Max journey time to prep school?

[Internationalvelvet]

Any views please? Deciding between outstanding school that will take an hour to get to, and v. good one that is 20 mins away. DS is eight.

Should add - we live in big city, so journey times can vary! (ie, am not looking at stress-free suburban commute in car).

Unless there is the option of flexi boarding to break up the travelling during the week I would go to the closer one.

We used to commute 23 miles through countryside which took about 30 to 40 minutes and it did become a chore. Thankfully we moved house to another part of the UK hand the DC changed schools. I cannot imagine doing that school run for 5 years.

Its all the other stuff as well - how tired your DC will be after a school day and travelling and will it effet his ability to do his prep properly. Then school functions and events that are in the evenings or weekends - we used to go and have tea out somewhere for those odd hours between school finishing adn evening event starting. It was doable but hardly pleasant. I used to really hate it if they were in Saturday matches and I had to do the school run yet again on a Saturday and even more pissed off if there was a birthday party in the same area of the school on a weekend/Sunday.

Socially - if you live 1 hour one side of school there is the possibility that some of your DC friends may live 30 minutes to an hour the other side of the school from you as well - a nightmare for school holiday socials and birthdays etc.

Then factor in the petrol/diesel costs.

Ity may be a better school further away but IMO you and your DC will be too far to fully excel and take advantage of all that is on offer as well as share the enthusiasm long term to involve in all the extra socials and events. If flexi boarding or even weekly boarding is something you may consider and your DC is happy with this too, then it becomes more of an option.

Thanks! My gut feeling too. Boarding not an option, and boys at this school do seem to come from far and wide, so social side could be difficult. I hadn't considered evening/weekend events, but you are right. Whereas several boys in our immediate neighbourhood attend closer option, which is door to door 20 mins on bus. Just get the feeling it would be nice to be fairly near home during prep stage...

Which schools are in question (unless you don't want to out your location or I am just being too nosey )?

hi, i have spent 4 years travelling a 25-40 min commute to school - traffic dependent in london - en route to my work and i would strongly advise school as close to home as possible. We miss out for sure on things like playdates after school, as it all becomes a logistical nightmare, and the exttracurricular stuff with sports and parties. If you have more than one child it gets even worse with different finishing times etc.

we have been trying to move house to relieve the situation but having failed to do so may actually move out of london altogether eg kent to try to improve the general status quo

good luck

Hi

We currently travel 16 miles, from the countryside into a city area, takes us 35/40 mins, sometimes a bit more.

We leave home at 7.40 and arrive at school around 8.15. School finishes at 3.20 and we are home by 4pm.

It is OK, but a chore and it is not the getting to school in the morning, but the journey back to work/home afterwards for me (work is near home). If I hit the traffic wrong, it can take me nearly an hour, because I am hitting rush hour. I then have to leave work/home at 2.45 to go back to school, so it really makes for a busy day.

However, we do a lot in the car, sometimes reading!!! Most days spellings and my dd has a whiteboard in the car which she writes them on. We also have chats about the school day and listen to music, it is a nice time really.

So far, parties haven't been a problem, some are near school, but because of the catchment area and lack of good independent schools in the area, the children are all scattered.

Check whether there is a school bus, our school has a number that pick up from various outlying villages. DD could get one too, but it leaves earlier than we actually set off for school and is a five mile drive away and costs quite a lot, so not sure if viable. It could be that you do the journey for a year or two and then your ds gets the bus.

There are some who live further than us, but there is such a lack of private schools by us, it is the only option really.

Best of luck.