For children at Southfield Primary Academy, a Variety Sunshine Coach is far more than transport. It is access to education.

Based in Luton, the primary school supports pupils aged 4 to 11 with a range of additional needs, from physical and medical to speech, visual and communication challenges.

Dedicated teachers work closely with families to support every child’s individual development. But for some parents, just getting their children to school is a challenge. 

The complexity of their child’s needs can make leaving the house a daily struggle. Financial pressures add further barriers to travel, while public transport is not always a suitable or safe option for vulnerable children.

Instead, teachers often drove to pupils’ homes in their own cars to ensure they made it to school. Without that support, some children would be left at home: missed education, lost development, children deprived of the opportunities only a school can provide.

And every journey meant fewer teachers available to teach in the classroom.

With no vehicle of their own, Southfield also borrowed coaches from other schools or hired vehicles for longer trips. But availability was unpredictable. 

Trips were frequently cancelled last minute. Visits to the cinema or local swimming pool, or bigger excursions to London, were often abandoned when transport fell through. 

For many pupils, it meant missing experiences they wouldn’t otherwise have had. Without reliable transport, the world for some children rarely stretched beyond their own street.

In 2025, Variety, the Children’s Charity stepped in to help, providing Southfield Primary Academy with a Sunshine Coach. The difference was immediate. 

Now, instead of teachers leaving the classroom to collect pupils from their homes, the school has a reliable way to ensure children arrive at school ready to learn. The Sunshine Coach is currently used three times a week and transports around 30 pupils. 

For teacher Katherine Green, the impact on the children has been clear:

“We can see a great impact in their concentration and their learning, and in their attendance as well.” 

Aside from ensuring children can attend school every day, the Sunshine Coach is opening up the world around them too, and at no cost to the parents. 

“We’ve got them out to so many more places and events than before and we haven’t had to burden the parents with a cost. 

“We’ve been to the cinema, an ice show, the beach, the zoo, the planetarium when they were learning about space. We’ve been able to get out for more sports and competitions. With our topic of local history, they’re able to go and see the areas of Luton that we’re talking about.”

One moment in particular stands out for Katherine. “I think my favourite trip was the first time we went out with the student council,” she recalls. 

“The students were talking afterwards about how amazing the Coach was and how lucky they were. The students were just so excited.” 

These Sunshine Coach trips represent opportunities that many of the children might otherwise never experience. For some, even exploring their own town is something new. 

“For a lot of our disadvantaged children who wouldn’t be able to do those trips with their parents, they’re at least able to get them now. 

“A lot of them haven’t travelled any further than the local shops, they’re going out and about and even seeing more of their local area. 

“This is significant because they’re getting more life experiences, they feel a lot happier, they feel calmer in class. Our school attendance is better.” 

Katherine has seen a reduction in the students’ anxiety, particularly for children with social, emotional and mental health needs. One student, for example, did not speak until a sporting outing; now his speech is improving.

Parents feel reassured too: “The parents are often thanking us…they know their children are going in smaller groups with an adult that they trust,” Katherine explains. 

And with less anxiety and more experiences, children are developing everyday life skills that many of us take for granted. As a result, confidence and independence are on the up. 

“It sets them up with life skills. Even just moving around and crossing a road, being aware in public areas. It’s definitely made them more safe.”

“I’m taking some children to London, to the theatre. They’ll have to be independent which they wouldn’t have before. A lot of the children are talking about what they’ve done, they’re asking to go on these trips again. It has made them feel more confident about travelling. Their parents have mentioned that they’re a bit more independent at home.”

Katherine has witnessed the impact for teachers too, “I think it’s made the concepts much easier to teach for the children…A lot of them are more trusting of members of staff now because they’ve been out with them.”

The Sunshine Coach has quickly become part of the daily school rhythm. What once felt like a special event is now something pupils can rely on.

“The Coach has now become a normal part of school life, but when we go out the students say ‘Oh, do we get to go on our Coach?’ They’re still excited to go out on it,” Katherine adds.

Southfield’s next trip will take the students to the coast. It will be the furthest many of them have ever travelled, “We’re going to Cornwall with the Sunshine Coach. They’re really looking forward to it; it’s somewhere they wouldn’t necessarily have got to go.”

Thanks to the Sunshine Coach, experiences that were once out of reach are now a reality, opening doors to everyday learning, independence and practical life skills every child should have.