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AIBU?

to think that using the local secondary school where children can walk to

155 replies

catham · 06/09/2013 21:51

should be what every parent aspires to

today driving past my sons school (where he walks to) i was pretty horrified at the amount of cars lined up outside to pick up their little darlings, most who could probably walk up the road a mile or so where there i less congestion.

why do so many parents have to drive their kids to school? i imagine that as its the start of term so many parents are paranoid that their kids can't walk home alone but they will learn if we let them!

waffling sorry but cars are more dangerous to our kids than letting them make their own way to and from school.

OP posts:
waltzingmathilda · 06/09/2013 21:53

No thank you. I woulnt dream of sending another of my children to the local cess pit. I prefer to drive them somewhere more civilised. But thank you for the thought.

TBH if a few parked cars 'horrify' you I simply dread to think what would happen if you got a life.

thisisyesterday · 06/09/2013 21:55

it depends where you live. i grew up in a village where the nearest school was several miles away. as a matter of fact i took the bus, but if we'd had a car i have no doubt my mum would have dropped us off/picked us up

then there are all the parents who work school hours and do a drop off/pick up on their way to and from work.

thisisyesterday · 06/09/2013 21:56

also, we chose our current house because it was in a good catchment for primary schools.

our nearest secondary however is dire! so we'll probably end up driving the kids to secondary when they eventually go

catham · 06/09/2013 21:56

i am 'horrified' as i think an accident will probably happen soon as the parents park and drive so badly. thanks for the comment though

happy you feel the need to diss your local school so badly though, do you live in a particularly shite area waltzing?

OP posts:
ReallyTired · 06/09/2013 21:57

I think you should direct your attention to parents who use cars to drive their chidlren 100 metres to primary school.

"today driving past my sons school (where he walks to) i was pretty horrified at the amount of cars lined up outside to pick up their little darlings, most who could probably walk up the road a mile or so where there i less congestion. "

Surely you are adding to the congestion. Prehaps you should leave your car at home.

Next Friday ds needs his guitar, PE kit and cooking stuff. I am planing on being kind and giving a lift. I don't care what anyone else thinks as he walked there and back evert day this week.

hillyhilly · 06/09/2013 21:57

My dd walks from her junior school (with me) most days but on the days she has another activity - singing or swimming, I drive to collect her

everlong · 06/09/2013 21:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EndoplasmicReticulum · 06/09/2013 21:58

My nearest secondary is still 5 miles away. I suppose they could walk, but it's A roads with no pavement so I wouldn't think it would be safe. I'm intending to send them on the bus, if that helps.

fffinsake · 06/09/2013 21:59

I think from the perspective of health it's actually a really important consideration. All these young people doing no physical activity from 9 until 4. At least if they can get to school under their own steam they've done something positive for their health. And it becomes part of life, just moving.

Not much good being a star pupil if your lifespan is shortened by obesity and poor fitness.

catham · 06/09/2013 22:00

i was driving somewhere else Grin i was just caught up in the congestion, which was pretty bad.

that's the thing that worries me, that amount of cars and bad parking and aggressive parents outside the school. i know it isn't just my local school as it happens everywhere but i think we should encourage kids to walk or at least ban parents from parking quite so near the school entrance.

OP posts:
filee777 · 06/09/2013 22:00

I wouldn't have time in the morning to walk my children to school, walk back and then get in the car to get to work.

catham · 06/09/2013 22:04

the government (years ago) were planning safer routes for kids to gain access to play areas, they should make all school routes safe for kids with more lollipop people and zebra crossings. I really think it's worth investing in this as so much research exists on how kids are more willing to learn once they have had physical exercise before school.

seems a no brainer yet nothing is being formularised so far.

a mumsnet campaign would be so good for something like this.

OP posts:
sonlypuppyfat · 06/09/2013 22:10

Last year when it snowed my children were horrified that they had to struggle to school. They leave home at 8.30 and get there at 8.32 so far

Snoopingforsoup · 06/09/2013 22:13

Oooh, what about the ones who move into the catchment to secure a place at the best primary in the borough, then move home after allocation and drive to school every day?

