Preparations for Haringey Home to School Transport 2022/2023
The passenger transport team are working extremely hard applying the lessons learned from the issues experienced with home to school transport last September, to ensure that the same doesn’t happen again next year. One of the key components of this is delivering as much consistency as possible for our service users. We have implemented various improvements across the service to promote this e.g. awarding our providers with multi-year contracts to ensure continuity of vehicles and staff between academic years. We are currently finalising our procurement exercise and ensuring all the necessary provisions are in place for September. Initial route lists have been sent to schools unprecedentedly early this year, to ensure every passenger who requires travel assistance receives it and their needs are met by the planned routes for September.
Our aim is to maintain as much continuity as possible in the arrangements for young people between academic years (provided they are attending the same school etc.). Unfortunately, this is not possible in every case, due to new cohorts of passengers joining the service and/or the transitions of young people between schools.
Parents and carers will be notified by email in the first instance of the route, pick up point/drop off point, estimated pick up time, name of PA and their contact number (if applicable) by 12 August. Hard copies of this correspondence will be sent out via post to addresses shortly after.
We would also like to thank everyone who has submitted a new transport application for their child or young person who is moving school as of September i.e., transitioning from primary to secondary school, secondary school to college/sixth form, and/or changing college provision. For those parents, responses to your application will be sent by the end of July. For parents whose child/ young person requires travel assistance as of September and is changing schools between this academic year and the next, please ensure an application is submitted as soon as possible. Without an application, we are unable to provide transport at the beginning of the next school year. Where a child/young person currently receives home to school travel assistance and is continuing their education at the same school or college, we will not require a new application.
In another part of that learning, we will be conducting trial routes during the last two weeks of August. These trial runs will involve our vehicles, drivers and passenger attendants (PAs) conducting the route for one journey, either in the morning or afternoon. Your child will not be expected to join or board the vehicle, but this is a run to ensure our PAs are familiar with the pick-up/drop off points prior to the first day of term. You will receive a call from our escort on the day, introducing themselves and ensuring that all of the contact details we have for parents are correct. It would be beneficial if you are available to meet the PA at the pick-up point on the day so we can identify any issues before the first day of term and introduce your child/young person to the staff on the route. As it is the summer holidays, we appreciate that people may be unavailable. If you are not available, it is not an issue, but we will still conduct the route as normal.
If there are any issues with the arrangements being made for your child/young person, please contact us via email on school.transport@haringey.gov.uk or call on 020 8489 5629.
Kind Regards,
Matthew Fisk
SEND Transport Manager