Transport

SESTA TRANSPORT PROVIDERS

Wairau Valley is serviced by three different transport providers under the MoE SESTA Scheme.   

Specialised School Transport Assistance (SESTA) is a Ministry of Education transport service that assists children and young people with safety and/or mobility needs that prevent them from travelling independently to school. While responsibility for getting students to and from school rests with the caregiver, the Ministry may provide assistance to make the journey as safe as practicable for the student. 

You can read more about SESTA here.

SESTA Transport is usually applied for at enrolment.  

It takes approximately 2-4 weeks to gain approval. 
When families are ready to start sending their child on a SESTA vehicle, we activate the approval with the allocated transport provider.  For some families this happens immediately, for others, a period of transitioning needs to take place.  We recommend starting a learner off by travelling home on a vehicle so that the parent or caregiver is there to receive them.

Please read this brochure to check out your role in ensuring our learners are transported safely.

WVSS & SESTA Parent Responsibilities.pdf

HAVE YOU MOVED? 

Currently transport applications are taking up to 4 weeks to gain approval and be loaded into the Ritchies’ schedule. If you know you are going to be moving or need to add additional addresses for respite or extended family members, please contact us as soon as you know of the expected change. 

EARLY OR UNSCHEDULED PICKUPS: 

Please ensure you notify the office team if your child is going to be picked up early or will not be going on transport. It is the parents responsibility to communicate this information to both the driver and to school. 

RESPITE SCHEDULES: 

Please ensure you notify the office team if your child is going to respite. We need this information to ensure transport is arranged, should it fall on a school day. 

TRAVEL EQUIPMENT: 

Seats, harnesses, buckle guards, etc. 

Did you know that your child’s travel equipment is unique to them? This means that it cannot and should not be shared with other students at WVSS. 

If you lose your child’s transport equipment, it is your responsibility to get your child to and from school until the missing item is found or replaced. WVSS cannot provide extra equipment to cover lost items. 

Spare “Angel guards” can be purchased from: https://www.buckleup.co.nz/product/angel-guard-buckle-guard.html

Spare “Buckle boss guards” can be purchased from: https://broomfish.co.nz/product/bbg/

Spare "Houdini Clip'n'lock" can be purchased from: https://www.supercheapauto.co.nz/p/houdini-houdini-clicknlock-seat-belt-buckle-guard/574550.html

Additional “Buckle guards” may be able to be accessed through school, please contact your Occupational Therapist directly for more details. 

NEED TO CONTACT US? 

We have a dedicated email address for all transport queries: transport@wvss.school.nz All emails sent to this address will be addressed promptly by a member of the admin team.