First Steps to Independence: Evaluating a Behaviourally Informed Travel Training Programme

今天的孩子们成长在艰难的时代。儿童服务的资金面临严重压力，心理健康问题越来越普遍，COVID大流行扰乱了英国各地的童年。特别受这种不利气候影响的一组儿童是有特殊教育需要和残疾的儿童（SEND）。诺福克郡议会（NCC）致力于确保所有患有SEND的儿童和青少年发挥他们的潜力并茁壮成长，并与东安格利亚大学（UEA）合作，继续改进和评估SEND儿童计划，旨在为他们提供青少年和成人生活的基本技能：独立旅行技能。独立旅行打开了社会活动、就业、教育或志愿服务机会的大门，有助于消除社会孤立，并最终支持个人实现和保持经济上活跃和充实的生活。目前提供的从家到学校的交通可能对环境有害，并对地方当局造成预算压力。在适当情况下，如果儿童和青年能够改用更环保、更健康和更可持续的交通方式（例如公共交通、骑自行车或步行），所有人都将受益。这是同类项目中的第一个，将评估行为科学指导下的独立旅行培训是否能够支持这些目标。成功的学生将是实现项目目标的关键，从领导随机对照试验（RCT）的拟议最终设计，与NCC密切合作，确保其适当实施，数据收集稳健，到领导试验数据分析。本项目的总体目标是在四个方面评估行为科学知识的独立旅行培训计划（针对SEND儿童，11岁以上）的影响：1。自主旅行的进展学校出勤率、行为和成绩。3 .非认知技能、行为和心理措施（如信心、自尊、生活质量、成人技能发展、风险规避）。更广泛的影响（例如，父母负担、亲子关系质量、地方当局支出）

Today's children are growing up in tough times. Funding for children's services is under serious pressure, mental health problems are increasingly common, and the COVID pandemic has disrupted childhoods across the UK. One group of children particularly affected by such adverse climates are those with special educational needs and disability (SEND). Norfolk County Council (NCC) are committed to ensure that all children and young people with SEND reach their potential and thrive and are working together with The University of East Anglia (UEA) to continue to improve and evaluate a programme for SEND children, which aims to equip them with a skill fundamental to a teenage and adult life: independent travel skills. Travelling independently unlocks the door to social activities, employment, education, or volunteering opportunities, helps to combat social isolation, and ultimately supports individuals to achieve and maintain an economically active and fulfilling life. Current home to school transport provision can be detrimental to the environment and contribute to budget pressures for local authorities. Where appropriate, if children and young people are able to switch to greener, healthier, and more sustainable modes of transport (e.g., public transport, cycling or walking), there could be benefits to all. This project, the first of its kind, will evaluate whether behavioural science informed independent travel training can support these goals. The successful student will be pivotal in achieving project objectives from leading the proposed final design of the randomised control trial (RCT), working closely with NCC to ensure it is implemented appropriately and that data collection are robust, to leading the trial data analysis.The overall aim of this project is to evaluate the impact of a behavioural science informed independent travel training programme (for SEND children, 11+ years old) in four dimensions: 1. Progress towards independent travel 2. School attendance, behaviour, and attainment 3. Non-cognitive skills, behavioural and psychological measures (e.g., confidence, self-esteem, quality of life, adult skill development, risk-aversion) 4. Broader impacts (e.g., parental burden, child-parent relationship quality, Local Authority expenditure)