2 mile walk to secondary school too far?

[Somewhereonlywego]

I'm not sure how long it would take, 40, 45 mins?

I could give lifts where possible on WFH days, but that wouldn't be every day.

There's a bus, but only one an hour and not sure how reliable it would be. But could be an option for super rainy days?

There nearest school to OP isn't that much closer

If you live somewhere with Uber/taxis/bus, it's fine. If it's particularly bad weather or they've got a lot of carry, you can send them in an Uber.

I walk a lot. A couple of hours every day. Even in winter, it very rarely rains so heavily that it's a problem. But then there's the odd day when it's both chilly and sleeting it down where I'd arrive soaked and chilled to the bone, and yes I do opt out on those days.

My DS (who has ASD) is at a school 2 miles away as this was the best option for SEN Support. We tend to drive him 3/4 of the way half the time but he will walk there / back a few times a week. However he isn't comfortable doing the whole thing on his own yet so we take/meet him half way at the moment. By spring I expect him to be ok on his own and he has also asked for some ear buds for xmas so he can listen to podcasts, I think he will be actively wanting to walk alone once he has these but he stays til 4.15 four days a week and its dark by then so will probably continue to meet him for now

My DS (who has ASD) is at a school 2 miles away as this was the best option for SEN Support. We tend to drive him 3/4 of the way half the time but he will walk there / back a few times a week. However he isn't comfortable doing the whole thing on his own yet so we take/meet him half way at the moment. By spring I expect him to be ok on his own and he has also asked for some ear buds for xmas so he can listen to podcasts, I think he will be actively wanting to walk alone once he has these but he stays til 4.15 four days a week and its dark by then so will probably continue to meet him for now

My school was 2.5 miles away, I used to get the bus or a lift in the morning and walk home, think it took about 50 mins. I often had friends walking that way.

Not sure what we did when the weather was bad, we must of just got on with it.

Get a bike and pannier bags.

As long as there are proper footpaths and it’s reasonably well lit I think it’ll be fine. Where my kids went to school they had to go along part of a busy A-road and then through a village with no pavements or lampposts! Walking or cycling were out of the question so it was bus or car.

Crazy to ask children to do this?! Would you want to add that amount of time onto your working day and then get home and have to do homework?!!!

Completely unreasonable

How close are your kids to school?

My nearest school is 1.6 miles. Is that reasonable???

I remember moaning about having to walk to school (we didn't have a car, there were no buses and it was over two miles) in the rain. My mum succinctly pointed out that I walked three miles to work at the riding school every weekend and could therefore manage to drag my carcass to school.

She was right too.

On a reasonably nice day without having to carry tons of stuff, no, it’s not too far to walk each day.

However, if it’s anything like my kids’ high school, there will be rules about uniform, shoes, not being able to wear a coat in school (no lockers), etc. so if it was pissing down or cold/snow/icy you couldn’t wear a coat/boots/waterproofs without carrying them around school with you all day.

No lockers so they couldn’t store boots/coats/etc when they got to school and also couldn’t leave PE kits, etc so had to lug everything to and from school each day.

And what would be the alternative?

I regularly walk this far before and after work as it's great exercise. For kids that aren't sporty, walking might be the main exercise they get in a week. It really isn't that far. I used to do it when I was at school and actively enjoyed the time walking home with friends

My daughter walks 45 mins each way every day for secondary school. She very rarely gets a lift. Last time she did it was her birthday!! She mostly really likes the walk. She only complains when it's raining but she has to get on with it. She meets friends for some of the way and her little sister will be joining her in sept. It's not insurmountable if it's the school you want!

My son’s walk to school was 2 miles. If I was working from home I would drop him off in the morning, but he always had to walk home. It was fine.

Because many British people have completely lost sight of what constitutes normal physical activity. Something that would have been utterly unremarkable even only a decade ago is now considered some sort of supreme physical effort that could only be attempted by the fittest and most dedicated children.

And then they wonder why they and their offspring end up car-addicted, obese, and scared stiff of exercise.

People don’t think 40 minutes of walking is too much. They think that there are circumstances where it would be impractical, or unpleasant, or a bit shit, or would mean the kid might miss out on stuff, and there really need to be contingency plans.

This unlocked a memory for me. I only left school 10 years ago.

We had no lockers so you carry your wet coat to each lesson (with no chance to dry off) and no wellies or change of clothes 🫢

Not fun!

My DC have done this for the past 4 years. They complain when it’s pissing it down or freezing but other than that, it’s fine. There is a school bus but they don’t like using it because it’s always packed and doesn’t really drop them close to home. It takes them about 50 mins. They get dropped in the morning by DH so only have to do it one way.

Mine did that, but we were available to give them a lift if it was tipping down or they had something difficult to carry.

It's not too far, it's fine. That's about how far my walk to secondary school was. I had an umbrella if it rained. Sometimes I walked home with friends who lived nearby. My school did have lockers so I didn't need to carry every single textbook, that helped so hopefully this school does too.

My sons school is 1.5 miles away with a similarly unreliable bus. Until recently, I gave a lift to school 99% of the time and then he would also get a lift home on my 2x wfh days and walk the other days. However, my car has been off the road for 7 weeks and hes been walking both ways. Takes him about 30 mins. Hes happy to do it in all weathers although there was one day where there was an almighty storm and downpour so mum guilt at the thought of him arriving dripping wet led me to ordering a taxi.

🤣 my dds school is 15/20mins away max, in the summer it regularly takes her & her best friend 45mins+ to get home. I once got a phone call because she had lost her homework somewhere along the route whilst showing said best friend.

Distance wise no and would be good for them however you have to factor in days when it’s pouring or absolutely freezing or if they do extra curricular sports that they need equipment for as well. The bus is an option though and they can then choose between possible inconvenience of bus timings or fag of walking. Also is the route public as it will be dark in the winter some of those times.

I don’t think that’s too bad as long as you can drive them or pick them up in the snow or pissing rain.