School Transport
New starters who attend Aspire Schools and who live over 3 miles from their allocated school site may be eligible for free home to school transport.
Students who meet the criteria for free home to school transport are:
- Students who will be attending either of our Shortenills Schools. These schools are our SEMH provisions, where students have gone through the SEMH consultation process. Transport will be funded by the SEN team within Buckinghamshire Council.
- Students who have been referred to us by the Local Authority For example, a student who has moved into Buckinghamshire without a school place, a pupil who has been permanently excluded from their mainstream school, or a student accessing our EOTAS package.
- Students who will be attending Aspire Alternative Provision, Orchard House.
If a student does not meet the criteria, transport will need to be arranged and funded by either their mainstream school or via their parent/carer.
Occasionally a situation may arise that is considered as ‘exceptional’. A student may not meet the criteria above, however there might be a special reason as to why the student would be considered for free home to school transport. Parents/carers are required to complete an exceptional circumstances form and send to the Buckinghamshire Council Transport Team. An internal panel will sit and discuss the application and the outcome of the meeting will be shared with parents/carers.
Please note that:
- Transport can only be arranged to and from the student’s primary address.
- The student must reside in Buckinghamshire in order to qualify for this service.
The request will include the below information
- Student’s forename and surname
- Date of birth
- Student’s primary address
- Timetable - days and times
- Start date
- Parent/carer’s contact number and email address
- Selected Aspire Schools site
- Reason for placement
Any additional information (if applicable)
Transport Contract
There are two different transport contracts:
- Transport will be put in place within 15 days from the date that Buckinghamshire Council Admissions team authorises the request.
- If a student holds an Educational Health Care Plan, transport will be put in place within 20 days from the authorisation date. Buckinghamshire Council Admissions team will send parent/carer a SEN link to complete. In order to have the transport assigned to an operator, the full assessment must be complete. The link will come from transport@notifications.service.gov.uk.
Parents or carers are required to complete the form, in as much detail as possible to accommodate the student's needs. This will identify any special requirements to support the needs of the student whilst travelling to and from Aspire Schools. The transport contract cannot be processed if the travel assessment has not been completed, it is therefore really important that this step is completed as quickly as possible.
Please note that on occasions students may be allocated to share the same taxi, unless the travel assessment has provided a reason as to why this would not be appropriate.
Once the transport contract has been arranged, the travel confirmation letter and travel assessment (where appropriate) will be sent via email to our Transport Team at Aspire Schools, to the parent or carer's chosen email address and the taxi operator. The letter will include transport contact details, start date and additional transport information. The taxi operator will then contact the parent or carer directly to discuss detailed arrangements.
Transport arrangement changes
Should any changes to the existing transport arrangements (i.e. change of address or site transfer) be required, this will result in a re-assessment and will be subject to the contract service level agreements noted above.
if you have any queries or concerns you can email our transport team at Aspire Schools on transport@aspireap.org.uk and we will deal with your request as quickly as possible. For general enquires, please see Free school transport | Buckinghamshire Council
