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SEN

Here you'll find advice from parents and teachers on special needs education.

Sen transport to school stressing me saying ds is not eligible

305 replies

downloadtoad · 10/07/2026 08:46

We live 2.2 miles away from the Sen high school ds is starting this September. The threshold for transport is 3 miles, if you live in this you may not be eligible for transport. They now want evidence of why ds cannot walk the 1 hour journey to and from school, other than his diagnosis of autism and not being able to walk this journey alone what else am I meant to provide ?!
He already receives transport to his Sen primary in which we live just under the 2 miles threshold.

I don’t drive so am not able to take ds to school, ds dad works and cannot be available twice a day to take ds and pick him up. We also have 2 toddlers who need to be in nursery for 9am.

I am so so stressed out, also I cannot get in touch with anyone from the send team, they still haven’t told me ds has got a place at the high school, I emailed and rang numerous time, all ignored, in the end I had to phone the actual high school and ask if ds was on the list. Please help.

OP posts:
Phineyj · 12/07/2026 16:40

Thanks, I've reminded them. Just checked the LA portal and it still thinks the June 2025 review is due...it was done...

inthequietofdawn · 12/07/2026 16:46

@Phineyj that is probably because the 2025 AR wasn’t completed if you only got to step 3 in my pp.

Phineyj · 12/07/2026 16:51

OK. I don't want to distract from the OP's thread. How much do you think it matters if I'm happy with the placement?

inthequietofdawn · 12/07/2026 17:00

There are a couple factors to consider. Firstly, it depends whether you are also happy with the content of the EHCP. You may be happy with the current placement, but what about the other sections? If you aren’t, the correct process not being followed means you haven’t had the right of appeal. Secondly, give LAs an inch and they will often take a mile. LAs who see they can get away with acting unlawfully often continue to act unlawfully, and next time may be more significant for you.

Blodget · 12/07/2026 17:44

curliegirlie · 12/07/2026 13:46

I had a similar thing when DD started junior school. At her infant school, which was 15 minutes walk away, our journeys home often took an hour, as she would sit down and refuse to walk. I was terrified about what our school runs from the junior school, which is a mile away, so around 25 minutes walk would end up like, so in the June I first contacted her EHCP coordinator about it. As always they were going through staff changes, so my plea for help wasn’t answered until September, when the coordinator had to dig around to find out the process of applying to the Transport Exemption Panel, which I did, and then heard precisely nothing. No acknowledgment, no follow up from the coordinator asking how I was coping. Luckily she got better about walking home, and my DH mostly WFH, so can walk out and rescue us if she is being a pain, which she still does once or twice a week, even now (she is in year 5). Because things started improving I didn’t chase up in the end, but am not looking forward to having to deal with them once she goes to secondary school (hopefully will be a moderate learning disability specialist school about 25 mins drive away),…

@curliegirlie and this is why their strategy works, because we end up giving up eventually. Completely normal and rational, you can only do what you can do.

My advice to you is log these difficulties getting home, turn them into data, and consider whether it may be evidence of her needs not being met in her current school. Call an emergency AR if needed - though AR should be happening in the autumn term anyway if her primary ends in Y11.

A year is a hell of a long time to be in a school that is leaving you so dysregulated that at 10 years old you cannot cope with a walk. We have had similar, DS used to run away and hide or lie down on the pavement, and in hindsight I wish I had used that to advocate more strongly for things to change. So v much do as I say, not as I did. But 20/20 hindsight that is what I think I should have done.

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