To preference a school 35 minutes away?

[Sallyh87]

Going through the process of filling out school selection forms. The best one is a 35 minute walk away and my DDs best friend from nursery is going to select this one. I can’t drive (disability) but DH can. DH can likely drive her 3 - 4 times a week due to WFH.

So my question

• is a 35 minute walk too much for a four year old
• would a closer but not as highly rated school be better
• Is there any kind of older child pushchair I could use???

Granted, I am sure there is a bus service but I find buses so unreliable.

Depending on where you are the secondary offer their places based on people's locations etc rather than kids being in a feeder primary.

But the OP might move between now and secondary school, which is six or seven years away. A well regarded secondary now, might not be then and vice versa. Primary school is much better local.

@StarlightLime is there? How do you know? My kids school is a 10 minutes drive and it's impossible to get a direct bus there. We live in an urban deprived town with a good bus service.

2 hrs 20 walking each day for you, call it 2.5 hours? Can you really hack this for 7 years! Add play dates further away, after school activities.... choose a nearer school

I don't know. But op does, she says so in her first post.

Right decision OP.

Also don’t underestimate how long it can take to actually leave the playground when they decide to play after school and you can’t get them out. You don’t then want a 35 minute walk after all the faffing of actually leaving. Plus if you’re late or stuck you will want someone local that can pick up for you. My school mum friends are invaluable.

We had a 12 minute walk to school, it still required wellies, umbrellas and proper waterproof coat and trousers. We would remove the waterproof trousers and wellies at school and just pop their school shoes on. Also walked in snow. I wish it was all rainbows and sunshine.

You have to consider your walk back too, not just to get them to school but you to get back.

It'd be a no for me.

We put our closest school as priority despite it not being our catchment school (I know that makes no sense!) and DS didn't get in to begin with. As we have a younger DD we were facing 10 years of a 30 minute walk twice a day and I was absolutely dreading it. Thankfully he was top of the waiting list for the closer school and was offered a place a few weeks later. The 8 minute walk for the last ten years (now both secondary age) was much nicer!

I applied for my DS to go to the best primary school in our area and when he didn’t get a place I was gutted. I don’t drive either so we would have walked there which would have taken us 30 minutes. Instead he got a place in the school that’s literally a 3 minute walk away. Best thing ever now 3 years later. There’s been times where I’ve had to go and pick him up early because of illness, watch him at sports day in the middle of the day, assemblies etc and I always think how the hell I would have managed if he’d have got into the first choice school.

DS didn’t know anyone at that school and now he has loads of friends. I’ve also made friends with his friends mum and it’s all turned out for the best. I am able to message his mum and ask if they want to meet us in the park or similar things and it’s quite simple as we live round the corner from each other. It’s definitely made a lot of things easier with his school being close

I am shocked at the number of people who think this is a long walk to school. How do you all get to work?

1. If you walk to work, you then stay there rather than going home and then back again later.

1. An adult can walk quicker and further than a 4yo

well adults these days can! Because we all got used to walking as children! At least my generation did. I dont think adults in the future are going to be able to walk at all.

I get to work by

1. 30 min walk to bus stop 2.Bus journey 3.20 minute walk from bus stop

No issues, would not even occur to me to consider that a long time or a long walk. Its part of life, moving around, keeping fit etc

You go to work your there all day and come home.

School involves getting there and back assuming you aren't going straight to work after drop off.

Same at home time.

An hour and 10min walk for a 7mins parents night makes zero sense.

Same either sports day, any shows, school discos, school fair.

Adults aren't relying on other people, children are.

It helps children to be geographically close to their friends to be able to meet independently.

Going to work is two journeys, school is potentially four for mum.

Tons of reasons why being close to the school is a good idea. And you cannot compare it to going to work.

I would consider a school that distance away to be geographically close. My children attended primarys and secondaries which were that far, or further and made plenty of friends they consider "local" and still do, 10+years after leaving school

I do an hour and 20 min drive to work (when in the office). I’m not about to add another 35 mins on to my morning and evening.

When I work from home I’d rather a shorter school run, DD’s future school is 3 mins walk away, I can do it in 90 seconds if I crack on.

Proximity is everything in primary. I cannot imagine an exhausted 4 year old walking 35mins home in the rain.

Don’t worry about the bestie, different schools doesn’t have to stop that friendship and it’s good to have friends outside of school too, as they get older.

I get to work by

1. 30 min walk to bus stop
2. 2.Bus journey
3. 3.20 minute walk from bus stop

what do you want, a medal?

commuting that long each day would be depressing to me but each to their own, crack on

@secondfavouritesocks you cannot compare primary to secondary. However fantastic if you and your children walked 35 mins each way to school for many years.

For lots of us that is time that we would end up driving to school, drop kids off, drive to work.

What do you mean Johnny you want to go to Peters house for a playmate afterschool and Peter lives 25 min in the opposite direction to the school.
So mums on a 2hour round trip to pick up.

We moved 35 mins walk away when DS was in reception and it has been absolutely fine - he scoots there and back, and if it is a rainy day we get the bus (which is really reliable as we are in London). Totally worth it for us as his school is the best one in our area.

Just to comment on your final sentence- this is NOT true in England. The equal preference system has been law since 2007 (and very widely used before that) and schools do not know what order you put them in. You should always list schools in your genuine order of preference, but including somewhere in your list a school that you can be fairly sure of gaining a place at (usually your nearest or catchment school). You do NOT get priority for listing a school first.

Is there a safe cycling route? I think that distance sounds very cycle-able. Child seat on back or cargo bike for first couple of years and then they could follow you on their own bike? Completely dependent on how safe the route is of course

35 minute as op assesses it. She's not tried to get a tired 5yo to walk it on a wet Friday in December yet.

Op ours is a mile, that would honestly be my limit.

It is geographically close but it doesn't change the fact that parents evening is a 70 minute round trip for 10 minutes chat.

Op will be leaving in the morning at 8 and getting home at 9.30 and leaving again at 2.30 to get home for 4.

That's a reasonable chink of the day walking to and from school.

Really interested in these replies. Our youngest is in a primary school which is 35 minutes walk away. It’s a bit different as He’ll only be there for 3 years and the catchment for it is broad so he’s not missing out on friendships.

We walk him in 4/5 days (he cycles) and he is picked up by car on the way home 4 out of five days. On Fridays I do the walk in and back and for pick up. I work full time but drop off times mean I can get back to the house or into the office for 9. I love the walk and then time with him.

so glad there are still some people around who see walking as positive and fun, I really worry that so many seem to see it as unpleasant and best avoided, although of course this thread isn't necessarily representative of the population. I think lots of people would see it as positive and fun, actually