h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

it wasn't until it was a done deal that I heard that with the student fees increase the EMA will be abolished just as Teenacher needs it.

If I'd realised before (yes, should be more attentive) then I'd have been out there protesting. His school doesn't have a 6th form, so we won't be eligible for school transport for college. Teenacher DOES NOT LIKE travelling on public transport because of the other teeangers/children and it might have helped him with costs for a scooter (if he can balance, never got round to learning to ride a bike).

No I don't want him on a scooter either, but if he won't go on public transport and both his dad and I work I can't think of any other way until he's 17 and can start his driving lessons.

that sucks.

But the protests are still on.

Seems a bit late now it's a done thing.

None of my kids got EMA A lot of those that did simply turned up for registration to get paid and did sod all work, aside from make nuisances of themselves for those who genuinely wanted to progress in higher education.

Give me laddo a bit of Empire We all have tolerate difficulties if we genuinely want to get to where we would like to be. A trip on public transport is hardly as stressful as a visit by the Ton Ton Macouts. Yoou want to go onto higher education, get a grip lad and accept some personal responsibility, hte world does not revolve around you!

Scooters = death-traps, serious injury at best. Car insurance = extortianately high insurance premiums, ask my money pit passed her test at just 17, now at University and no I am not going to pay for car and insurance All part of growing up and realising everything in life will not be handsed to you on a plate

You should have asked me!

Just because the payment called EMA is going, it doesn't mean there won't be financial support for post 16 students who need it. There always has been! Way back in the dark mists of time when I took my own A levels (1976-78) I was given money by Essex to do so.

So, investigate whether he's eligible for funding from the Learner Support fund or a Disabled Student allowance or similar discretionary support. There is still money. It just has a different name.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/AdultLearning/FinancialHelpForAdultLearners/DG_10033131

A little bit more investigation and I think J will be fine. The enhanced discretionary learner support funding will be targetted exactly at people like him, and the government aim to have 3 times more money in this provision than there is at the moment.

I imagine the plan is to have a streamlined system, with money still available but not such a confusing variety of ways to apply for it.

Mina - I'm sorry, I can't remember, and heaven knows I ought to be able to (I'll have to plead flu) - is Teenacher statemented? And if so has the transition planning started?

They did slip in the end of EMA unnoticed, didn't they? I assume this would have paid for a taxi to and from college?

I think you've underestimated the issue with public transport, norti. Obviously nobody *enjoys* being squashed in a steamy bus with a load of noisy people. But it's much more than that. For some of us it's a complete pit-of-the-stomach thing causing extreme stress, even terror. I will walk miles to avoid that situation - or, even better, arrange my life so that the situation simply isn't part of it. After a couple of decades of practice, I can now cope if it's unavoidable, but I'm extremely anxious about it beforehand, and need recovery time afterwards. I couldn't have done it at J's age and being forced to do it wouldn't have helped.

That said, it might be worth thinking about coping mechanisms. I have always found trains easier than buses because I found it was usually possible to get on at exactly the same door each day and sit in the same seat, and then by pretending to fall asleep (sometimes actually doing so) I was able to block out the visual chaos of being surrounded by people - and nowadays there are MP3s etc to use which block out the noise. But I was travelling with adult commuters not other young people. What I suppose I'm saying is, it might be worth thinking about what exactly it is about public transport that causes the problems and then what if anything could be done to reduce them.

Mol

how far does he have to go???

whats wrong with a pushbike??

As mentioned Teenacher can't ride a bike. College won't be that far, but will certainly be out of town, between 10 & 20 miles away depending on which one he chooses.

If he could have Got a Grip, trust me, he would have by now, he's not being picky. It's not the transport he has a problem with, it's the kids on the he can't deal with.

Thanks to Coely and Mol for their helpful suggestions - it wouldn't have paid for a taxi, it's not enough, but it might have paid for an unemployed uncle to escort him a few times a week! Teenacher has a bus pass so he doesn't have transport costs if we could only get him on a bus!

Yes he is statmented, I think something is going on with transitions, but he'd been counting out his money and included the EMA in his 'calculations'.

OK. Transition should start at 14+ and is the process for putting in place what happens at 16+. If Teenacher is also a 'child in need' (ie with social services input because of disability) then social services should also be involved (the key change with social services actually happens at 18+ when the child transfers to adult services but the two transition processes are supposed to run together).

Several things can happen at 16+ (ie the end of compulsory education) and the point about transition is to work out which is the best thing to do *for Teenacher*. He should have a Connexions personal adviser and be involved in the planning himself.

In crude terms the choices are:

Leave education altogether. Almost all professionals will work their nuts off to avoid this unless there is a definite job offer on the table, otherwise Teenacher becomes a NEET (Not in Education Employment or Training) statistic.

Transfer to college. Council stops maintaining the statement. It MUST issue a decision saying it will cease to maintain the statement and if you disagree with the decision you must appeal. Professionals will generally steer in this direction if possible.

Continue at a school. Council continues to maintain the statement (and therefore provide transport if currently provided). This is the most expensive option for the council. I would guess (although I don't know) that by and large the children who continue at school at this stage are the ones at special schools with severe and complex learning disabilities.

The final decision on what is to happen at 16+ must be made and issued by February in the academic year before the transfer. So if Teenacher is due to leave school in July 2012, the amended statement naming the new school, or the decision to cease to maintain the statement, must be issued by February 2012, so there is time to appeal before the September when the new arrangements begin.

So, working backwards from that, the annual review of the statement *before* February 2012 is the one at which the transfer should be discussed and finalised.

And for *that* to happen, the *previous* annual review - which is likely to have been in 2010 for a September 2012 transfer - should have included clear discussion about the options, and some consideration of what would be best for Teenacher and how that should be achieved. Transport should be part of that consideration although you will probably need to present it quite forcefully, and any medical, psychological or documented anecdotal evidence you have of Teenacher's difficulties in accessing public transport need to be part of that.

Hope that's helpful ... if Teenacher is a July 2012 leaver, and his 2010 annual review didn't really cover this, then you could ask for an interim review (saying that the abolition of the EMA is likely to affect the options available to him and you weren't aware of this at the time of the annual review). If you ask now, with a view to getting a date in March (ie after the council has finished processing all the current transfer statements in February), then the council and Connexions should be able to accommodate this, and there's still a reasonable amount of time to sort things out.

I have a several cases at the moment about transition - without exception, absolutely appalling stories of children already hugely disadvantaged - so I know a lot more about it than I did a year ago. It also gives me a really skewed perspective though because of course we only see the problems, not the thousands of cases every year that proceed perfectly acceptably.

Mol

Pardon Mina, there were obviously issues there I wasn't aware of I can't stand kids either, especially other peoples, so he has my empathy