With a challenging variety of pupils to get to school, West Berkshire Council needed to find the right training for its drivers and passenger assistantsThe challenge: At West Berkshire Council the Transport Services Team is responsible for taking some 2,500 pupils to school every day. They do this through 237 transport contracts including 126 taxis, 51 minibuses and 2 ambulances. Pupils are also placed on 30 different local bus contracts. In addition, the council has a small in-house team of PRU drivers who transport pupils to their pupil referral units. Mathew Metcalfe is Transport Officer for West Berkshire Council: "Our pupils range in age from 4 to 18.Their transport requirements are diverse. For example, some need wheelchair accessible transport and others present challenging behaviour. So we have a wide range of diversity in transport operations and a wide diversity in the pupils / clients that they serve. I needed a training programme that would be right for staff who work in such a challenging and varied environment?" Matthew Metcalf wanted a training course that met the needs of the drivers and passenger assistants. This meant that there must be a choice in the units that make up the training course so it can be tailor made for the individual. It also had to be deliverable to the staff, at a time and format relevant to them. "We didn't want a class room based, theoretical study training course; we wanted on- the-job mentoring and guidance from people with the relevant experience. We wanted trainers who would commit fully to our drivers and passenger assistants, who would stick with them if for example, English was not their first language or reading did not come easily to them. Finally, we wanted a training scheme that was within our budget." The Solution: With all these very specific requirements, M2 Training needed to design not only a new course but a totally different method of delivery with a much more practical, on the job approach and which reflected the particular demands of Community Transport. The result: We are grateful to Matthew Metcalf for his support for the training programme we managed on his behalf for West Berkshire Council: "All of our training 'wants and wishes' were met through the friendships and contacts that we made with Train to Gain and M2 Training. The NVQ Level 2s in Road Passenger Vehicle Driving, and in Road Passenger transport qualifications can be dovetailed to meet the requirements of the individual. Yes, some of the units are compulsory, but there is ample room for choice amongst the other units needed to make up the qualification. We specifically advise that our drivers and passenger assistants take the unit Helping Passengers with Special Needs." Herts County Council trains all 286 CT drivers and escorts |