This month we will be starting our annual review of the way in which we provide travel assistance to children and young people with SEND to enable them to get to school or college.
This is an important area, and we know that a child’s experience of their journey to school can make a significant difference to their learning at school and overall well-being. We therefore plan to work closely with parents, children and young people, and schools in exploring what new options might be offered in certain circumstances.
In some cases travel by taxi or minibus will continue to be the only realistic option for a child to get safely to school. However, we hear from young people themselves that they would like to develop the skills and confidence to travel to school or college independently, using public transport. We also know that separate journeys have a significant environmental cost, and add to the congestion in Portsmouth. And, in some instances, parents might be able to make better use of part of the budget that is currently spent on a taxi to make their own arrangements to get their child to school.
The very best ideas are likely to come from users of the service themselves, their parents, and from others who see at close quarters how the service currently works, for example drivers and passenger assistants and staff in schools that work with the transport service. If you have thoughts about how the service could be delivered differently within the resources available please email
@ Education.EducationSharedEmail@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
by Friday 14th February 2020.