How long is your school run for child in Year 3 / 4 / 5 / 6?

[nightsky010]

Im very interested to find out how long and simple or complicated other people's school runs are for DC in Years 3-6??

The background is that I'm choosing a school for a Year 3 DC and have a choice between:

• An amazing school 55 mins away (short walk to train, 15 min train then short taxi).
  

• A school I'm not very keen on which is 35-40 mins away (v short walk, 10-15 mins rush hour tube, then walk of 0.65 miles).
  

• A brilliant school at which DC could do a mix of boarding and staying with Grandparents / me at Grandparents house, which would mean a 2hr journey to and from London every Friday and Sunday (or occasionally Monday morning if I'm brave enough!!).
  

I know these sound like ridiculous choices, but due to SEN, job locations and budget these are our only options!

Please tell me YOUR journey times and methods so I can judge how crazy I am being!?

[teacherwith2kids]

Nightsky, have replied elsewhere.

It's probably worth saying , for other repliers, that it is not just the length of commute but the ultimate arrival times in school and the nature of each journey (e.g. taxi ride is through busy town centre and accompanying adult has to do it both ways, 2x a day) that are relevant to this poster.

[PittacusLore]

wow!

we're very lucky in that we can walk to our (state) school in 10 mins. It actually takes longer in the car. School is good, no real problems, not amazing by any stretch, but I feel the short journey time is very valuable. (currently yr6)

[BertrandRussell]

Did you not like the answers you got on your other thread?

Happy to ask the same questions, though. How will you get home in option 1?

Which will you be happy for him to do by himself- presumably you're not going to take him when he's 11?

Do you ever have to go back to school in the evening for events? What happens if he has to stay late for rehearsals/matches/detentions?

Are you happy to spend 4 hours of your day minimum travelling?

[teacherwith2kids]

FWIW, for the 2 different primaries (state) DS attended:

• First one was about 0.75 mile walk / scoot - village school. On same site as pre-school, which DD attended. Highly social journey, as whole village doing the same thing.
  

• Second was a few minutes' walk. Probably relevant that when DS started he had many ASD traits (these turned out to be a complication of extreme anxiety, but we didn't know that at the time). Having local friends who he could meet in very uncomplicated ways e.g. in the park after school, rather than complicated arrangements / pressure of playdates, was a big help in developing his social skills, and we wouldn't have missed that for the world. When I started working, went to a childminder before school, as a much 'gentler' option than before school breakfast club.

[Notthecarwashagain]

Ours used to be around 18 miles each way by car-horrendous at rush hour in morning, not so bad afternoon.

Now it's a 1 minute walk to top of road, and a few minutes wait for DS to get on the school bus. No pavements for part of the way, and nsl, so lots of children round here go in on the bus-saves cluttering the tiny village up, and people can get off to work earlier too.

If I had your choices, I'd go with option 1, if it's affordable.
Option 2 sounds like a pain for a school you're not keen on, and option 3 sounds ok in theory but would be unsettling and a pain long term imo. (Not that you asked for it )

[PatriciaHolm]

5 mins walk away.

Logistics of school 1 sounds like a nightmare every day. Would you be doing all that 4x a day? What if he has after school clubs? He'll never be able to do play dates with friends.

[yeOldeTrout]

1 km, DS can run it in 5 minutes.
In the 1970s I decided school run traffic was madness & I would move heaven & earth to live in walking distance of DC primary school.

[Mominatrix]

My children are at 2 different schools. We walk/scoot to school and they are both less than half and hour walk. Frankly, it is shorter is walk than drive due to the traffic in the area.

[Bumpsadaisie]

Prob not what you want to hear but 7m walk across field.

TBH both your journeys sound totally horrendous to me!

[Wigeon]

School run is, er, about 1 min walk. Probably less if we run.

Assume these are all private options? Round me there is no way you'd get a place at a school an hour away. Tbh, that kind of commute does sounds nuts to me. With option 1, would you have to accompany your DS? Spending 4 hrs on the school run each day would really depress me.

[YesterdayOnceMore]

0.75 mile, so a 12+ minute walk (depending on the children's speed that day!) or 5 minute drive.

[Artistic]

Y4. 0 minutes. The school coach runs a door-to-door service. I don't particularly enjoy the days when there is after school clubs & I need to collect when we are just 2 miles away on a non-congested route.

I'd consider the journey back home/to work for the parent doing drop/collect as an important consideration if I were you.

[TeenAndTween]

Primary 7mins walk away.

Secondary is 15 min walk away.

6th form is 10min walk + 50min college bus.
I think that is long for my 16yo.

I think your first option is a long and complicated commute for such a young one. I think 7 is too young to board all things being equal. Even option 2 sounds a hassle that will impinge on quality of life.

Are you absolutely sure none of your local primaries can cope appropriately with the SEN?

[Artandco]

10 mins on a tube isn't very long. If it's only a short walk either end is the whole distance from home to school not cycle able in say 30 mins?

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeG0es]

5 mins walk away. He's now in Year 7 at a special school 25 mins by taxi (statemented).

I would just say that if DC has SENs it is quite likely you'll need to go into school for meetings, assessments etc more often that the average parent. If my experience is anything to go by. So being closer is definitely better in that respect. It has also helped with facilitating his social life, which hasn't always been easy due to the SENs.

Also, do you have other DC? IF so, how do they fit into the plans?

[TeenAndTween]

OK. Just read your other thread.

You need to at least check out your local primaries before deciding to go down the crazy commute route.
If a school is on-board, state can provide some excellent SEN support. You are crazy to be dismissing state without checking out the options.

You can move in-year to a school if it has a space. And from y3 classes can go above 30 if needed.

[TeddTess]

really these are your only options?

we have a 15 minute walk.

don't underestimate homework, extra curricular activities, exam prep (if going down that route) etc. my DD certainly has very little spare time. she couldn't spend 2 hours "commuting" without a significant impact on her life

[heheheheheheh]

If the boarding school is briers Abbey it's worth the commute

[heheheheheheh]

Bruern Abbey - damn autocorrect

[Pancake2015]

I think an important thing to keep in mind is with my experience with sen children - parents can be called into the school to pick up their child or help calm/comfort their child at times. Now this may be rare, but i would feel quite uneasy with the length of time it would take to get to either of the schools you have suggested.

My childrens primary school is 15 mins walk (with the kids) 7-10 for me. The comprehensive i 4-5 minutes away.
There have been a number of times my children have been poorly and ive been called to pick them up. I have speed walked, so put the 7-9 mins down to 5 and ive still felt incredibly guilty

[Pancake2015]

I thought all schools were all inclusive. Obviouslg with cases on the higher end, a more specialised school would be beneficial to all concerned. Is there no possible way of using a more mainstream school?

[BrandNewAndImproved]

It's a 7 minute walk. I drive as I dump and run on my way to work.

I am also a lazy cow and drive to pick them up to. Although I used to walk with my friend as our dc went to school together but now my work time has changed and hers have moved to secondary.

[teacherwith2kids]

I think that is a really good point about illness. If your child was taken ill or injured during a school day at e.g. School 1, how long would it take for a parent to get there? However brilliant a school's day-to-day pastoral care, an ill child would much prefer mum or dad.

I once had a call from school to say DD was ill with a migraine while i was at work 45+ mins away (DH works an hour+ away). My lovely CM was there within 10-15 mins, and I broke most speed limits on the way back. It was things like that that made me move to a much more local workplace, where i can be there for them within minutes if they are ill.

[Mandzi34]

2 mile walk so about 50 minutes on foot. Half an hour in the car as there is normally traffic.

[BoboChic]

They all sound very complicated! Probably boarding.