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Original poster

10-15 min drive to primary school, will it be ok?

54 replies

pinkpenguinss · 29/05/2021 13:49

We are moving to a new area and there are no spaces at the closest school for DD who is in reception. However, we've been offered a space at another really great school a 10-15 minute drive away (depending on traffic). It's got a great reputation and is usually oversubscribed so we are lucky that a space has come up.

We went to look round and thought it would really suit DD but I'm panicking a little about the drive. Has anyone done this kind of journey and can reassure me it is ok?

DH will probably do drop off and pick up one day a week and I'll do the other four so at least we are sort of sharing the pain...!

OP posts:
Original poster
pinkpenguinss · 29/05/2021 14:55

This will be us. We’re moving from a school right around the corner to our house, to a rural area where it’s a 10-15 min drive to the local school. I am sad about losing the convenience of our 5 min slow walk to school (takes me 2 min if I’m by myself) but so be it. I’m sure we’ll get used to our new routine

This describes our situation exactly!

OP posts:
Original poster
pinkpenguinss · 29/05/2021 15:04

can you cycle in future?

Yes, in theory. Some of the older children cycle. Never tried it though!

OP posts:
SinkGirl · 29/05/2021 15:26

My twins attend a specialist school - about 30 mins drive but 45-50 mins on their minibus as they collect others. They absolutely love the bus (they’re only 4) - glad it’s not me having to take them 😬 I can’t see why a short drive is an issue though.

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Equimum · 29/05/2021 15:27

We moved our children to the primary int he next village, which is a 10-12 minute drive. It’s absolutely fine, but we are doing g a rural drive, so traffic is never an issue. It takes about the same time it used to take us to walk to our village school, but I find it less stressful.

MattyGroves · 29/05/2021 15:33

I think you should aim for a much more even split with your DH if you're both working but otherwise, I am sure it will be fine

huuuuunnnndderrricks · 29/05/2021 15:34

It would drive me nuts to do that twice a day ( 4 x a day if you count there and back ) but each to their own .. I drove my son to his sn school for a month and it was this journey , never again! He gets the bus now ! You don't have time for anything else in the day !

Figgygal · 29/05/2021 15:36

We do it every day
We chose to move out of the town we lived in to a local village after we submitted our options. We have a 3 mile drive which is 12-15 minutes it’s absolutely fine other than some days having an issue parking

cocoloco987 · 29/05/2021 15:42

If it's 10-15 minutes during school run traffic how far even is it? Can't be that far. Can easily take 10-15 minutes to get round to DD's school in the car and you can comfortably walk it in 10, sadly I have to drive as I need to then go on to work and timing is very tight but I don't leave any later in the car. Having grown up living 20 miles from my primary I'm surprised a 10
Minute drive is a problem

Sh05 · 29/05/2021 15:42

When my eldest started primary we used to do a twenty minute walk then later a 10/15 minute drive with DD when she started primary.
It worked fine for us, and we were actually always a few minutes early.
With DD I used to give her a little pot with sliced apples or grapes to keep her distracted plus she is very fussy at breakfast time so this worked well for us.

motogogo · 29/05/2021 15:48

If it's more than 2 miles to the nearest school they can offer you can request transport

AnxiousWeirdo · 29/05/2021 15:49

I drive 15-20 mins for the school run. I'd like to be closer but it's not a problem

HoppingPavlova · 29/05/2021 16:00

It’s no time at all. My kids primary school run would take over an hour on average in peak hour traffic. Same trip out of peak hour or on weekends would take 15mins. We would literally inch along. It was what it was. I used to get the kids to do alphabet sounds, times tables, spelling, readers etc. Sure, not the greatest but hardly the worst thing possible?

mamatocaptainchaos · 29/05/2021 16:03

Wish that was my school run! It's about one hour round trip in the morning and longer in afternoons

MimiSunshine · 29/05/2021 16:23

I’d say that was fine but I’d be wary of relying on the sibling rule in 3 years.
Our school is always over subscribed and a few years ago scrapped the Sibling rule. The families who’d moved out of area and were relying on it were not happy

Original poster
pinkpenguinss · 30/05/2021 08:16

@mimisunshine the school uses the council oversubscription criteria so to change it I think they'd either have to become an academy, or the council would have to change it across the whole county.

Fingers crossed that won't happen in the next 3 years (2.5 until we make the application...) but I know it's possible!

My current county changed the sibling rule so that as long as you were living in the same place as you were when the eldest child got the place (even if out of catchment), you still had sibling priority. You only lost it if you moved out of catchment after securing the place for the eldest.

OP posts:
OrchidLass · 30/05/2021 08:21

10-15 mins is a short drive, is it the traffic you're worried about?

JustKeep · 30/05/2021 08:24

I’m honestly not sure what you’re worried about? That’s a short easy school run.

LawnFever · 30/05/2021 08:26

10-15 mins is a really short drive, I can’t understand why you think this is any issue of any kind at all, it’s perfectly normal and not a long journey.

I’m honestly surprised anyone considers this to be a potential issue.

Frazzled2207 · 30/05/2021 08:28

@55378OO8

Have you tried the drive during school run time to see what the traffic and parking are like?
This
Original poster
pinkpenguinss · 30/05/2021 08:48

@frazzled2207 yes, as above

OP posts:
trevthecat · 30/05/2021 08:53

My eldests school is about a 20 min drive. It's fine but I do 130 miles a week just on school runs. When it's worded like that, it seems mental. Just a few weeks of it left and then he will be at high school!

meditrina · 30/05/2021 09:03

It might be worth getting in writing now that you are accepting this place on the basis that

a) you were assigned this place, and did not choose a school for which your address is not within the defined priority admissions area
b) further DC will be treated as in-catchment siblings when they reach admission age, irrespective of address being outside the priority area, provided that

  • they have an older sibling still in the school
  • the family has not moved house, or has moved closer to the school.

Then reference that email in the 'other comments' section when you make applications for your younger DC

This is important because there's a chance that turn-over in applications staff mean that spoken undertakings will get lost, someone new will see your address, think you're trying it on and bump you down into 'non-catchment sibling' criterion.

Then you get all the hassle of going to appeal and proving the error. Which of course the best version is a council email from about the time of the first admission detailing your circumstances and how it will be handled

And yes, the drive will feel like a burden sometimes, but you'll get used to it. Do look for places to park that aren't right on top of the school - walk for 5 mins rather than 2 and it shouid get much easier. I used to live near a primary and the streets within 2 minutes walk were rammed and bad tempered (we all got our cars scratched by school runners trying to scrape past rather than waiting, and road would become blocked because some twat would always park in the passing place because they were in a hurry and vehicles could only inch past each other and there wasn't really room for that). But if you walked for 3 mins away from the school, there were streets with next to no traffic and plenty of space to park.

CervixSampler · 30/05/2021 09:06

My ds's school is a 30 minute walk away and we often beat friends in cars that we pass. The way back is longer due to the hills but we make it into a bit of an adventure through the woods on non-wet days. Parking is a nightmare near school and it's a shame more parents don't walk.

Normandy144 · 30/05/2021 09:11

I would accept it but I would put your name on the waiting list for the closer school and then you can move her when a space comes up should you choose to. How old is she?

Normandy144 · 30/05/2021 09:12

Ah I see she is reception. Definitely no brainer then I would do as above, accept the place at the school 10-15 minutes drive away and put her on the waitlist for the closer school.

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