People who walk to school

[purpleme12]

Those who walk to school with their children, how far away is the school from your house? How far away would you consider a school? And do they walk willingly?

We used to live 15 minutes walk away in London, and I didn't drive so the DC walked EVERYWHERE, much longer distances, without moaning.

No we live rurally 5 miles from school, and have to drive. I miss walking.

15 minutes with children, 10 minutes on my own. Very manageable.

10-15 mins with my very slow 4 year old. Mostly fine , just painfully slow sometimes.

5 to 10 mins walk for us. Yes dc are willing. They love school!

When mine were at primary it was a mile away so they did 2 miles per day, I did four.

Ours is 2 miles away so we catch the bus to as close as possible, then walk the last 15 minutes.

10 minutes. There is no choice.

7 minute walk to primary and about 10 to secondary.
Unless I'm feeling REALLY lazy then it's a 10 min car trip for both drop offs.

5 minute walk.
At the old house it was 15 minutes, but through the woods, so really nice way to start/finish the day.

I think 15 minutes at moderate pace is fine, any more and it starts to become a real chore when it is raining, or with 2 kids and one has a club and the other doesn't etc

Choose your most local school if that’s an ok option. I always say children should always be able to walk to school. So surprising (and dangerous) how many people in our small town will drive their children to school. I find it easier to walk.

No idea how far but it takes 10 minutes in the morning / 15 to 20 in the evening as we bumble along chatting. I love it in the afternoon- they tell me all sorts.

the other thing to remember is that they get bigger, so what may be an effort in reception, gets easier, and also that you can move on to cycling or scootering.

The biggest issue would be where and how you have to walk, alongside a busy road is crap, side roads and cut through a park, great.

It’s about 15 mins! Nursery and school are on the same site which is very handy

5 minute walk, which we never do cos breakfast club opens at 8 and we're in work at 7 and 8. We drive to the cm at 730 instead. It's ridiculous.

we walk almost exactly a mile to school, and have done since reception, but only on the days I'm not travelling on to work afterwards. the DC took a little training up, but can now do it in well under 20mins.

I moved my youngest from 15 min walk (school was nightmare) to a lovely one 30mins away ending 5mins uphill slog recently.shes 9 but has walked miles and miles since tiny as i dont drive.the longer walk has instigated way more conversation about her day.chance practice times tables and spellings and its lovely just having that time to just chat

About 15 minutes - rain, hail, wind, snow ... ! My son enjoys walking for the most part but if the weather is really shitty then he has some complaints. It's a great chance to ask about his day on the way home though and to just have a chat in general without interuptins, we also like spotting wildlife on the way and pointing out all the seasonal changes on our route.

About 250m. So no they'd better not grumble!

10 mins with the kids, 6-7 without. They do moan, esp if windy or raining but it really is just up the road so I refuse to drive. Old school was 2 miles away, I could walk it in about 35 but not with the kids so we cycled as much as we could.

Often drive. And then on to work. Only a few minutes away from the school.
If walking, 20 minutes. 5 schools in our town. 3 primaries and 2 secondary's. All equal distance from us.

3 minutes away. They are in a new building next academic year so it'll be 7 minutes away. When we get to the realms of senior school it's about a 12 minute walk.

There are people who live within a 10 minute walk that drive - I guess they're on their way to work, but parking can be a bit hellish. Some parents do a 'walking bus' so that they can have their DC's walked to school by other parents who're passing.

Primary was about 800m I reckon, at a guess.
Secondary - ds was 1.1 miles, dds were 1.5 miles.

It just is was it is - never been any different so only times they wish it weren't such a walk (secondary) is if they've stayed late so are walking on own after dark, or occasionally when it is driving rain.

Who cares if they do it willingly, really? Children should be walking to school, they need the daily exercise, it wakes them up and parents all driving to school adds to traffic and air pollution.

I care if I can get her to do it as I care if she just sits on the pavement and refuses to move as stated earlier!

I'd try and make it fun for her, leave early enough for you not to be in a hurry so you can chat and look at things along your walk, stand and watch the birds at some point, etc. 1.6 miles is a long way to walk when you're little but I'd really recommend getting scooters, for both of you, otherwise you'll spend half the day walking.