Parents paid to drive children to school

[Profpointy]

Sarcastic... no .... i was walking 2 miles to school from 6 ... but that was then, this is now ..... and their banned from cycling to school unless accompanied by an adult ... banned meaning they cannot enter school grounds with the bike .... The honey mummies would burst out crying if you suggested the kids walk to school themselves ....
I totally agree with your sentiment ..

It's all rather sad isn't it? That said, I dare say traffic genuinely is the biggest risk to kids, and something should be done, but stopping kids walking (or cycling) seems to curtailing "victim" rather than solving the problem. There is an inherent injustice in the convenience of motoring outweighing the risks to others. As an aside I was in a hotel maybe a mile outside Slough, looked at the map - 10 minutes walk - it is the most dangerous walk I've ever done with cars missing me by inches with my back pressed into the hedge. Fair enough no pavement on such a road, but I've never been on a road which was essentially impossible to walk on. Cycling would have been grim too. It was doubtless a relatively quiet B-road outside rush hour

 

[MntnMan62]

I'm not sure if school bus transportation is handled differently in the US vs UK but our real estate taxes that we pay each year covers school education including transportation if needed. Our son does not go to the public school and instead goes to school elsewhere. As a result we are entitled to a "reimbursement" of the allocated cost of transporting him to school since the district is not providing that service to him. We end up receiving $1,000 for the school year from the district. I imagine that this amounts to something similar. Am I correct?

 

[tom73]

No not quite here we have on the main two funding models. One is school transport paid for my local council via local council tax. Or the ever more common way of each school contacting it's own school transport via it's directly controlled government funding.
We don't have an option to be paid back anything you don't use.
This is totally different many areas less buses are running at the moment due to covid. Extra funding has gone in to put on extra school busses. But not enough the government advice for school kids to avoid public busses to get to school. Active travel is being promoted as a good way to get to school. What happening here is providing an incentive to use private cars which is already a massive issue around schools. It's pretty poor thinking all round.

 

[MntnMan62]

No not quite here we have on the main two funding models. One is school transport paid for my local council via local council tax. Or the ever more common way of each school contacting it's own school transport via it's directly controlled government funding.
We don't have an option to be paid back anything you don't use.
This is totally different many areas less buses are running at the moment due to covid. Extra funding has gone in to put on extra school busses. But not enough the government advice for school kids to avoid public busses to get to school. Active travel is being promoted as a good way to get to school. What happening here is providing an incentive to use private cars which is already a massive issue around schools. It's pretty poor thinking all round.

Ok. So school bus transportation is funded by taxes that you pay either through the local council tax or other taxes that equates to the "directly controlled government funding"? That sounds exactly like how it's handled in the US. We don't have an option unless our child does not attend the public school system. We send our child to private school. We don't get a refund of our taxes for not sending him to public school but for some reason we do get a refund of an allocation for transportation. I sure won't look a gift horse in the mouth. But the refund amount does not fully cover what it costs him to get to his private school. Most of it, but not all.

 

[tom73]

Our girls primary school has done the same ... both sides of the road .... my wife is disabled and unable to walk the children to school but i'm sure at 9 and 8 they can walk the mile and a half to school themselves .... just a few roads to cross ....never mind .....

God forbid a council is having a go at being proactive. The best our local clowns can come up with is poster say use active travel to get to school. But if you do your on your own we don't give a fig in making it safe. I'd welcome any interventions round here having two schools down the road seeing and often having dodge the daily cringe. You'd be better off trying to get the routes to the school to be safer for everyone then you won't have to worry.

 

[tom73]

Ok. So school bus transportation is funded by taxes that you pay either through the local council tax or other taxes that equates to the "directly controlled government funding"? That sounds exactly like how it's handled in the US. We don't have an option unless our child does not attend the public school system. We send our child to private school. We don't get a refund of our taxes for not sending him to public school but for some reason we do get a refund of an allocation for transportation. I sure won't look a gift horse in the mouth. But the refund amount does not fully cover what it costs him to get to his private school. Most of it, but not all.

