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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the 3 mile rule for school transport is unfair and not fit for the current time?

349 replies

WellThatsMeScrewed · 18/08/2022 11:28

My eldest does not get transport to her secondary school because we live 2.89 miles away from her secondary school. Supposedly she can walk this.

It would involve crossing 3 lots of dual carriageways, walking along a unlit busy road.

It’s just not fair.

The 3 mile rule is from some archaic time where there was hardly any traffic.

OP posts:
SunnyD44 · 18/08/2022 14:25

You live in a strange place if there are two dual carriageways but it's in isolated countryside and the roads are very busy bit also unlit?

Is there some exaggeration going on by any chance?

It’s called living in the country.

I live in the middle of nowhere - no paths, bus, shop, park etc and if I was to walk to school you need to walk along an unlit road with no path but is very busy as it connects a town to another town, then I’d have to walk along the dual carriage way, another back lane with no paths and then finally through a town.

What OP has said is ver possible if you live near me.

SunnyD44 · 18/08/2022 14:28

What do your neighbours/her friends plan to do? Could you share the "parental taxi service"?

@HannahSternDefoe OP has said that other people on her street have got a bus pass but her home must be slightly further down so she can’t get one.

AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 18/08/2022 14:29

BloodAndFire · 18/08/2022 13:11

I don't understand your post. You say that thousands of children have to get a bus to school but also that it's impossible to live near a bus route. How do those children get to school?

Show quote history

On dedicated school buses provided by the local authority, you know school buses that this whole thread is about. I assumed that was obvious.

TheOrigRights · 18/08/2022 14:34

Prettypussy · 18/08/2022 14:13

You live in a strange place if there are two dual carriageways but it's in isolated countryside and the roads are very busy bit also unlit?

Is there some exaggeration going on by any chance?

Broaden your mind!

Zilla1 · 18/08/2022 14:34

IME most people conflate unfair with disadvantages them.

Namechangehereandnow · 18/08/2022 14:36

Love all those saying 3 miles is fine to walk! Really? Well over an hour each way … would everyone saying it’s ok, actually walk 3 miles themselves to work and back each day, adding on well over 2 hours onto their days? I really doubt it. It’s easy to say yes of course I’d walk 3 miles, 1-1.5 hours to get to work - in reality, no you wouldn’t.
OP concentrate on appealing this in the way others have advised.
Good luck.

faffadoodledo · 18/08/2022 14:39

Those asking if there's public transport clearly have never lived in the countryside or a small village!

BloodAndFire · 18/08/2022 14:39

AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 18/08/2022 14:29

On dedicated school buses provided by the local authority, you know school buses that this whole thread is about. I assumed that was obvious.

Show quote history

OP still hasn't explained why she can't pay for her child to have a place on the school bus that goes down her road, has she? Did I miss it?

BattenburgDonkey · 18/08/2022 14:41

Presumably she can’t afford it?

BloodAndFire · 18/08/2022 14:41

basically, is she complaining that it is impossible for her child to get to school, or is she complaining because she doesn't want to pay for it?

BloodAndFire · 18/08/2022 14:42

BattenburgDonkey · 18/08/2022 14:41

Presumably she can’t afford it?

Why would you presume that? She doesn't say that. She just says it's not fair that she doesn't get it for free.

Skodacool · 18/08/2022 14:53

OfficiallyBroken · 18/08/2022 13:26

Because the school buses are set on purposeful routes to collect all the rural children. It's not public transport. You do understand there's a difference between school transport and public transport right?

I take it you've never tried using public transport in a rural setting - at best it's a joke, at worst non-existent. Walking 2 miles to your nearest bus stop and waiting, then waiting some more, then another 30 minutes of waiting before you realise no bus is coming and the next one isn't due for another 2 hours...but you can't check live times/cancellations because there's no mobile signal.

That's not remotely adequate for school purposes (or any other purposes beyond pootling around the countryside but that's not the discussion here).

Show quote history

Also, in some rural areas, taxis pick up children and take them to the nearest stop on the school bus route. It’s a complex operation.
It does seem that a lot of PP on here think that that farmers should not have children.

AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 18/08/2022 14:55

BloodAndFire · 18/08/2022 14:39

OP still hasn't explained why she can't pay for her child to have a place on the school bus that goes down her road, has she? Did I miss it?

Show quote history

Again, not the OP but in my county you cant buy a place on the school bus, you're entitled to it for free or you don't get on.

Given that until just now you didnt know what a school bus was you're making assumptions without finding out how they wor

Shortjanet · 18/08/2022 14:56

This place is totally nuts sometimes. It isn't the responsibility of parents to only ever live within easy walking distance of a school. It's the responsibility of councils to provide an education for all the kids, regardless of where they live. I'm in a super rural area. Some of the kids at school with mine live 20 miles away (the next nearest school would be double that). The tiny communities out of town would not benefit from being childfree. The parents of the kids who live in thee places are often doing jobs that sustain them. Anyway, back to the OP - appeal, it sounds like your DC should be able to get transport. (Although obvs mine hike over a mountain and swim across a raging river to get to school, dragging their bags with their teeth...)

