transport to special school advice please

[meerkatsandkookaburras]

we are finally having a school named, it not the one i wanted but we have no real grounds to appeal it i dont think. anyway ds is autistic so no physical issues as such but he does get higher rate mobility on dla due to safety and bhaviour etc!! we live 1.7 miles from the school they want to name for him and rules are transport for over 2 miles! do we stand anywhere in wanting it anyway??? this hasnt been brought up yet ut it will be anyday so i wanted to be prepared with an answer when they try to get out of providing him transport! can anyone help??

jenny

I work in a special school and have had parents in similar situation. Sometimes it depends on the school classification - the rules for transport to SLD schools can be different to MLD schools. Don't really have any other advice except be prepared for them to say they are happy to provide the transport if you pay for it!!

oooh hadnt thought of that what kind of price would it be??

It should be the cost of the difference in distance between the closest transported pupil and your house.

TBH I think you might have a case though (unless you child is of an age where you would 'normally' tranport him yourself. If he is old enough to get a bus but can't because of his disability I think you have a good case for transport.

hth

Our authority does have a 2 mile rule, but I still got transport for less than 2 miles after I had provided evidence that

a)dd could not cover that distance on foot/public transport (explain how his autism affects his ability to deal with either of those)

b) I had medical issues of my own which meant I could not drive them (they did say normally they would expect a parent to be responsible for taking child to school, but I sent in a letter from my GP as to why I cannot drive)

On the Cerebra website it mentions that free transport could be arranged for children with special needs and for other children over two miles from school. So sounds like you should be entitled to transport even under the two miles.

here

My daughter has DS but no real mobility issues and was initially refused transport as we were just under the 2 mile ruling. I wrote to the Borough transport service and copied my stroppy letter to my local MP. Within a week they phoned me and said my daughter now had a place on the bus...Make of this what you will.

so far all we have been told is we will probably get transport but may need paed to say he needs it, they are not sure yet!? will send a letter if necessary that sounds like a good plan!!

same as riven. We are v close to the school but still have transport

Same here, dd2 if offered transport to a school 1.2miles by road (2 fields cross country if you can walk)

As your ds gets higher rate mobility I would expect him to be transported with an escort no matter how short the distance.

The LEA expects parents to have to take siblings to school too, so we can't all be in 3 places at once!

Hope it gets sorted.

ds2 goes to school where no-one is allowed to come to school other than by LEA transport. they say it is crucial to the kids learning independence skills and socialising with other adults as well as mixing with the other children. You could try and argue the need for your ds to develop his social skills outside of the classroom. Bit flimsy I know but worth a try, see what school say, they might back you up. You could also mention if you have other dc, that you can't be in 2 places at once.