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Original poster

How many working parents WALK their children to school?

25 replies

Hulababy · 31/03/2010 22:50

Do you work but still manage to do the school run by foot?

I see lots of threads regarding school runs on MN but because of work committments even if DD 's school was half a mile from home I still would have to drive in order to get to/from work in time.

Is the walk to school the domain of stay at home parents or parents who work at home?

I suppose some PT workers could do it too, or some for part of the time. If DD's school was close, since moving jobs, I could walk to collect her some days - although not if we went to her after school activities which are straight from school and a distance away.

OP posts:

Fimbow · 31/03/2010 22:53

I walk with dd to her school as it is next door to the school I work in! (I suppose this doesn't really count for your question!).

I have to be in the classroom at 8.45 so my friend takes my ds to school in her car.

AnyFucker · 31/03/2010 22:54

my childs school is doing a "walk to school wednesday" for a few weeks soon

each child gets a star for walking, and then a prize if they collect the most stars

very unfair, IMO, because I work Wednesdays and have to get him to breakfast club at the crack of dawn and then to work on time by the skin of my teeth

if we walk, I will be late for work

it stinks, IMO

Original poster

Hulababy · 01/04/2010 19:08

AnyFucker - the school I work at do something similar once week a year (or is termly?), and children get stickers each day thy walk in. However to make it fair this also includes people who use public transport, people who cycle and also people ho park and stride (i.e park further away and then walk). Still not ideal for working parents though.

OP posts:

purepurple · 01/04/2010 19:19

I walked DD to school every day that she was in primary school. She is in high school now and goes on the bus.
I managed to do this as I arranged with my employers that I would not start work until I had done so. I do not drive, so it was my only option.
I worked 32 hours a week when she was in Infants and enjoyed our walks to school as it gave us time to chat. The downside was that she had to go to an after-school club 4 nights a week.
When I changed jobs, closer to home, I worked 40 hours a week, but only had a 30 minute dinner break as I had to take DD to school first, so was 30 mins late for the shift.
I am able to do shifts now that DD is in high school, which means that sometimes I have to do earlies, starting at 8, which is a bit of a shock.

catinthehat2 · 01/04/2010 19:20

Frankly my DC are lucky if I stop the car to let them get out. They mostly have to take their chances with opening the car door and jumping carefully.

I don't see this is a problem, other than on tennis or music days when valuable kit might get damaged.

HTH.

ElizabethWakefield · 01/04/2010 19:22

I walk DD to school every morning, she starts school at 9 and i start work at 9.30. We live fairly close to her school, so we leave the house about 8.50 I walk with her, drop her off then i carry on walking to work which takes about 25 mins.

Have done this since she started 5 years ago.

gherkinwithapurplemerkin · 01/04/2010 19:23

NO, breakfast club here.
We had Crazy Walk to School day this week - as a compromise I parked 200yards away and we hopscotched in, I then ran like buggery back to the car. The school did give the kids certificates - I might have had a moan if they hadn't.

Spero · 01/04/2010 19:23

I walk her to school in the morning - it is about 15 minutes and it is quicker than the bus once you've factored in waiting at the bus stop. But it does sometimes make it difficult, depending on where I need to be as breakfast club starts at 8 and sometimes that isn't early enough. And she seems to be the only reception child there and hates it...

I can't pick her up though - have to have a child minder. And school organises stuff after school at 3.45pm with only a few day's notice, which means I can rarely if ever go.

Northernlurker · 01/04/2010 19:24

I cycle with mine.

Quattrocento · 01/04/2010 19:24

Complex rota for driving to school here. Many working parents on the rota none of whom walk their dcs to school.

School is 7 miles away so would be a really impractical thing to do,

UnquietDad · 01/04/2010 19:25

I do. But I mainly work from home, 5 mins away, so it's easy.

foxinsocks · 01/04/2010 19:28

dh does but he starts late and finishes late to accommodate this

hana · 01/04/2010 19:28

on days I work dh walks kids into school then catches train into work.

Whippet · 01/04/2010 19:30

I work from home, and in good weather try to walk the kids to school twice a week. I count it as part of my exercise programme .

Have to admit, we haven't done it for a while though, as the weather has been pants, and there are only certain days when we can walk (i.e. when we don't have to be there extraordinarily early for choir, or drama, or when I'm not weighed down with two PE kits, football boots, a guitar and a saxophone...)

I know, I know, excuses, excuses...

Our last school had a walking bus scheme which was great. I thought about setting one up, but I can't bear the thought of having to walk to school every day with my neighbour who a) talks incessantly about herself and her children, b) is a crashing bore in every other respect too...

thedollshouse · 01/04/2010 19:32

I suppose it depends how far away you are from school. Even if I did work I don't think I would save more than 2 minutes time by driving. Most of the children at ds's school live very close, there are hardly any children dropped off by car.

If you need to drive, you need to drive. I wouldn't feel guilty about it. Its just one of those things.

Katz · 01/04/2010 19:33

i walk my girls to school and then onto work, but then i'm very lucky to able to do this. School is about 5-10mins walk from the house then its straight down the hill to work another 5-10min walk. DD2 is now very settled in F2 and so its drop her at 8.50 and i'm normally at my desk by 9.05.

bibbitybobbityhat · 01/04/2010 19:35

My dh often walks the children to school and then goes on to the bus stop to get in to work. But we live in London - no one drives work, unless they work in the outer zone. And he doesn't have to be at work til 10-10.30am.

ChippyMinton · 01/04/2010 19:39

DH walks the DC to school, then walks home to collect his car.
I get home in time to park the car and walk to school and collect them.
It's a five minute walk for an adult, 10 minutes with the DC.

We were lucky to be able to buy a house so close to school.

AnzoneioBanderas · 01/04/2010 19:40

Mine walk themselves

Nymphadora · 01/04/2010 20:21

I can walk mine to school on work days as I work flexi time and can start late most days but if I have anything at 9:30/10ish I have to drive them as the extra 15 mins counts.

I only pick them up when I'm off but usually my Mum walks them home.

Clary · 03/04/2010 00:23

I am not working atm but when I was I started very early (7.30) and finished 3pm - in time to drive home and then walk up to school.

DH did it the other way round - he started 9.30 so walked up and home then set off to work.

We realise we were fortunate in this but tbh we negotiated for it and the company benefited too (for example I got loads of work done early!)

We only live about 7 mns from school tho, when I am in a hurry and child free (ie on way back at 9am) I can do it in less than 5. Hardly worth getting in the car.

Twice in the last couple of weeks I have seen one (I assume) working parent who is in such a rush to get to work that she thinks it's OK to stop on the yellow zigzags to let her child out. Grrrrr.

ZacharyQuack · 04/04/2010 02:32

I do, but I'm self-employed.

Ellokitty · 04/04/2010 21:06

I work part time (school hours) and it is a virtual impossibility. School is a 15 min walk from my house. DD1 starts school at 8:30 and I start work at 9. Given that my job is a 15 minute drive from work, I don't have time to walk home, collect the car and drive to work. When I used to work three days, I did try to walk one day a week (on dry days )

Maveta · 04/04/2010 21:21

dh and I both walk ds to nursery, about 5 mins walk. but he starts school in september and it will then be a 20min drive so walking absolutely not an option.

paddingtonbear1 · 04/04/2010 21:27

I do. If I'm not in the office, we walk or dd takes her bike/scooter. If I am in the office, I walk to school with my bike, then I cycle on from there - we do shifts and my work is 7 miles away, so I can start a bit later. dh normally collects from after school club (he uses the car for work)

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