To think a 37minute school run is ok?

[jultomten]

We are house hunting and I have found two houses I like with a 37min walking distance to the school we want. One of the things I was really looking forward too with the move was to be able to walk the kids to school instead of driving like I have to do now. But is 37 minutes too long to walk twice a day? Am I just going to end up driving?
If iabu how long is the longest walking distance you would consider doing?

is that 37 minutes by google maps?

I live 1.3 miles from DD's school, which according to google maps is 39 minutes. when she started it took 30 minutes, she's year 3 now and its 20 minutes. We have never driven in the 4 years she's been there.

DD's is private school, they have uniform rucksacks which fit everything including her packed lunch, at the start and end of term i take my rucksack too for the bits that live in school the rest of term (various language dictionaries, PE kit, atlas etc)

We like our time walking too. Lots of chatting and fun

I walk 30 minutes each way to work, and on days when it is wet/windy it is really unpleasant. (I could get a bus door to door, but it actually takes longer because the traffic is so bad.)

Oh 1.2 miles! Ours is that and takes 25 minutes child speed. 20 minutes if it's just me.

We do 30 minutes each way and that is the nearest school to our house. Are you talking 37 mins at your pace or at your childs pace?
We sometimes go to tea at a friends house who lives 30 mins in the other direction then walk the hour home as well. Keeps me and the kids fit - especially me since I do the walk 4x to their 2! Sometimes we take bikes as the school has somewhere to lock them so would that be an option?
I think kids are better behaved and more focused after a bit of pre-school exercise. I say go for it!

I love walking... unless it involves my DCs (3&6) and a sense of urgency. Fortunately our plod/ sprint to school (depending on their mood, but never a sensible walking pace) is short enough that using the car between our house and the school is pure folly.

I think I'd struggle to do 1.2 miles there and back with them twice a day, mentally anyway. I suspect that I'd be a fair weather walker, and would be prone to wussing out and using the car in the morning when time is more of a premium, at least until my DCs are old enough to manage a reliable pace!

The furthest school run I've done is 0.8 miles with little ones. Fine unless they want to drag their feet in the morning.

Now at my DTSs's school (year 5) we have full games kit home three or four times a week, swimming bags, judo kit, this year the fresh hell that is cricket bags (containing bat, helmet, pads, etc). Last year both boys learnt cello. One has kept it up and it now goes in and out three times a week for lessons and various ensembles. I said no to double bass as well. They also have really heavy back packs and the odd science project etc. The 500 yards up to where we park feels like a marathon/assault course.

Carriage clock, matching bath robes, fondue set, case of wine, steak knives, plate warmer, teas-maid, cuddly toy, decanter.

Why not drive part of the way and walk the rest. That's what I used to do most of the time when mine were little and we had a similar distance. We often walked the whole distance when the weather was good. It did wonders for my figure!

It depends on many many factors.

First, safety. Is there a walk path, then is it flat or up a hill. Are the children in band or sport team (cricket gear!!!) , is the school very much into school projects? try carrying a bloody rainforest or robot on a windy day! The weather, some days might be freezing others boiling hot.

But as you said you could drive, walk when it is easy and drive when it is not.

Could you buy a cargo bike (google it if you're not familiar with them!) and transport the kids in that, with the older ones progressing to their own bike as and when it's appropriate? They're very popular in many other countries (e.g. Denmark) and you do see a fair few in London.

Just to add, 37 minutes walking at adult speed = about 2 miles = about 10 mins on a bike at a leisurely (non sweaty!) pace, so it might be a suitable option :)

It's doable but really really hard work. My kids school is about a mile away then the nursery is about 1/3 of a mile further down the road. It's 1.3 miles home according to Google.

For about a year I did school drop off, down to nursery then back home. Then at 1 I had to do nursery again. Often I stayed down there at a friends until school time.

It absolutely wreaked me. The summer wasn't too bad but the winter was awful. The mile to school took between 20 and 30 minutes depending how tired the kids were. It then took me another 10 mins to get to nursery then about 30 mins to walk home.

I walk in the afternoons in summer but in winter I just take the car. In the morning I usually take the car because I tend to have to be somewhere else shortly afterwards. I don't park on the school doorstep though, I park just outside the zone of chaos and walk the last few minutes.

If it's a round trip of 37 minutes it's doable BUT if it's 37 mins each way x 2 daiy then I would think again.

This said from someone who has been dong two hours of 'school run' per day for more than a decade - and it really has become a burden! Keeps me fit but it's a total PITA.

