school escort? need someone to drive ds to his school 2 miles away

[Hotpotatofood]

my DS has got a place in a school 2 miles away. we are both working and cannot take him. if we choose cm in the area of the school - we would have to drop him off at 7.20 am in order for me to manage to go to work, which would mean leaving house 7.00 am -I think it s too early and too tiring for ds. my mum helps me with childcare so she can stay at home with my DS in the morning and I just need to arrange for someone to take him in a car? say, leave house at 8.15 to get to school by 8.45 am. is there such thing like escort to school - someone driving him to school? or are there any other ideas how I can get him to school? public transport - 2 buses, so probably too tiring for 4 year old...please help me with ideas

if I drop off at CM at 7.20 am - what time reasonably it owuld be the best to pick him up - 3.15 or can he stay till 4 - there are some clubs after school. My dad ( his grand dad) probably will pick him up and go on a bus. my dh will try to negotiate at his work to go to 4 days a week instead of 5, to spend 1 day with children ( not sure how well it will go...). the mornings will probably be the worst. In terms of LEA transport service - I phone LEA and they said that the transpotrt is only for special educational needs. how can I persuade them to pick up my child - I am happy to pay for it...

You would need to check out those clubs. In our school, for instance, they're mainly for older children, many are cyclical (therefore sometimes only running on, say a half-termly basis on a rolling basis for different children if they're popular clubs) and they often don't run on the first/last weeks of term. Not sure you could rely on them completely.

If the cm does after school pick up she may charge a full after school session eg to 5:30-6 as she then cannot take another child from the school.

Is there a pre school club?

Sorry for multiple post - if you already offered to pay for transport and the LEA said no, I suspect you won't persuade them - though if there is a space once term has started it might be possible. However, the transport may go to several drop off points and therefore start quite early.

Could your mum or dad learn to drive?

no, my parents too old...

Erm, then how practical is your dad taking 2 buses to pick up DS and 2 buses back with him?

It's obviously not going to work. Your child will be tired, unsettled- he won't be able to have friends for tea or go to friend's houses- it will be a nightmare, honestly. And this will go on for 7 years. Don't do it. Look for a space at a local school and relqx

Not sure I understand why your mother cannot take your ds to school by taxi if she is going to be at your house in the morning. Surely that is preferable and cheaper than a CM. Under 5 a CM will charge for a full day rather than just the hours they are looking after your child.

Can I suggest you contact the school re breakfast and afterschool club? I am not talking about the fun clubs (eg football, craft club) but some school run after school child care clubs, or they are run by someone else on their premises, for wrap around care.

EG our school runs a breakfast club from 7:45 and 2 afternoons a week it runs a club til 5 which is primarily for wrap round care and almost never cancelled. And then there are fun clubs which change and don't run every week etc, and are usually until 4:20/4:30, and may be cancelled at short notice.

We have lots of childminders who do drop off and pick up. I think if asked out school would refer you to one, or maybe to PTA who could give you some names etc.

BUT you need to understand that school day times are set in stone and have to be kept to. So our reception children should be in playground at 8:35, and parents must stay until they go in to building at 8:40. You cannot drop and leave until KS2. For pick up you have to be there at 3:20, or arrange for someone else to be.

If you found another mum to do it, you would need to think about how much to pay her, and what you would do if her child was ill.
FWIW my cousin used to drive a school run taxi (special needs), there were 3 children accompanied by an adult, he wasn't expected to be responsible for them.

I've missed the bit where you say what you do at the moment fr nursery - presumably that is a problem too but you have worked around that?

2 miles doesn't seem far to me, tbh. In some places, would there Actually be a school closer than that? ( I think you must have a a closer school you could have chosen?)

It does sound like you've made a difficult choice which is going to cause problems for years to come - even if you get the 'regular' days sorted out, there'll be problems when someone's poorly, when a bus is late, when a clubs not running.....

Can your mum cycle him to school?

options:

Change your and your DH working hours - or could you "work from home"

Employ a childminder who drops at that school - but you will have to find one that will take children at 7am as not all do

Ask school if they have breakfast and after school clubs. Don't confuse these with the "free" clubs that schools sometimes provide as they can be cancelled without much notice.

Employ a nanny/au-pair

Look around for a student who may want extra cash by doing the before and after school drops

change schools

If your mum definitely can't take him I'd look for a childminder near the school. Ask if they can give him breakfast (for a fee) and you won't have to get him up so early. I loved group breakfast (cereal and juice) at my childminder's when I was in primary but I now see it was a way for DM to stay sane.

Where is the father in this? Hens also responsible for getting ds to school....

In our village we have a couple of childminders who take children before and after school. Is that not an option?

"I'm really shocked at a school 2 miles from your home not being classed as local. 2 miles isn't very far at all, surely 5-10 mins?"

OP is in London. You're looking at 30 mins minimum, and if awkward journey, considerably longer.

I'm struggling to sympathise here. If you make a choice which makes life tricky, you have to accept that....well, life is going to be tricky!

Good summing up of all the suggestions so far, myboysarebonkers

I can't see any other options.....

My DS school did half days for the first few weeks too - have you got a plan for that?

Who looks after your children at present?

What will you do during school holidays?

Think you and your DH need to look at both your employers Flexible Working Polices.

Yes settling in period can be tougher on the parents than the kids.

What time do you and dh leave for work and how long a round trip is it ?Have you tried the triangle of home-cm/school-work by car yourself yet ? 2 miles shouldn't take as long as 20 minutes to drive and a cm will presumably time her schoolrun to get children there for about 8.45 (maybe leaving between 8.15 and 8.30) so I'm not sure why your timings are so early.

Have you actually enquired of any cm's yet. Maybe speak to the school and ask for details of any cm's who do drop offs or if they have any arrangements for before/after school care (some private nurseries provide an offsite service if none arrange at the school itself)Who manages the childcare at present ? Agree with those suggesting that as you effectively chose this school, presumably knowing it might prove tricky logistically, and seem to place importance on the faith aspect you should really try to make it work.

Could your mother not walk him to school or half and half with the bus? He could have a scooter, those are allowed on buses where we are but I realize London is different. Both of my DC walked 2miles to school from reception age. They were tired at first but needs must sometimes. Your Dm could then bus home?. Lots of messing around though and what will you do for snow days/illness/unexpected closures?. Go for the local School..

I was going to suggest scooting to the second bus and taking the second bus to lesson the journey. If you get a fold up scooter, I can't see it being refused on a bus. Or a buggy if he is getting tired. Our juniors is a way from the infants and a few parents do use the buggy for the first few weeks for new reception children to do the walk between them. By the second term the children don't need it (except when ill) as they've got used to it.

He might love the bus journey too. My dm was getting two buses and a half mile walk to school by herself from age 5. I think her mum took her on the first morning to make sure she knew which bus stop to wait at. She enjoyed the journey mostly, the first bus was quiet, with no other chidlren on, and then she met friends on the second.