SEND travel assistance to school and college

What travel assistance is

Most children get to school with their parents or carers, or on their own if they're older. Some children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) may not be able to because:

their school is too far away
they're unable to walk
they're not able to use public transport in the same way as other children

Your child or young person may be eligible for support if they cannot walk to school because of their SEND or mobility problem. This is called travel assistance.

Type of travel assistance that may be offered

Wokingham Borough Council is an enabling council. We prioritise empowering parents and families to find their own solutions, helping people to be independent and to access support when they really need it.

The type of travel assistance offered will be for the council to decide, taking into account the needs of the young person and the nature of the journey to be undertaken. The assistance offered might include:

A Personal Travel Budget to enable you to make your own arrangements independently (offered automatically if this is the most cost-effective travel assistance option)
A parent/carer consenting to a walking escort or responsible adult to escort the young person on public transport;
Training and support to travel independently
Free passes for children on public transport
Provision of a seat on a dedicated school bus or minibus, or
A seat in a taxi, usually shared with one or more other pupils, where a pupil’s needs require more personalised arrangements. This will be in exceptional circumstances only

Travel assistance we do not provide

We only provide travel assistance for a child's journey between their home address and school.

If the child’s parents live at separate addresses, travel assistance will normally be provided to where the child normally lives.

We do not provide travel assistance for:

travel to an alternative provision arranged by the school, this could be because of a fixed period exclusion or other reasons
attending work experience placements or interviews
visits to clinics, GP surgeries, hospital appointments during the school day
after school clubs
travel to a parent or carer's preferred school that is not the nearest suitable school
travel to and from home outside of normal school finishing hours

Reviewing travel assistance

We review travel assistance regularly to make sure we are meeting the needs of the children travelling as much as possible.

We may decide that an alternative option could be more suitable for your child or young person. When this happens, we will check with you and the school before making any changes to travel arrangements.

Changes to circumstances

You are responsible for letting us know if there are any changes to your child's circumstances that may affect their travel assistance support.

You can email the SEND transport officer if there are any changes at: SENDtransport@wokingham.gov.uk

If your child has an EHCP

If your child has an education, health and care plan (EHCP), their annual review will look at their travel assistance support to make sure it meets their needs.

The annual review will also consider how your child can get the skills and independence they need to catch public transport on their own. This includes providing independent travel training where appropriate.