Thank you for providing transport and support to children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in our city. We're very aware of the importance of your role and the complexity of the work you do.
By providing safe and friendly transport you make a difference.
The Parent and Carers Council (PaCC) often refers to home-to-school transport as crucial bookends to the school day.
The SEND needs of the children and young people travelling in your care include physical, emotional, communication and learning disabilities and, in some cases, behaviour that challenges.
The quality of transportation is an essential factor in ensuring children:
We understand that your work can be difficult as well as rewarding, and the Home to School Transport team is here to support you at all times in delivering the service.
Our team is part of Brighton & Hove City Council. Working with children and young people (CYP), their parents and carers, and schools, we assess CYPs' transport needs to and from schools and colleges.
You will be employed or engaged by one of our Operators. Operators are the taxi firms and minibus companies who provide home-to-school transport services on the council’s behalf.
The passengers you're providing transport for are your customers and must be always treated as such. They have special education needs and or disabilities (SEND).
Children must always be treated with respect and in a dignified manner appropriate to their age and needs.
It's important that all drivers, vehicle passenger assistants and other staff, show understanding and empathy towards the children and their parents or carers.
The SEND needs of the children and young people travelling in your care include physical, emotional, communication and learning disabilities and, in some cases, behaviour that challenges.
Some of the children will have medical conditions and may be prone to seizures during their time in the vehicle. There may also be children in your care who regularly receive special medication or those who may need a paramedic ambulance crew to administer medication to them in an emergency.
It's important that all children arrive at school in a calm state, ready to learn and on time and they have a positive experience of the journey. This means you will need to be thoughtful, kind, sensitive and understanding.
Some children and young people, due to their needs, may need a little longer to board your vehicle. We ask you to wait up to 10 minutes for them. If a child routinely needs longer than this to board the vehicle, please tell your Operator.
Due to the SEND needs of the children who use the service, it's acceptable to hold a child’s hand or hold or support a vulnerable adult’s arm when, for instance, crossing a road, or car park.
It's also acceptable to ‘steer’ a child by placing your hand on their shoulder. You should let us know if any child or young person appears to need a lot of physical support from you.
Before you start working on Home to School Transport your Operator should have shared the Home to School Transport Code of Conduct with you.
The Code of Conduct is a safeguard for both passengers and transport crews.
You must:
You must not:
These are only a few examples.
If you have not seen the Code of Conduct, ask your Operator for a copy.
Drivers and Vehicle Passenger Assistants (VPAs) have an important role to play in safeguarding vulnerable children. There's a moral responsibility to report any concerns about a child or young person in any context.
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.
Drivers and VPAs must have a current enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate. The certificate must not be more than 3 years old unless the subject of the certificate subscribes to the DBS Update Service, which allows the Transport Teams to check more recent conduct online.
Drivers and VPAs must have completed all the home-to-school transport training modules, and the refresher course every 3 years.
Webinars and bespoke training and support can be offered on a case-by-case basis. It's expected that crews are willing to reflect and develop their practice to enhance the journeys of children and young people if needed.
You must treat all information about the passengers you are responsible for and their family circumstances, in the strictest of confidence.
Under no circumstances should such information be passed to a person who is not the child’s parent or carer, a member of the school staff or an appropriate staff member.
You must be prepared to act as a messenger between the schools/units and parents or carers as required, always discretely when a child or young person can hear you.
Our children and young people are vulnerable, and you must not discuss any personal topics about yourself or others, such conversations can offend or be misinterpreted.
It's the responsibility of everyone, whatever their role, to ensure that bullying is dealt with appropriately.
Bullying can take the forms of:
If you believe that one of your passengers is being bullied, you must report your concern to a member of staff at the school.
If you see something that worries you, tell your Operator.
You can also:
If a child is in immediate danger, phone 999.
This section lists the major requirements of the contract we have with your Operator relating to driver responsibilities. Ask your Operator for the full list.
You must drive safely.
