Please see the letter below looking for parents and carers who wish to volunteer some time for a short interview with a University of Manchester PhD candidate who is doing a research study on Home-to-School Transport for students with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND).

Dear Ma’am/Sir,

My name is Ozioma Paul, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Manchester. I am researching challenges in home-to-school transport, with a focus on large-scale routing inclusive of special needs students and heterogeneous fleets in the Northwest of England. A key part of this study is to identify the criteria and constraints that are relevant to the different stakeholders and other features that are characteristic of England’s school bus system.

We are looking to speak with members of the SEND board from local government councils. This includes but is not limited to parents and carers, education and/or health specialists, and social workers. This chat would be around 30 minutes to get more information on industry standards, government regulations and policies, and professional recommendations on home-to-school travel for SEND pupils. My project presents potential time and cost savings for parents/children and policymakers. Participants in this study have an opportunity to help shape and influence the design of new decision-making tools for home-to-school travel, especially for students with SEND.

If you would like to chat on this, please send an email to ozioma.paul@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk or feel free to ring me at +44 7926 515379. I will be happy to take a call to answer any questions/concerns you may have. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
Ozioma

We are aware of the need to further improve school travel for children and young people with SEND so, hopefully, the findings of this study can help in some way towards that.