Its a 100% fine, don't get why you are even asking!

doing rather than dong

My dd goes to a private school. It is about 45 mins away from us so they have a school bus. Might be worth looking into. Tbh my DD always has a rucksack and a bag to carry and they are heavy. Not to mention hockey/lacrosse stick sometimes. Luckily she plays drums so I escaped an instrument to carry. To walk her in the rain getting to school wet through and knackered would not be the best way to get my money's worth from the school. Not a good idea. Bear in mind also if you don't have a car that the friends she makes may be up to an hour away in the other direction (as mine are) so socialising is difficult and I drive an awful lot at weekends.

1.2 miles each way?

We walk further than that and it is certainly doable. It's not fun when there is poor weather though, and l found the journey home can sometimes take over an hour as dd is so tired.

Walking is good for children though, and you can always get them on a scooter or a bike. I would consider a school a 37 minute walk, but ccertainly not one a 37 minute drive away.

Our school is 1.2 miles walk from home. My boys (6 and 4) scoot, I push the buggy, and it takes us about 25 minutes, along pavements. I started off doing it twice a day but have moved to walking in the morning (no point driving anyway as traffic and parking a nightmare and makes journey just as long). But have ended up driving for afternoon pickup. I find it gives us just a little more time, and we need it in order to fit in reading, tea, bath, and then bed at a reasonable hour. Ii'd say the boys were quite tired and ratty on the journey home when we were walking, but actually I probably was just as much too...maybe in summer we might walk home occasionally, when we feel like going to the park on the way or having a picnic tea.

And we regularly do the walk with schoolbags, gym kits, instruments, lunchbags etc. We just share the bags between us. There have been occasions that I've had to leave things like big art projects at the school because it's raining/I have too much to carry. My kids school bang on about walking to school all the time but frequently make it impractical - eg sending kids out at the end of the day in tiny pe shorts and pumps when there's frost on the ground!

Personally, I would walk it when I could. Most of the parents that went to my son's pre-prep school drove though, even if they lived 5 minutes away. I think it will probably also depend a lot on your area, maybe more people walk in cities, whereas few parents where we are live close to the school.

Kit-wise, it depends. Not so much kit until they get to about 7-8, then it seems to go up incrementally. Some schools are quite good and you can manage walking some of the school runs, by leaving stuff in lockers. His current prep school do a number of minibus runs, and he takes that home a few times a week, which breaks things up. I would try and speak to as many other parents as you can and see what they do.

I totally agree, walking is much more fun if you can manage it, and it gave us some exercise time and time to wind down.

You have, of course, checked your child(ren) can get into the school concerned. As two of them are past reception age, this would be an in year admission. Has the school got spaces ? Please do this before you buy the house, to prevent tears

I agree that there might be a lot of kit. I have 3dc in private - some days it is ok, but Tuesday (2x forest school kit, 1x swimming kit, 1x sports kit), Thursday (ds1's ridiculous sports kit - its huge) and Friday (dd's cello and sports kit). They have a more portable games kit till year 3, when it starts to get silly. This is all in addition to their book bags and water bottles.

Will you be time rich when you return to the uk? No intention to work outside the home or to study? Money to employ a cleaner if you wish to? If so you can probably build all that walking into your day and it'll just be what you do.

If you'll have lots of things to juggle as well as the school run you will start resenting the 2.5 hours out of your day and start driving probably.

You'd want to have a car for the odd occasion the oldest might be ill but the younger two still go to school/ preschool.

We live in Germany and kids walk (without a parent but in small groups) as long as they live up to 1.5 km away, and after that they get a free bus pass. We are 4.5 km away and DC1's teacher told me that it was unfortunate that she had to travel by bus as the kids who walk are so much more ready to sit and concentrate, and ready to do homework when they get home - the walk is definitely considered a positive as far as school goes.

No kid will be too tired for school after a half hour or 40 minute walk - we used to have to make DC2 run laps before school so he could sit still once there :o

I'd say it's the walk home when they are already tired that will be difficult, and take forever with lots of chivvying, but on the plus side they should be calmer than kids who've travelled by car once they get home!

You can always drive half way and park up if it seems too much to begin with.

Weather can dampen spirits but I just put mine in full waterproofs, so a coat and a pair of trousers over their uniform, with wellies, and their school shoes in a bag. Whipped off the trousers under a little porch in the playground with them balanced leaning against the wall.

I also had full waterproofs, nothing worse than soaking wet thighs from rain falling off your waterproof coat and onto your trousers.

My secondary school son walks 1.2 miles and it takes him 23 minutes. Little legs may well take longer.