Sir is now in year 11, which is classed as part of the upper school, thus 6th Form – how scary is that.. he’s only just turned 15 but they put years 11-14 together. His school polo shirt now has 6th Form under the school logo. The timetable he follows mainly focuses on life skills such as cooking, housework, travelling on buses, how to handle money and work experience. He does do Maths, English and ICT but only on Mondays.
His teacher sent a note home asking if we could get him a bus pass ready for the new term.
Obtaining the bus pass was in fairness very easy, the only difficulty was Sir’s reluctance (refusal) to enter the library to have his photo taken, we eventually enticed him in with the promise of seeing the desk fan with three speeds that the staff keep behind the desk. The pass arrived about a week later through the post.
I’d never had to get a buss pass of any sort before so here are the things I learnt during this process:
You apply for the pass in person at the local library – this is the case for Staffordshire  , you’d need to check with your local council or the school.
The person who the pass is for will need to be with you.
If the person has Disability Living Allowance/PIP take one of the letters they send with you.
If the person is only on Lower Mobility Allowance, you may get told they can’t have the pass. I explained that Sir’s school had asked me to get him one. They asked me if I had any paperwork with the school name on to prove he went there – I didn’t. I would advise you take a school headed letter of some sort with you just in case. I did explain that Sir’s disability is a Learning Disability not a Physical one.
I was asked if he needed someone with him when travelling – obviously I said yes. Make sure whoever is dealing with your request ticks the carer box on the form. This means that whoever travels with the pass holder can travel for free, be it teachers, carers or yourself.
They took his photo and that was that! He was very proud when his pass arrived 🙂 I got him a travel card wallet from Amazon (cost me all of £1.50) so now he is all set.
