How long is your school run?

[CPHB2021]

We've sold our house and are looking for a new place, currently staying with family. Our son is at school and daughter starting this year. We're very happy with the school and will not be moving them. My question is how far do you drive for a good state school? I want to be able to still have friends back and continue to do local clubs. Is 20 mins too far? We're currently doing 18 minutes from my MIL and it doesn't seem too much but would it be too much twice a day, for 7 years plus?

My child is specialist so not mainstream but we have a 30 minute drive which is fine for us. Only time it’s a pain is when there is traffic but to have a decent school I would quite happily travel personally

Mine is 5 mins. I grew up in a rural area and all my friends were in different villages and it really annoyed me. I wanted my kids to live near their friends.

We live about a 10 minute walk from our primary school but I would say that at least 75% of parents drive. That being said is a fairly small (100 odd pupils) in a semi rural location with an outstanding offstead so lots of families travel to the area just for the school. I don't actually think they could fill the school with children just from the village we live in.

Luckily we have friends locally already. Our eldest is in year 2 so established school friends and I hope they'd drive 15-20 mins to see us after school. It's so hard as no houses locally ( really local, walking or 5-10 mins drive ) are to our taste or are massively over budget. We're not in a huge rush to move but equally, don't want to live with family forever!

I’m sure you could still have friends back, when my oldest was at primary we were happy to travel for play dates. Now she is at secondary we drive her much further as lots of the children live quite far from school.

Driving becomes an issue with things like road closures, flooding, if there's a motorway nearby that gets closed does it divert all the traffic through where you live, if your car breaks down can public transport be used instead or an alternative car, if your unwell could your child go to school with another school parent (living within walking distance makes this a possibility). Over 7 years any of these could be possible depending on your area so it's worth considering in your decision.

22min each way

Ours is currently about a 5 minute drive, but used to be more like 10 minutes, which I classed as ‘close’.

It’s not quite the same, but we’ve applied for secondary schools that are 15 minutes and 50 minutes away.

We leave at 8 and I get back in the house at 9:30am. 24 miles round trip, twice a day. But it will be half that when DD gets to high school

We used to be a 15 min drive but the kids were entitled to a bus once dd was reception age which they went on. It took about 30 mins to get there and back. Now we live a 5 min walk away from the primary and 10 min walk from the secondary. Ds walks with friends and dd walks with me still.

I would be fine with a 20 min drive if my kids were settled and happy in a school

Primary school is 100m down the road from our house.

Secondary school is about 7K away and he catches a free school bus that picks him up at the end of our drive at 8:15 in the morning.

I took both of these things into account when we bought this house.

A 20 minute drive is a lot when you factor in children wanting to do different after school clubs, or being invited to a friends for tea. You don’t want to end up saying no just because of the trip.

Ours is 15 miles, so 60 miles a day all in.

Depending on time of day quickest is 20 mins, longest is 50 mins depending on traffic (and that’s leaving at 7.10am)

I wouldn’t worry about 20 mins if that’s your rush hour timing.

In the car about 7 minutes.
Walking 25 minutes, although on my own when I’m walking to pick them up I can be there in 15 minutes.

OP, you seem quite content with the drive to school, so I don’t think getting personal opinions here on whether or not people like a driving school drop off is going to help you, it’s just going to make you worry.

Some people do not like a commute of any kind and some people don’t mind it – who cares?

I commute 1.5hrs each way for work (have done for years) and frequently get told how awful my life must be. I have no worries about my commute whatsoever. If I posted on whether others thought it was too far, I’d receive pages of people telling me what a nightmare it would be.

We drive 7 mins to primary school, our secondary school will be a 10 min walk. Is it a pain? Sometimes mildly, sometimes not. Is this relevant to you? Not really!

About 10-15 mins each way in traffic- is enough! Is further away than most as we moved- still near enough for play dates but only just I would say

Nursery is around 15 minutes drive away. School will be a private one so not walking distance but not excessively far away.

The earlier poster who mentioned about not really being part of the local community if you don’t use the local schools is true but you just create a different type of social circle.

Ours are all at different schools / college.

1 school 3 min walk each way.
2nd. 15 min drive
3rd 30 min drive

4th 30 min drive slightly different direction. But generally gets public transport unless delays.

It's a 3-5 minute drive or a 15-20 min walk. Just right imho.

1hr 40 min round trip - but thats because DC are at two different schools

Mine is the same.

For us it's great. Close enough to walk/cycle/scoot but too far away for parents to park here for the school run.

What is realistic or not is dependent on your circumstances and how much you like your preferred school. I'm a single parent and have to commute to an office twice a week so a school run that involves a 20 minute drive would be tricky on my office days, plus if my car goes wrong then I'd be stuck. However, if the school was awful or something like that then the inconvenience of the above I might be able to juggle if it meant happier children. Someone who doesn't work or who has a partner, or use of another car (just some examples) wouldn't find those things an issue.

5 minute walk (10 if DS is dragging his feet)

30 second walk. He can see into his classroom from his bedroom (bit weird tbh). Likely secondary will be 10 minutes walk (nice walk, through park), outside chance of one that's a 15 minute drive/bus ride.

Luckily we have friends locally already. Our eldest is in year 2 so established school friends and I hope they'd drive 15-20 mins to see us after school.

Honestly? They won't. School friends change easily at that age people just won't bother. DS had a friend who moved a 20 min drive away, and no one ever went to their house. They moved school to one nearer home.

Where did you live when you applied for schools? If there arent houses to your liking in that area it was a bit daft to choose that school. I hope its not an oversubscribed school and that you didn't rent to get in, getting a place that could have gone to a child from a family actually Iiving more permanently in that community.

I don't have children, but the local primary is five minutes walk away, and the local secondary is at the opposite end of our road. So probably five minutes again, just in a different direction.