PinballWizard18 · 18/08/2022 14:59

Dotjones · 18/08/2022 11:33

Three miles isn't that much really, or 2.89 or whatever. At secondary school age they should be able to cross dual carriageways or walk along unlit roads safely, it's just a question of being patient. At my secondary school it was impossible to arrive or leave on foot without crossing a dual carriageway if you lived in a certain direction. You just need to be patient and wait for a gap in the traffic, then wait again when you get to the central reservation.

With due respect, 2.89 miles would probably take 45 minutes to walk. I walk 2 miles to the station quite briskly and it takes 30 minutes
I wouldn't be happy. My parents made us cycle in the 70s to school. We hated it

NCHammer2022 · 18/08/2022 15:03

Any why should there be a cut off? Tell me why should someone on the SAME street get a free bus and us not? Don’t tell me that is fair?

You’ve lost me at this bit, of course there has to be a cut off otherwise council tax payers would be funding transport for kids who live 100metres away. Has the situation changed since you applied for the school? Was this your only option? Your appeal is on safety grounds not on being narked that someone down the road has got something you haven’t.

mast0650 · 18/08/2022 15:05

Gosh, people are being harsh here! I agree that that sounds like an unreasonable walk to school for an 11 year old and I think that if there is school transport available then you should be able to use it for free if the alternative is an unreasonable walk. At the very least, this should be true for people on lower incomes (is it? I don't know!)

Having said that, we had to pay for train travel for both of ours. Expensive, especially when they turned 18 and had to pay peak adult fares! That was unreasonable I think. Used to be worse though, used to apply from age 16!

Prettypussy · 18/08/2022 15:07

My dd's designated school bus costs £60 a month- why do people expect to get it free?

gatehouseoffleet · 18/08/2022 15:09

Love all those saying 3 miles is fine to walk! Really? Well over an hour each way

3 miles takes 45 minutes at a sensible walking pace (ie faster than a toddler). I do think it's quite a long way to walk (but easy to cycle) and 2 miles would be a fairer cut off given you have to walk back as well, but I think the main issue is safety. If there are no safe walking or cycling routes, you should be able to get a bus. Not necessarily free, but subsidised.

milkysmum · 18/08/2022 15:12

Can you not pay for a bus pass? Some people will get this free others not. I have to pay £74 per month, per child for their bus passes. Lots of kids on our street get a free bus pass, we don't, it's just the way it is. ( and i'm not on a high income by any means, single parent on a nurses wage ). It's too far for them to walk though so it needs paying.

Islesands · 18/08/2022 15:13

No it is not unfair. Unfortunate but not unfair. There has to be a cut off somewhere.

I am an SEN Officer. Has she an EHCP?
Can I ask-why can’t you as her parent be responsible for getting her to school?

Start practicing with her now- there is a thought!! Yes millions other parents also have jobs/ younger children and still manage to get their children to different schools.

I am staggered by the entitlement of parents sometimes. If it is unsafe then appeal but why should the LA have to provide everything?

womaninatightspot · 18/08/2022 15:15

I would appeal on the basis of safety. There are a number of children in our local primary/ secondary who get transport as the roads aren’t safe for walking along.

Islesands · 18/08/2022 15:15

No I don’t think under 3 miles is too far for a year 7 to walk. What snowflakes society is creating

Userno3638927472 · 18/08/2022 15:17

is there an opportunity to appeal op? Even if you had to take them for a while or pay for the bus or whatever whilst you wait for an appeal outcome, might be worth it in the long run?

a gang of parents appealed locally to me when they were told there kids could walk just under 3 miles to school. The walk to school was deemed safe yet it was along narrow rural lanes, hilly and were often muddy, soggy and wet in the winter. Not enough width for cars to get past kids sadly either, sharp bends. Sometimes the council looks at distance without actually looking at the route itself!!

honestly expecting teens, many of which have just turned 11 to walk nearly 3 miles is ridiculous and unsafe. How many adults would want to do that? Imagine in the winter when the mornings are darker!! Kids will arrive at school soaked and cold.

I have learnt a lot about school transport recently doing my own appeal and succeeded (not for the same thing you are experiencing though so not much help) and basically there is guidelines for the whole country regarding transport but often they go out the window in different types of areas, for example when you live rurally especially when it comes down to distance from school. I bet the LA hasn't even checked out the route they want the kids to walk on!!

I woukd do the walk with your kids, take photos and videos send them to the transport at your LA so they know how unsuitable it is!

Userno3638927472 · 18/08/2022 15:20

Prettypussy · 18/08/2022 15:07

My dd's designated school bus costs £60 a month- why do people expect to get it free?

I thought the LA has a duty to get kids to school for free if school is designated? School transport is free in my county as long as they go to a designated school or the nearest school that can meet their needs if the child has sen. £60 a month is ridiculous!

most people would not be able to afford £60 a month!