About independent travel training, eligibility and how to refer a child or young person.
Our Independent Travel Training (ITT) Programme is a free programme to help children and young people in Bristol to build confidence and develop skills for safe and independent travel.
Training includes:
- road safety
- how to use a bus pass
- safe boarding of a bus or train
Before a referral is made a child or young person should already have a level of independence such as being able to cross the road or walking to their local shop.
The child or young person will be taught skills on appropriate social behaviour, and strategies to problem solve in real-time and unexpected situations which may happen when travelling.
Independent Travel Training develops self-esteem and confidence and improves a child or young person's ability to become an active and independent member of their community. As well as building confidence in their own abilities the training includes learning about:
- opportunities to develop important social skills and learning how to cope in situations
- what to do in an emergency
- time and money management skills
- journey planning skills
- road and personal safety skills
- how to independently travel to school or college to increase social, education and work opportunities
We work one-to-one with children and young people from mainstream, special schools, colleges of further education and pupil referrals units. Our service is designed to:
- to meet the specific needs of each individual
- be at a pace that suits the child or young person's needs
- be held during term time and school and college holidays
- support independent travel to school or college
The child or young person's training is complete only when they can safely and confidently travel independently to and from their school or college.
Eligibility
To qualify for ITT, the child or young person must:
- be between 11 and 25 years of age or aged 16 to 25 and in post-16 education
- have an Education, Health and Care Plan/EHCP, an identified Special Educational Needs and/or Disability (SEND)
- be entitled to our travel support to school or college
Potential routes for the home-to-school journey will be risk assessed by our travel trainers to make sure the route is safe, does not take an unreasonable amount of time or require multiple changes.
As well as a route assessment, there will be further individual assessments to ensure the safety of the child or young person at all times.
Our aim is to focus on children and young people who have a basic level of independence and the ability to develeop their skills to a level where they can travel independently on public transport to or from school or college.
The trainer
When a child or young person has been accepted onto our independent travel training programme, they will be assigned a qualified travel trainer. The travel trainer will work with the with the child or young person's school, teacher and parents or carers to make sure they are comfortable and learning at each step of the programme. We'll regularly review your child or young person's progress.
Refer a child or young person
If you, your child, or a young person that you know meets the eligibility criteria and would like to consider ITT training fill in a referral form.
We aim to contact you about your application within 4 working weeks from receiving the referral. We'll share more information about what we can offer and when we'll have space to work with your child or young person.
Refer a child or young person for independent travel training