole thing was.
As a result of our meeting they are restructuring the process so that there's an intermediary stage for minor adjustments that don't need to go to Panel for discussion.

So, for the many other parents at DS2's school that I know would not have coped with all the bureaucracy BS they can at least now just say to their driver/escort (who they see at the door every day) what they want and the driver can pass it along for recommendation (if it suits and works obv).

DS2's Head is almost embarrassingly grateful for us going through the process to help others in the future.

Annoying Jobsworths will also be spoken to about how to deal with the public...ha! (I didn't mention names specifically but enough detail for them to find out exactly who we spoke to).

All in all, A Good Ending. And it changed straight away so he's been first on the bus a few days now. Thank goodness.

Fantastic results, not only for your DS, but for other children and parents.

Great news - well done for paving the way!