How important is walking to school for fitting in?

[tiger66]

I have just looked around a school that is in our town but not within walking distance and loved it. However the school within walking distance is also supposed to be good but I don't love it as much.

Just wandering if anyone can help me out...

1. Do kids settle just as quickly and get on as well at school if they are in the minority that are not walking to school?

2. Do I chose a local walking distance school so that he might have friends to be able to play with within walking distance of home?

Not sure which is most important at this time of their schooling

It depends who else walks.

We can walk to school, which is great, but very few others can or do. This counteracts a lot of the advantages.

I am very envous of friends who live in a small catchment where everyone walks together/past each other's houses, etc.

The walk to school is quite a sociable time - we have to drive (2 miles country road and no pavement - deemed unfit to walk by the council), so I often park right at the edge of the village so we can walk in.

However having friends who live locally is so important - I guess you would have to see where most children live to decide whether your DD would be the only child who didn't live so far away

It deoends on the school I guess.

DD's school is 3 miles away so we drive. Most of her friends come by car too and her friends are scattered over quite a big area. She has still had regularly "playdates" right from the first term of reception and made friends in day 1 which has kept going til now (y4) and beyond.

DD plays out at home too with children from our cul de sac. She plays with children who are out their - our neighbour's son, other children her age or there abauts, some littler ones too and a couple of older girls. Some of the children go to the local school (about a mile away) and others to the diffeent independent schools in the city. They all play lovely and get on well.

Infact DH is just walking DD and her friend home from Brownies - the little girl DD met whilst playing out on the street this summer and she has just started DD's Brownies and they get on lovely.

BTW - none of DD's school friends live nearby. So she only plays with school friends out of school if "playdates" are arranged.

Our catchment area is about 700m around the school, but we do live in a city. Not everyone walks tho...

Sooz28 - maybe I should be grateful then!

Actually, a couple of mums have tried to drop their kids by car at mine so that I will walk them in. Have always done it on request, but my kids like to be there as early as possible so they can be complete loons in the playground for as long as they can. The early start seems to have put off the opportunistic mums.

I doubt there would be a problem with settling. Many children are driven/travel to school on public transport. However, being able to walk to school IS nice for children, especially later on when they can go on their own. It is also great for kids to have friends in the immediate area. And for parents it's lovely to be able to dump them round the corner and run rather than face commutes twice a day.

We got a school 1.8 miles away as opposed to one 0.8miles away and I was worried about the whole not being able to walk thing.

But it turns out the class is split 50/50, around 15 drive in from the local town, where as 15 walk from the local village. As one who drives in, we get to the gates 15 minutes early with some of the other parents and children so they get (and we get!) to socialise then!

1. I tihnk it makes no difference whatsoever to how quickly a child settles into school (speaking as a teacher, not a parent)

2. That is entirely up to you. All of DS's friends are within walking distance of him and school, but he still needs to be taken to their houses and picked up to go home again at his age.

Oh people drive even if it's a 10 min walk...it's not going t hinder you at all and as Maude said you can always pak at the edge of the village and walk.

If you feel strongly about it why not park a distance from the good school and walk in with the locals

I don't know exactly which children walk to school or go by car to school where we are. So I don't think it can make that much difference to settling in.

You may not get a place at the further school of course.

most of the kids at my DC's school cannot walk as it covers a really big area and my DCs get the coach which they like. I don't think it really makes any difference.

We walk to school and it is lovely, street busy with other walkers, catch up with someone, wait for someone else etc.

Also once they are older it's nice to walk with a pal.

Our local school is the one that the vast majority of kids in the area go to, and this makes it handy for other reasons too - eg emergency taking-to-school-as-one-child-is-sick scenarios etc.

I personally would hate to drive to school every day but that's just me. I go back and forth to our school and activities in the near vicinity 5 or 6 times a day some days so if it was a 15-min car trip it would be a right PITA.

I think Hula's post is interesting - most of the DC are driven to her DD's school so it has not been an issue; but if most kids walk from locally to a school, and you are bussed in from afar, then yes, it might affect things. DS2 has a pal who lived non-local and we never saw them in the park on a Sunday/ran into them in the shop/randomly asked them in to play on the way home. But these things don't matter to everyone.

Thanks for all your comments, they have been really helpful. I think that I have maybe come to the conclusion that as quite an anxious person myself, maybe my little boy will settle anywhere but maybe walking distance would make it easier for me to get to know other mums walking to school and all the benefits of a community would give us.

As I am keen to get involved in the school activities I guess it will be beneficial that I can walk there!

Thanks again, advice much appreciated x