Mum’s anger as school stops bus service with less than 24 hours’ notice
DECISION LEFT AUTISTIC SON FEELING ANXIOUS
A MUM was left “angry, stressed and disgusted” after her autistic son’s school sent a text to parents to say it was ending the bus service the next day.
Helen Bran said her son was too anxious to travel on his own from their Calverton home to Jubilee House’s alternative provision centre in Bilborough.
This is a roughly 10-mile journey which would take her 15-year-old son, Jonathon, about an hour-and-a-half on public transport.
The school said the change was part of its plans to prepare key stage four pupils for independent living but admitted it gave parents less than 24 hours warning.
But, after the Post contacted the school for comment, it decided to offer to pick Jonathon up, recognising how anxious he was. It also said it was looking into it on a case-by-case basis and would not force pupils to take a bus if they were too anxious.
Mrs Bran, 52, a Nottingham Trent University employee, said: “They shouldn’t have done it in the first place.
“Obviously, I’m pleased they are going to pick him up but they are not going to do that for all the children, it’s only because I kicked up a fuss.”
Speaking before the school changed its mind, she said: “Why not get us in for a meeting to say ‘this is what we are planning to do’ and get feedback?
“They should know children with autism find it very difficult to deal with change. To do this with half a day’s notice is complete madness. My son has complex issues and will not even get on the bus. I’m a single parent who works full time and unless I give up my job, I am unable to drive Jonathon to his school and back.
“I’m angry, stressed, and disgusted that this school can treat its pupils and their parents in this way.”
The Bilborough unit is part of the private Jubilee House and is commissioned to provide education to children who have been excluded or are at risk of exclusion by academies and local education authorities across Nottinghamshire.
Julie Foreman, an improvement consultant working at the school, said 18 of its 25 pupils used the transport service, which would pick them up from their houses, before it was stopped on Monday. Part of the reason given is that the the school is expanding, meaning more pupils are sitting in minibuses and cars to get to and from school for longer, and this was causing behavioural problems onboard.
She denied it was a financial decision and said the school was offering to pay for the pupils’ bus fare. “We are preparing our young people for the next step and using public transport is part of that,” Mrs Forman added. “We have been thinking about it for a while.”
She said they had discussed problems with the buses with parents last week but when asked about the decision being announced so late she said: “We take on board feedback and that has been some of the feedback, but others have been OK with it.”
She said it was a week-long trial and although the minibuses were not coming back, the school would look at whether some pupils needed more help afterwards, such as being picked up – although it would prefer them to go alone.