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To: South Lanarkshire Council

Save our Free School Transport

Not to go ahead with the proposal of increasing the qualification for entitlement to free mainstream school transport for secondary pupils from more than 2
miles to more than 3 miles (4,827m).

Why is this important?

I strongly believe that this increased distance is to far too expect a child to walk to school, never mind the weather conditions such as the rain and snow. Our children will be tired, cold and maybe even soaked through before they even start school. How can we then expect our children to be able to learn when tired, cold and wet?

Thanks to the council amalgamating many schools, the distance that need to be travelled are now much further for many pupils.
Many of the children will have to leave the house around 7.30 am to arrive at school for 8.40 and then will not get home until after 4 pm on the days they finish at 3 pm and after 5 when they finish at 4 pm. This would mean that in the winter months they will be expected to walk in the dark under the underpasses and unsupervised as many of the parents will be at work. This is not to mention the overly heavy school bags that they are expected to carry which would also add to tiredness, increased stress and potential health problems such as bad backs, posture and sore feet. Furthermore the children are then expected to complete homework whilst tired and with dramatically compromised concentration levels.

Many of the routes to the schools do not have adequate pedestrian walk ways and many areas do not benefit from having regular public buses which can transport children to school. On a normally day the amount of traffic in and around our schools is already extremely heavy. If these plans are approved then there is likely to be more congestion and more danger as parents are forced to transport their children to school themselves.

Many parents will simply not be able to ensure that their children can get to school safely as they will have to leave early themselves, to get to work. This will impact family life as the parents may have to reduce their working hours or give up work completely.

How it will be delivered

Deliver them in person

South Lanarkshire Council

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Updates

2015-04-10 15:45:14 +0100

500 signatures reached

2015-04-01 17:03:29 +0100

100 signatures reached

2015-03-31 22:51:40 +0100

50 signatures reached

2015-03-31 19:41:27 +0100

25 signatures reached

2015-03-31 12:29:11 +0100

10 signatures reached

2015-03-30 14:11:20 +0100

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-our-free-school-transport