DD getting back/forth to school. Got myself in to a complete state!

[MayorMumbum]

After huge amounts of issues with bullying/mental health issues and moving house we have finally gotten DD in to a good secondary with strong pastoral care. It's been four months of sleepless nights and calls/meetings with the council etc and generally been a really awful time for our whole family. BUT we have now realised that due to bus changes DD is going to have to get herself back and forth to this school every day, it's a twenty five minute walk away and she would be on her own. Or she could get the bus but due to the changes she'll be getting up at half six, having to get to the bus stop then loiter in the school library/cafe for half an hour both before and after school.

I could put her on the bus in the morning as its round the corner but she would have to wait at the bus stop alone on the other end every day after school after most of the kids have gone home.

Please give me some advice/reassurance on if this seems doable? She's so young still and just doesn't seem ready for this (either am I!) I've barely slept a wink.

How old is she

How old is your DD?

25 minute walk is absolutely fine-my DD did this from Year 9.

It's good for them to walk to school-gets them awake and ready to learn.

A 25 minutes walk for a secondary age child sounds more than doable surely? That’s what a mile and half ish?

A 25 minute walk seems quite doable to me, it's what mine have and we consider that convenience one if the school's plus points. Is there some reason it's more of a problem for your dd?

25 minutes is fine as a walk. Is there a back story or some other reason she can't do that distance?

She's so young still

?

11?

Is this your closest school or have you chosen one out of catchment?

Once’s she is in and settled is she likely to make friends that will get the same route as her?

Our local secondary is a half hour walk and I see children walking there from our street from year 7. I thought most kids walked themselves to secondary?

25 min walk sounds reasonable tbh
is cycling a possibility?
bus for shit weather?

25 minutes isn’t a particularly long walk for secondary school I don’t think. And there will presumably be lots of other children moving in the same general direction at the same time.

Our local secondary school is walkable in about 30-35 minutes probably, but most of the children from our little town cycle there. Swarms of them every morning

Could DD cycle?

Secondary, she will be fine, but if your worried get her a mobile, one which lets her call your phone for free, then you can chat as she is travelling...
My children often use this as talk to mom time, and so do lots of my family to call their parents. ..

25 minutes seems absolutely fine and much better than getting up at 6.30am and having to hang about for half an hour. Did she walk to primary school?

Not to be the 'in my day i had it worse woman' but my school was 15 miles away and i got 3 public buses each way. Getting up at 6.30am sounds like a lie in to me! Prepares her for the working world i guess! I would also ve converned about 25min walk depending on if its main road etc but during winter i would be a bit uneasy about it. But hanging around school for 30minutes is more than normal, i did this without batting an eyelid. Dneice walks 50 mins each way to secondary school (main roads). I think youre being a tad over protective here. She needs to learn that things arnt straight forward. You'll find a lot of secondary pupils do this kind of journey

She's 11, but she has quite bad anxiety issues and just doesn't seem "ready" iyswim.

A 25 minute walk is absolutely fine and preferable to faffing with the buses.
Is it a complicated or dangerous route ?
Walk it with her in the holidays .

You say it's a secondary school.

25 minutes walk will be fine

Why can’t she walk? My 6 year old walks 25 mins easily.

DS1 now has a 30 min walk to school. He's had no problems except when the rain was particularly torrential but I've upgraded his coat and shoes.

Mine walk 25 mins/1.5 miles there and back. She'll soon make friends and will have people to walk with!

Is it a decent paved walk or lots of country roads? I would think a 25min walk would be fine but it does depend on the roads. As said above would cycling be an option? Good wet weather clothes and a few practises. It is hard at 11 they are still quite young but actually also quite grown up. It's a real mix. But she will be fine.

A 25 minute walk doesn’t sound that bad?
That surely can’t be much more than a mile?

25 minutes doesn't seem too bad unless there's some difficulty we don't know about.

That's a fairly normal distance for year 5/6 children even to walk unaccompanied where I live. (Most kids can avoid crossing big roads except near the school, where there's a lollipop person.)

Is it a public bus or a 'school' bus? Could she walk most of the time but have the option to get the bus in miserable weather, or is it an all or nothing scenario? Or only get the bus part way?

Where I went to secondary school it was very normal to walk 35+ mins to/from school, but that was within a rural small town/large village so public transport wasn't an option.

Is the walking route especially bad? Loads of kids near me walk further right from the transition days they do in year 6. My DC allow 45 mins for their walk to high school. Admittedly they do it with friends usually.

Is it because you are worried bullies will target her en route? 25 mins is not a long walk for secondary aged child. I walked DS on his first day (his request) but otherwise he has been doing the 20 min journey by himself everyday.