SMOT Strategy Document

their academic and social needs and the accessibility of transport from their home address.
Parents and carers are fully involved in this process and all have supported the pilot.
The pilot will be extended down to the KS3 (currently Year 9) students who attend The Albany.
Of the 37 students on roll at The Albany, 4 live locally and do not qualify for transport, 2 are
currently taxied in (a Year 9 student and the Year 11 student mentioned above). The rest
access their education utilising public transport.
Initial findings are:
1. Most students taking part in the PTB live more than 10 miles from The Albany, and
therefore qualify for the highest level of personal travel budget of £5,000. There are also
several students, who qualify for the middle band of personal budget of £3,000, as they
live between 5 and 10 miles from the Albany.
2. Analysis of the students’ current attendance (as compared to their baseline attendance
on entry to The Albany, and compared to last year, where all students came to school in
taxis), shows that introducing the pilot has not impacted directly on student attendance.
However, there has been some impact on punctuality due to late running or cancelled
public transport. In a very small number of cases, students deliberately choosing to catch
a later bus or train.
3. An initial verbal evaluation of the scheme with students suggests that they enjoy the
freedom and flexibility they now have.
4. There were initial concerns that the weather may impact on attendance (i.e. very wet or
cold days would lead to a reduced attendance). There is no anecdotal evidence to
suggest this has been the case. It is hard to provide empirical evidence of this.
5. There have been very few incidents of antisocial behaviour, which had initially been a
significant concern given the nature of The Albany provision. The Albany has recently
added the expectations of behaviour in public spaces and the role of British Transport
Police into their PHSE curriculum to support the PTB pilot.
Overall, it had been a very positive start to the pilot with very rapid engagement from both
students and their parents. The extra independence gained by students had been beneficial.
There is confidence that young people as they plan for their Post-16 pathways will be able to
use their independent travel skills to engage in training and employment in the future.
Footnotes:
References to DfE Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice 0-
25 years (January 2015) on Personal Budgets:
52