Successful initiative helps teenagers use public transport with confidence in Lincolnshire
56 students with special educational needs have completed the training since January 2023
A training programme in Lincolnshire for teenagers with special educational needs, that helps them build up confidence to use public transport to get to school, is celebrating it's success.
Independent travel training, set up by Lincolnshire County Council, has had 56 students from SEND schools complete its initiative since January 2023.
It's also seen a 15-year-old student from Stamford who attends Bourne Academy receive a travel award.
Harvey, a student at Willoughby Academy in Bourne, has been working extremely hard with an LCC Independent Travel Trainer so that he is able to use public transport for independent travel.
Harvey has spent the past six months working with his Independent Travel Trainer Alison. Once a week, the pair have been putting in hours of travel theory, delivered in real time on a series of pre-planned routes, while walking and accessing public transport. Once Harvey felt ready to progress, the training then moved to using everyday buses to gain valuable practical experience.
His Trainer, Alison said:
“At the start of his training Harvey had to learn the route from home to school. This involved a walking route and a bus journey.
“In addition, he had to learn about road safety and how to travel on a public bus. This can come with specific challenges, and throughout his training, he learnt how to deal with all sorts of ‘What if?’ situations that included scenarios like missing a stop on the bus, or if an expected bus arrived late.
“As his training continued, Harvey became more confident with the routes to and from school, and it wasn’t long until he was travelling independently which has made such a difference to him and how he interacts with tasks that others can find straightforward.
“Harvey is quiet and thoughtful and has a wonderful ability to make you laugh. Something we found was that, even though Harvey can tire easily, he was determined and dug-in to continue his travel training each week, even when it was cold and raining.
“Together with the support of his family and the school Harvey completed his training and now travels to school independently. He has been an outstanding student to work with, a real pleasure, and is a great ambassador for the scheme.”
The transformation for Harvey has been an overriding positive which will continue to empower the student as he continues to learn. His mum, Kelly said: “Travel training has been a very valuable tool for Harvey. It has improved his confidence greatly.”
Transport officer Mike Reed hopes that Harvey’s success will inspire more to follow in his footsteps:
“Harvey is an exceptional young man. My team have worked with with him very closely in enabling him to transport himself from his home to his school in in Bourne.
“He's a real trailblazer for his school because he's the first one in Bourne Willoughby School who's gone through the programme and completed the training.
“He does like to keep himself to himself on his bus, which most of us do, but there is one individual that Harvey does like to go and sit near and he feels that that person is a safe person, which is a feeling we can all relate to”.
If you’d like to request Independent travel training for your child, you can refer them on the Lincolnshire County Council website.