Double-whammy!

Loads of that near us. The catchment must be a few streets by now it's so over-subscribed but the amount of traffic parents hold up at the gates with their poor 'other-people' and lack of Highway Code knowledge is quite terrifying on many levels!

TeaLadyExtraordinaire · 06/09/2013 22:13

My friend used to drive her children to primary every day, and pick them up without fail. The school was 400 yards away with only one minor road to cross.

EndoplasmicReticulum · 06/09/2013 22:20

Mine walk to primary every day, it's 5 minutes. Neighbour drives hers. As we can cut through a footpath it's actually quicker to walk (well we might have been running a bit, we were racing her!)

Lancelottie · 06/09/2013 22:20

Hey ho.

Well, y'know, we thought that for a while. Sent DS to the only school there was a bus to.

He was bullied into a state of misery, so we moved him. DD has just joined him there, and yes, the pickups are a bit of a pain. Less of a problem than the weekly crisis meetings about his mental health, though.

deebeeandboys · 06/09/2013 22:22

I don't know what our local secondary is like. I know it's not quite as good as the one my children go to. We also drive two of our children to the primary. It's walkable (we've done it once- took 2 hours- I reckon I could do it in less as that was dh's chair speed- one way used a full charge)- if I wanted to spend hours a day walking. We used to live just on the cut-off for the school bus to the secondary- the older ones walked, we did 6 miles everyday. It both ruined my hips and saved them- I had SPD, am now not quite as wrecked as I suppose I would have been otherwise- but it wasn't fun. We have reasons to not change their schools to the nearest one (nothing to do with the schools).

We used to walk past the idiot people dropping their children off outside the secondary/picking them up at 3pm- on the zigzags. It's dangerous- as a pedestrian and driving past, but safer driving- we're in a minibus- but it's amazing the amount of parents who pull straight out into oncoming traffic Hmm We've had scary near misses- one parent nearly hit the pram as they 'parked' up on the pavement- one grandparent REVERSED at my dh's wheelchair when we asked him to move off the pavement he was parked over and blocking... We make our older two walk to the primary to fetch them, not picking them up outside the school! But outside the secondary is an accident waiting to happen.

NonnoMum · 06/09/2013 22:25

I DO send my children to the nearest school, near enough to walk. But I have to drop them off in a car for breakfast club and then race off in the other direction to get to work.

Dahlen · 06/09/2013 22:26

This was always the inevitable result of allowing parents choice when it came to schools. Instead, money should have been diverted to ensure that all state secondaries met the same standards so that parents didn't have to either move or drive their DC to a good school. Would have been much fairer on the children of parents who could afford to do neither, too.

That said, the intakes for secondaries are much wider than those for primaries, and many children will live further than is considered normal walking distance even if they are within the catchment area.

JustGiveMeFiveMinutes · 06/09/2013 22:27

Ds1 walks to secondary now. It's about 20 minutes away. I don't always walk with ds 2 but I try to as much as possible.

I know a woman who drives her DC to school. It's no more than 200 metres from her house Confused Hmm

SuffolkNWhat · 06/09/2013 22:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

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grumpyoldbat · 06/09/2013 22:40

our nearest secondary is about 8miles away. Most of it is along a 60mph road without a pavement. It will take absolute minimum 2 hrs to walk. By 1st Oct sunrise will be after 7am. By 27th Oct sunset will be before 5pm. How safe do you reckon that walk will be?

My dd will get the bus because in my lazy, ignorant opinion, not very safe at all. She can't go to a closer one, there isn't one.

Having said that there's no excuse for idiotic parking or agressive behaviour. If parking regulations were enforced then dropping off would be quicker and safer for everyone.

ilovesooty · 06/09/2013 22:44

My father used to drop me off at high school as it was on his route to work. I used to walk the 3 miles home though.

littlemog · 06/09/2013 22:47

Do you not think that your 'horror' at the sight of cars may have been a slight over reaction?

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