Parent and carer resources

We understand the role that parents and carers play in making travel training a success for young people. Your involvement and support is crucial for their development.

Here are some quick and easy things that you can do to help:

Talk about travel training - put aside some time, whenever it works best for you, to talk through elements of the training. You can do this in short bite-sized chunks using our helpful factsheets. You'll find these in the training section below.
Practise journey planning together - take the opportunity to plan simple journeys together such as going to the park or the local shop. This provides them with hands on experience that can significantly help to improve independent travel skills.
Agree a plan and set reminders - choose a regular time to work together on travel independence training. Put this in your diary and set reminders for yourself to ensure consistent learning support takes place. This will help your young person see that you are prioritising their learning.

We've designed the resources below to support you. They'll give you ideas to encourage your young person to improve their knowledge or prepare for further training from the TITAN team.

You can also use them individually to work on skills that may help your young person or use them all together in the recommended order.

Learning to become more independent can be an anxious time, so cover as much as you feel comfortable with.

Don't try and cover everything all in one go. Break each factsheet down in a way that works for your young person and you. Remember, small steps make big changes!

Contact us

We'd love to hear from you. If you need more information or just want to let us know how you are getting on, you can email us at titan@norfolk.gov.uk.

Help to support your child's travel training

Pedestrian skills

Most of us use pedestrian skills on a regular basis. Your own good practice will help start to embed good skills for your son or daughter. Brush up on your own skills and practice together as much as you can.

Download the pedestrian skills factsheet (PDF, 771 KB)

Communication skills

Every day you communicate with your son or daughter in different ways. This is an ideal way to embed skills that will be useful when traveling independently.

Focus on how you want to communicate when they are independent and how often.

Download the communications skills factsheet (PDF, 598 KB)

Personal health, safety and wellbeing

It's important to develop your son or daughter's awareness of their personal safety, health and wellbeing. This will prepare them for independent travel.

The more you discuss and rehearse scenarios with them, the more confident they'll be in managing their anxiety and ability to be a safe traveller.

Download the personal safety, health and wellbeing factsheet (PDF, 707 KB)

Problem solving

The ability to solve problems is an important life skill for young people. You can help your son or daughter develop these skills by using them at home.

Practise simple problems that happen in everyday life, then talk about what problems might arise when travelling. This way they're ready for any challenge!

Download the problem solving factsheet (PDF, 650 KB)

Journey planning

We've provided some advice for you on how to develop your son or daughter's journey planning skills. This is in preparation for them travelling independently to a new school or post-16 education establishment. Talk through the different elements and take time to practice whenever possible.

Download the journey planning skills factsheet (PDF, 634 KB)

Journey practice

Every journey you take with your son or daughter is an opportunity to embed independent travel skills.

Use journeys to practise all kinds of skills, from planning to learning landmarks. Also, taking time to regularly practice part or all of their new journey will help embed their independent travel skills. Remember, small steps make big changes!

Download the journey practice skills factsheet (PDF, 629 KB)