Basically yes unless it's special needs provision then that's a statutory requirement for the local council to fund it.
They also have to fund it for a few other thing's but that's got very patchy now.
However it's paid for we don't hand it back as a refund how ever a child is educated.

 

[MntnMan62]

Basically yes unless it's special needs provision then that's a statutory requirement for the local council to fund it.
They also have to fund it for a few other thing's but that's got very patchy now.
However it's paid for we don't hand it back as a refund how ever a child is educated.

Yes. Our special needs scenarios involve the district funding both the out of district school as well as transportation to get there. No refunds. No money changing hands. Only if you send your child to private school is there a transportation reimbursement.

 

[Milkfloat]

My daughter goes to a grammar school in the next town. We pay nearly £1000 a year for her bus which is not funded by the state at all. This is our choice as we do have comprehensive schools nearer.

 

[Landsurfer]

My daughter goes to a grammar school in the next town. We pay nearly £1000 a year for her bus which is not funded by the state at all. This is our choice as we do have comprehensive schools nearer.

We're in the same boat .... like yourself around £1000 a year for our grandson ( who's in our care ). He started collage at 14 and receives no travel support because he lives too far from the college ... Theres a Comprehensive school about 200 meters from our house but we wanted him to get an actual education ...

 

[Drago]

I went to comprehensive after prep school (parents divprced...) and ended up with an MSc. My sister went to grammar achool and ended up with a few O levels, and not much else.

 

[Landsurfer]

I went to comprehensive after prep school (parents divprced...) and ended up with an MSc. My sister went to grammar achool and ended up with a few O levels, and not much else.

That was then, this is now Drago. Many Comprehensive schools are border line "Teenage Daycare" (thats a quote from a Headmaster in Sheffield) ...2000 pupil schools, 40 in a class etc etc ..... as many "pastoral" staff as teachers ..... those that float to the top deserve praise indeed..

 

[icowden]

Indeed. My local comp has 11 form entry with 30 children in each form. So 360 children per year, or 1800 children in the school not including 6th form.
My daughters (private) senior school has 80 children per year* in classes of 20, so about 400 children in the school not including 6th form.

*recent expansion - currently year 9+ has 60 children per year.

The first school has an OK reputation and I suspect that if you are self led and confident you can do well there. If you are the quiet type that needs extra support, then it's probably not the right place for you. We decided it wasn't the right place for our daughters and are happy with the choice we made and the sacrifices required to achieve it.

 

[sheddy]

Lobby link
https://www.sustrans.org.uk/our-blog/projects/2019/uk-wide/sustrans-school-streets/

 

[Drago]

That was then, this is now Drago. Many Comprehensive schools are border line "Teenage Daycare" (thats a quote from a Headmaster in Sheffield) ...2000 pupil schools, 40 in a class etc etc ..... as many "pastoral" staff as teachers ..... those that float to the top deserve praise indeed..

Nothing has changed. The human intellect is much as it ever was, and modern teaching techniques are resulting in record numbers of top flught exam passes. Record numbers of people are now graduating university, and it is estimated that about 1/3 of new entrants to the workplace are degree holders.

All this despite the decline and near extinction of Grammar and ability-placed schooling.

The facts simply do not bear out your assertion. You're simply bitter necause you never got your parchment.

 

[Landsurfer]

Nothing has changed. The human intellect is much as it ever was, and modern teaching techniques are resulting in record numbers of top flught exam passes. Record numbers of people are now graduating university, and it is estimated that about 1/3 of new entrants to the workplace are degree holders.

All this despite the decline and near extinction of Grammar and ability-placed schooling.

The facts simply do not bear out your assertion. You're simply bitter necause you never got your parchment.

I have ..BEng .... and i have children currently at Primary school, Comprehensive school and College. And as an employer i interview those with a pice of "parchment" that can't string a decent report together as their English skills are wanting.
My facts and your facts are possibly different....