CCTV equipment which must record audio must be installed and operated in the Vehicle and must be operating when carrying Service Users. All CCTV visual and audio media and its data must be secured, password encrypted and not accessible to the Driver. Operators should provide assurance that CCTV, with audio, is in working order, once per term at Contract Review Meetings.
You must be familiar with operating seat belts, wheelchair clamps, demountable seating, tail-lifts, ramps and other specialised equipment used by passengers with physical disabilities.
You must arrive on time.
You must always maintain a professional relationship with:
You must be able to interact with, respond to and calmly reassure children and young people with SEND in a positive and sensitive manner.
It's essential that you know the route that has been assigned to you and have good knowledge of the roads and accessible routes. No assistance should be expected from the VPAs who are required to devote their attention to the Service User.
When transporting solo passengers, you must ensure that they sit in the back seat and not in the front seat next to you, unless advised otherwise by the Home to School Transport team via your Operator.
Do not use a mobile phone for any reason whatsoever whilst driving the vehicle. The VPA is responsible for answering or making calls during the journey if this is required. If you need to make or take an emergency call you must pull the vehicle over safely and turn off the engine.
Personal mobile phones, tablets, watches and personal gadgets should be switched off and no personal calls or texts should be made whilst on duty.
It's compulsory for you to always wear your ID badge and high–visibility waistcoat or jacket whilst on duty outside the vehicle.
You must not smoke or vape whilst on duty, either in transit or whilst waiting for passengers to board.
You must not consume food or drinks within the vehicle, or allow your passengers to eat or drink, as this is a potential choking hazard.
If you're unable to report for duty, you must immediately inform your Operator. Make sure you know what times you need to let your transport company know by.
If you're going to be more than 15 minutes late you must tell your Operator.
You must report any incidents to your Operator no later than 24 hours.
Your duties do not end until the last passenger is safely in the care of their parents or carers or the school.
Although your main responsibility is the child or young person’s safety, you also have a duty to support the VPA to care for the children onboard. You will assist the VPA in tasks associated with loading the vehicle with children’s travel equipment, including manoeuvring children in wheelchairs.
If for any reason, the VPA is not available for a journey where a VPA is specified, you must not convey children without appropriate support. If this happens contact your Operator for further instructions.
Please note: some schools have strict rules about where vehicles should go on arrival, or park when waiting to collect. You will be expected to comply with these and any other site safety instructions. Speak to your Operator if you're unsure of site requirements.
If a site has a policy that vehicles should not move whilst people are crowding around, then, even if all children and young people are on board, the vehicle should not depart unless a member of the school staff sanctions the departure.
This section lists the major requirements of the contract we have with your Operator relating to VPA responsibilities. Ask your Operator for the full list.
You're responsible for the safety and care of your passengers whilst in transit to and from school. The journey is an important part of the children’s day, so it should be made as enjoyable as possible.
Passenger management in the vehicle is your responsibility, the driver must be allowed to concentrate solely on driving the vehicle.
You must always maintain a courteous and professional relationship with:
The image you project reflects on Brighton & Hove City Council.
If a child is absent from the vehicle, you must notify school staff. On the homeward journey, you must ensure children are received by their parent carer or their nominated responsible adult.
You must tell the school or parent carer if a child or young person has had any changes in their physical or emotional state whilst in the vehicle.
You must be able to interact with, respond to and calmly reassure children and young people with special needs in a positive and sensitive manner.
You must be able to liaise competently and effectively with parents or carers and school staff. You must be able to understand your passengers and their parents or carers and be understood by them.
You must not smoke or vape whilst on duty, either in transit or whilst waiting for passengers to board.
Personal mobile phones, tablets, watches and personal gadgets should be switched off and no personal calls or texts should be made whilst on duty.
You must not consume food or drinks within the vehicle.
It's compulsory to always wear your ID badge and high–visibility waistcoat or jacket whilst on duty outside the vehicle.
If you're unable to report for duty, you must immediately inform your Operator to ensure your route can be covered.
Council VPA’s should:
You must make sure you’re ready, waiting and on time in the morning and afternoon when your driver arrives at your pickup point to start your route.
