Driving to school

[Sallyssss]

Hi, who does it, and how long does it take? How do your children feel about it?

We are moving and in our new home we will mean driving to school. One school would take us about 25 minutes each way, another one (private) would take us 5 mins. My children are both very little - nusery and yr1.

I am just wondering how they will cope?

[Sallyssss]

Riven - thats why i am thinking of a private school as we are not happy with the choice of school that is local to us!

[emy72]

Our kids go to a school 7 miles away, takes us 10 minutes drive (then parking, walking etc the school run generally takes quite a bit). they are nursery and reception. TBH they are not bothered by it at all - the school has quite a big catchement so loads of people drive.

[MABS]

25 minutes drive each way to dd and ds school,no problem at all for us.

[THK]

We drive 45 minutes - cherish the chance to have time to talk listen to news and discuss the world.

[LIZS]

2 mins - would walk but no footpath and ladened with bags or instruments each time. We did 25 min drives when dd was in Reception/ds Year3 - it was too much and was an influence in moving to current house. She coped ok stamina wise but it felt too long to spend in the car and was a nightmare when traffic or weather was bad. They did very few playdates and their classmates could easily live just as far away in the opposite direction so parties etc were a real jaunt out.

[Lizcat]

DD is an independant school and has caught the school bus since she was in reception as the drive in and out is terrible. We also have a great community spirit among the mums if there is a party after school and I am working I will have a whole host of mums offering to take my DD to the party for me and equally I have done it at weekends for girls with siblings who have other commitments.
As for after school clubs and things many schools like ours include after school care in their fees for exactly this reason. It is not uncommon now for private school fees now to provide wrap around care 8 to 6. Interestingly my total childcare bill including school fees has dropped compared to nursery.

[Clary]

25 mins each way in a car is a long old time and distance. Is that what you mean or 25 mins walk?

Are you moving to a very rural area? It doesn't sound great in lots of ways - not so much the driving as the distance and resultant logistical complexities (eg re playdates etc).

[MABS]

25 mins in car for us, great indep school, defo worth it .

[LIZS]

The other factor is the time commitment for you - the best part of 2 hours in the car each day which rather limits opportunities to work, for example, unless near to school -and the cost of petrol/wear and tear - I was doing over 150 miles a week just on the school run.

[VerityBrulee]

I spend 2 and a half hours on the school run every day. I am used to it now although I found the driving very tiring for the first few months.

I agree with THK, I make the most of the time to chat to my dc, we have had a lot of interesting discussions while sitting in traffic

[Hulababy]

DD's school is 3-4 miles away from home. DH takes her by car in the morning on his way to work. He would be passing the gate anyway so not out of his way, only difference is he has to park up for 5 minutes to take her in. Takes 10-15 minutes in a morning.

I collect her by car in the evening, takes 10 minutes each way.

Almost all children in DD's school go by car as most don't live local (private primary). It is their norm and they don't know any different. It doesn't bother DD.

[Clary]

Do you know I have been thinking about this.

There is a difference between choosing to drive to school 15 mins away (like Hula does) and a school 25minsdrive away being the only (state) option.

where are you OP? If I considered all schools withint 25 mins' driving distance of me I would genuinely be looking at at least 60 or 70 primary schools. Probably more.

I do live in a city but also on the edge of quite a rural area. What a nightmare to be living 15-20 miles from school! Can you move to somewhere else OP?

[MABS]

best school for disabled ds tho Riven

[Sallyssss]

Basically we are moving from where we live to 25 mins away. The schools where we are moving are full or not great (ofsted and stats), so are options are to keep our daughter at the school she is at or go private. We can afford private but do like her going to a community school. So, just deciding what to do!

[stealthsquiggle]

There are plenty of pupils at DS's (independent) school who do that sort of journey. DS does 10-15mins in car - and would do the same to closest state school. It's useful time for me - CDs mean that times table practice/singing practice happens in the car and is much easier than it would be at home - it also gives him time to get his head in 'school mode' in the morning. There is no denying that the time and diesel mounts up, though - especially with 2 DC with different finish times. I know people doing 25mins+ struggle with that - a lot of them end up hanging around with smaller DC waiting an hour for older DC - because by the time they drove home they would have to turn around and come back again. Lots of car-pooling results (one mother picks up 2* younger siblings, the other gets older ones) - so if you leave DC in their current state school and move that distance I think you would struggle, as you would presumably be pretty much the only family in that position.

[Clary]

Oh well yr last post makes it make more sense - as in, there are schools nearer than that. Thought it was a bit surprising if not!

OK well I live in a small city; if I moved to somewhere 25 mins drive from the DCs' school I would certainly have them move schools (unless I planned to move back again within a year or so) - especially if they were FS1 and y1 ie quite young.

The schools that are full - any chance of a place? The schools that are not great - any chance they are actually OK? I would do a lot to avoid a 25-min drive tbh.

[MABS]

no transport available as ds has no statement and we pay fully for his indep school