What’s it really like living in a road with a primary school on it?

[Skinnydecafflatte]

We’ve seen an amazing looking house just around the corner from where we live. The only downside I can see at the moment is that there is a primary school on the same road. The house has a driveway so parking for us should be ok but I’ll be driving down to my kids school at the same time lots will be dropping off/picking up in that road.
(No chance of my kids changing schools and going to this one.)
I know near my kids school, some people are inconsiderate parkers.
What are the other things I need to consider?

Consider tbe actual noise from the school playground at lunch/ break if you are ever home during school days. The noise of hundreds of children running about and shouting travels and is quite a loud drone.

Friend of mine lives over the road from a primary school and she can't actually park outside her house between 8am and 5pm because they had to put restrictions on it because of parents parking like idiots.

Where I lived in London they've just made the school road pedestrian only between 8 &. 9.30 am and 2-4 pm.

Where I live the primary schools playing field isn't far. On days off the noise of children playing is quite nice. It's not a nuisance and with windows closed you wouldn't even notice it. Come the summer how often are children outside playing during those 6 hours? Not many..
Now in reflect to the parking issue - how big is this primary school? Is it within an estate where more would walk then drive? Maybe you could attempt a dummy run one day to see how much the parking would be an issue or inconsideration.

Crazy traffic at the either end of school day. Noisy playground (like screaming!). Occasionally nuisance loud halers on Sports Day, firework displays, fetes. Some schools host events at weekends, or are polling stations.
Probably be OK if you are out during the day.

How many kids in the school and how big is the outdoor space? We have a secondary school a street and a half away and the noise is huge because it’s a very large school, it’s on a hill, exposed area (no shrubs/trees and quite a small outdoor space. The sound carries. It’s loudest during PE activities, not lunch. The primary school is small, in comparison, and has a huge outdoor area surrounded by trees, so the sound doesn’t carry at all.

Absolutely fine here. Yes you hear the kids out playing at lunch but I quite like that.

Roads are a bit busy at drop off and pick up time but not exceptionally so. No queues or anything just a fair few cars pulling in and lining the roads. Although our area is well served for primary schools so the majority of people walk in.

I'd suggest going and watching between 8.30 and 9 am and again at 2.45. - 3.15 pm to see what the parking and road situation is like.

Some interesting things to consider. It’s a catholic school so a wider catchment area than normal so I guess more drivers than walkers, and it’s also a polling station.

I work from home during the day but not something I need quiet for. Husband does too but again that should be ok. We hear the school now but I guess being 200m closer it’ll be louder!

No parking restrictions, it’s just out the restricted zone we live in now (zone 5 London station) so in that respect much better for us with regard to visitors.

So torn as the house looks amazing but where we are now we have the loveliest neighbours but not enough room!

Noise of a thousand children (From 8.30-8.55 predominantly) screeching and galloping about, parents raised voices hurrying them up, cars every feckin where driven by maniac drivers when late for school, rubbish everywhere (usually the scummy parents in my area, they apparently don’t know what bins look like) the bell going off at multiple times a day even at weekends or If you have an annual leave day so you can’t sleep in, shops overflowing with children, the stones in my driveway bring grabbed in handfuls and thrown at other children (leaving bare patches the weeds grow through on my driveway) fag buts on the road, the school lit up all night to presumably deter burglars but it causes seagulls to fly about screeching, yeah seagulls in general. They swoop at the children for food in the playground.

Yeah, I live in a shithole. Wouldn’t have chosen to live in a street with a school but it was built years after i moved here. As long as you live in a half decent area and don’t mind the bell it’s probably fine!

I live on a road that's sandwiched between 2 primary schools

Cons- sometimes the parking can be bad, especially at one end where the school tends to attract families with larger cars. But the road is wide, the pavements ditto, so it's not too difficult.

Coach trips occasionally cause problems but that tends to be after or before start/finish of school, so can be avoided.

Noise- I rarely hear anything, even from the nearer school. The most would be at their playtimes and I quite like that.

Pros- outside of school terms the road is lovely and quiet, hardly any traffic.

TBH it wouldn't be my first choice of places to live- ds2 went to one of the schools but now he's progressed to secondary I wouldn't mind moving, but that's as much to do with the house as anything else really.