You must cooperate with and be polite to any Brighton & Hove City Council staff who may board your vehicle to monitor the operation of the service.
You must report any incidents to your Operator (or the council for council VPAs) no later than 24 hours after the incident happens.
Only authorised passengers may be carried in the vehicle. You will have a register and details of pick-up points for the route. On each occasion, you must check the passengers boarding the vehicle are authorised to do so.
Your duties do not end until the last passenger is safely in the care of their parents or carers or the school.
The vehicle must run to the scheduled times. If you're running early, you must wait until the scheduled time before departure to the next (or final) destination.
When collecting pupils, you must wait 10 minutes after the scheduled pick-up time. You must let your Operator know if someone does not board.
Where a vehicle collects a passenger from a home address, the parents or carers are responsible for accompanying the passenger to and from the vehicle.
If there's a vehicle passenger assistant, they are responsible for keeping passengers who are already seated in the vehicle under constant supervision.
School staff will be expected to deliver and receive passengers at pick up and drop off.
From time to time (such as in the case of extreme weather conditions) it may not be possible for you to operate the service normally. In this case, you should contact your Operator for advice on the running of your route.
The route must not be altered, particularly in respect of pick-up or drop-off locations, or scheduled times without the prior permission of the home-to-school transport team.
If the vehicle arrives at the school before the official starting time, you must keep the passengers in the vehicle under your supervision until a member of staff is ready to receive them.
If on arrival at the young person’s home, you believe the child is too unwell to travel you should contact your Operator and await further instruction.
Before you travel, your Operator will pass over information about each child or young person and their SEND and travel needs.
Here are some proactive tips to help you have a positive journey:
The safety of children and young people in your care is the responsibility of both drivers and VPA’s.
You must:
Children who are not using a child seat must use an adult seat belt without exception.
Under no circumstances must any child or young person be lifted or transported bodily onto or off a vehicle by any member of the crew.
Crews should help children and young people in and out of the vehicle and take all reasonable precautions to ensure their safety before and after they have alighted.
You must only transport the named children and young people you have been instructed to unless specifically directed to by the Home to School Transport team.
Passengers are only allowed to leave the vehicle at the agreed dropping-off point. You must not drop them off at any other location without prior permission from the Home to School Transport team.
If a pupil has keys to access their home address, you must see one of the parents or carers or the nominated responsible adult present at the house before you can leave the child. Check with your Operator if you're unsure.
If parents or carers or the nominated responsible adult are not home when you arrive you must contact your Operator.
You must be able to recite the emergency procedure when asked.
If there's an incident on transport, crews are to carry out the following actions:
If a major accident occurs:
In the event of a road traffic accident or vehicle breakdown, no matter how minor, whilst children and young people are on board, inform your Operator.
The Operator must immediately inform the council, school and wherever possible the parents or carers.
A backup vehicle will usually be provided.
All incidents must be reported as soon as possible on the day.
A full written report and incident form, if requested, must follow within 24 hours of the accident or incident.
In the event of a medical emergency taking place on board transport, you should stop the vehicle and calmly assess the situation.
If there's a VPA on the route, they should take on the role of the main carer for the child with the medical condition.
It should be clearly agreed between the Driver and VPA as to who will telephone to alert the Operator.
Remember other passengers may be anxious about a medical situation, so it's important that the situation is explained to them using words and phrases they will understand.
If there's a medical emergency on your journey:
The only exception would be if the child is having an epileptic seizure and you have been given an Epilepsy Care Plan, in which case you should follow the guidance for transport staff in the Plan.
If you're taken ill at the wheel you should try to pull the vehicle over safely and turn off the engine.
If you're travelling with a VPA, they must be aware of how to switch the engine off, so ensure that you have instructed them on this.
Where you can, contact your Operator to advise them of the situation.
Where an attempt has been made to drop a child home and there's no reply from the place of residence, the Driver should contact the Operator. The Driver or VPA should remain with the child or young person and await further instruction from the Home to School Transport team.