Who it is for

Independent Travel Training is available for students aged 14 and over with a special educational need or disability (SEND) who require assistance to travel independently to an educational establishment, resource base or work placement.

How students are referred

• SEND students applying for travel assistance to Further Education establishments will be assessed by the SEN Transport Officer and referred where necessary
• By Special Schools – the Travel Trainers work with groups of year 9, 10 & 11 students in Special Schools
• Requests from others such as school, social worker, SEN Casework Team, parent or carer

How it works

• Once referred a Travel Trainer will be in contact
• An initial meeting will be arranged with the student – this meeting can also be with the student’s parent or carer and school
• An initial assessment of suitability will be made and an explanation of training will be given
• The Travel Trainer will discuss any concerns with parent or carer
• Travel Trainer identifies and travels the walking route to the bus stop and bus journey
• Travel Trainer looks out for anything that may crop up on the journey or any landmarks to look out for when pressing the ‘stop’ bell
• Training is designed to make the student comfortable and reduce anxiety
• The Travel Trainer will travel with the student to begin with
• Training covers how to stop a bus, how to ask for a ticket, where to sit, how to behave on the bus and how to solve any problems (e.g. late bus or missing a stop)
• Once student is more confident the training will be through shadowing
• Student is met at the bus stop but does the journey alone – they are met again at the other end
• Eventually they will travel alone but are shadowed without their knowledge
• Once they are travelling completely independently regular contact is kept up for a short period to check they are ok and see if they have encountered any problems

The options once training is complete

All bus operators offer a range of daily tickets and most can offer various types of season tickets at a discounted rate.

For further information please contact Debbie Reed debbie.reed@somerset.gov.uk

Type of provision

Targeted - This is for people with special educational needs and disabilities and their families