We have a primary school on our road. Generally parking issues are limited to two short periods of the day: drop off and pick up. Never had anyone parking across the driveway but I do see people parked too close to corners and opposite junctions.
There is also the odd entitled git who parks on zigzag lines, but we frequently have a PCSO on patrol who sorts them ou.
It's not particularly noisy, and we are near enough to be able to walk to school.

We are opposite an infant school and the junior school is just down the road. Densely populated area so the majority of kids walk to school. It's not really a problem, especially in good weather, altho if we didn't have a driveway I might tell a different story! It probably takes 5-10 minutes longer to get to work at 9am (after school drop off) than it does at 8am.

I'd go for a drive by the house at school pick up or drop off time.

Don't do it! I live just across from a primary school and at pick up and drop off time it's horrendous.
Not only have we got yellow lines that prevent us, or visitors, parking outside our house between 8 and 9 and 3 and 4 but parents ignore these, park across corners, in driveways and all kinds of stupid places.
When there are school plays, disco's etc it's even worse because then there is no restriction at all and there are groups of parents parked.
To be honest noise isn't too bad except for the screaming at pick up time but I would never again but near a school

*buy

Dealbreaker for me. I wouldn’t do it.

My old house backed on to a primary school and our bedroom was at the back. I work shifts and was constantly woke up by the noise of playtime. That and even though my parking space was marked with my house number, they still bloody parked in it at pick up

House #1 was near a primary school, house #2 is near a secondary school.

Judging the traffic is difficult, the senior school is worse because I have to join the queue trying to leave the school (and we then don't get very long on the green light), whilst also trying to get across the traffic coming up to the school. Luckily they have a drop off zone so there isn't any parking issues. The primary school I could turn out away from the school and traffic was a lot lighter.

So it really depends on the road layout as well as the parking/traffic.

As for the noise, first house the playing field was behind the houses opposite - heard them a bit on a nice day at break times, the secondary school we back onto the field, but like a pp it is pe we hear, especially as we can see the hard courts from our back windows.

I agree with others though, you need to have a walk round at school drop off / pick up time.

Yes on the inconsiderate parking. If I need to leave my house around school drop-off/pick-up time, it can take me 5 minutes to get off my small street.

Other than that, there are no issues. You can hear the children playing at playtimes but that's it.

The kids don’t bother me...the parents do. Keeping their cars running with loud music or phone on speakerphone, I listened to an interesting one on Friday on full blast. I also ensure I don’t go home at any times coinciding with pick up times, being primary there are 3 different times here. Then open days, parents evenings, plays etc.
It is annoying that parents seem to take leave of their senses for 15 minutes twice a day.

I live two doors from a 'naice' Catholic primary. Noise from kids totally fine. Inconsiderate parking is the biggest bugbear. You need to know that unlike most normal primaries they don't have a small catchement (in my inner city area most schools take from under 1500 metres, so most walk). For religious schools it's not distance but God worthiness....as a Catholic primary this means that kids come from all over the Diocese (which is a huge geographic area -because weirdly catholics are a dying breed). This means far far more drivers.....So worth checking what flavour of primary school it is. I imagine inconsiderate drivers are a consistent theme though. Oh and expect to get death stares if you have to manoeuvre your car at school times because you're not supposed to drive near schools

We live almost next door to a primary school, and it's fine. Yes, twice a day it is busy, and we can hear kids at break/lunchtime but it's no bother.

It is a small rural village school admittedly, single form entry so not massive.

If you both work from home then why isn’t one of you just swinging by there in morning and seeing what it’s like for yourself?

I live across from a big school but at it's back rear end if that makes sense. I dont hear the kids at playtime as the playground is further up the road and on the other side of the school. Rarely hear the bell, my dc doesn't go to that school so I have the situation of school rush hour on my street.
Some people park further down where I live and walk up, which can be an annoyance but it is parking considerately compared to those who park directly outside the school.

Otherwise I like living here and it doesn't affect me. The road has speed bumps so traffic is forced to slow down and has a lollipop man at the usual times. Which benefits me and my child for when they are independent and walking home from school.. there are few driveways here tbf so we have the issue of overcrowding at various times rather than bening blocked n or Cfs.