How important.....

[Serenabeddle]

Is it to you to be able to walk to your DC’s school and why?

I think you get to know other parents who walk the same way. You chat. You end up helping one another out.

When they get to an age they can play at each other's houses, it is all a lot more convenient if the dc all live near (this becomes a REAL plus once they are old enough to walk round there on their own).

It's much less stressful than trying to find somewhere to park

Globally, it has to be better for the environment

Individually it has to be better for the dc's health - even if it isn't really a long enough walk to count as exercise, just 10mins in the fresh air is great before they go in to school and great when they've been in a classroom all day

@BackforGood thanks...would you drive to a school that had better results in a ‘nicer’ area?

We can’t (well, it’s about an hour at 4 year old speed if you stick to footpaths). But we actively didn’t like the catchment primary. Lots of the local kids go to other schools scattered around the local town and villages. We also picked a school that suited DS1 (hands up not DS2 as he was a tiny baby at that point) but we were relatively agnostic about location.

I wouldn’t walk 100 m to some schools! If its really poor, I would try and avoid. Yes, I would go further for a school that was the best fit for DC. It might be easier to walk but you might not find the local mums are going to be your mates and your DC might prefer DC who come from the opposite direction. My DC attended our local primary but we lived on a dangerous route. So I drove them in rather than them get the taxi provided. I didn’t drive all the way. We joined the walking crocodile in the town centre to walk to the school. I think this is a compromise.

We live a couple km from school and it does make a difference with ease of playmates and just meeting up in the park after school. Also little kids find it hard to walk that twice a day.

@Guymere it’s not poor it’s just not the best....WWYD

hmm, hard one.

Advantages:
chat to other parents; encourages physical exercise; also means that your kids live within walking distance of lots of friends; becomes more and more significant as they get older, especially year 4 and above; really easy for things like split pick up if you have 2 kids and one is at a club; can teach kids to cycle etc to school; easy to pop up and down for events (come to our art exhibition for 10 minnutes ; great fresh air breather and decompress to start and finish the day.

disadvantages:
well, choice of school!
also not realistic in areas of high traffic,dense pavements etc

In that case, I would certainly consider it. I would want to look at whether it’s improving. Why do you think it’s not the best? What do the others offer that this one does not? How much do you value what the “best” schools offer above this one?

Look at progress of the children. Are the others “best” purely due to results? Are they in leafier areas with more advantaged children? Do they have a more inspiring curriculum or more clubs for DC to join? Why don’t you consider your local school to be as good?

If a school is getting good progress, offers a wide ranging and interesting curriculum and, very importantly, has excellent teachers, you cannot go wrong. The “best” schools are often considered best because they have the most middle class and engaged parents. So do evaluate what “best” actually means to you. If you are an engaged parent and your local school is improving I would go local. If you have reason to think it’s stagnant or on a slippery downward slope with staff leaving, I would walk on by!

School 1 is in a leafier middle class area with good results and engaged parents (10 min drive).Clubs are better and most children tend to go on to independent secondary schools/grammar. School 2 is in a disadvantaged area (a lot of working class families) and I’ve heard a few parents swearing at their DC standing around the school grounds...but results are still higher than the national average (only recently)..we could walk there in 10 minutes. Need to make a decision and stick with it.

Also, I have canvased local opinion on all schools in the area and honestly receive positive feedback which makes me think perhaps they are all about the same.

*canvassed

@Serenabeddle

School 1 is in a leafier middle class area with good results and engaged parents (10 min drive).Clubs are better and most children tend to go on to independent secondary schools/grammar. School 2 is in a disadvantaged area (a lot of working class families) and I’ve heard a few parents swearing at their DC standing around the school grounds...but results are still higher than the national average (only recently)..we could walk there in 10 minutes. Need to make a decision and stick with it.

Working class doesn't automatically mean deprived. You get working class children who are collected by their family each day and middle class children who are in wraparound care from 7am until 6pm. Both can be equally deprived but in different ways.

@redlockscelt yes, understood. We are due to move into the area in 3 weeks so need to decide quickly.

I think, ultimately, it’s about where you and DC fit in! Are you more leafy Lane or WC?

I have been a school governor in a more deprived area and been a parent in a leafy lane area!

The main differences are parental engagement and expectations. Also extras. The more deprived area schools don’t do exciting trips and have extras in school because no one can/will pay for them. All those “nice to have” things are often missing. Yes, progress might be good but what about everything else in the schools? What about PTA, sports teams, music, drama etc. Many of these are left behind in more deprived areas. Parents cannot afford music lessons and those that do find there is no school music for performances. No sports teams either. So do look at this beyond the classroom.

I’m not sure what you aspire to and what is best for your family. Now you have given more info - I’m changing my mind! But that would be for me. I’m not you with your values!

@Guymere thanks! We are more leafy lane and would prefer a more rounded education for DC. I guess that’s the decision made.

I always walked to school growing up, but then I did live ridiculously close, so there would have been no excuse not to. I genuinely think I only ever got picked up once, for a dental appointment, but even they were planned for after school when at all possible!!

Now, I do think it's still important. Given that so many hobbies these days seem to be sedentary, those two walks a day are valuable for the children AND the parents! And phones should be banned on these walks. I can't stand seeing mums pushing prams while looking at their phone, it's sickening.

Well in the car on the way to school you can sing, practice times tables, spellings, talk about interests and hobbies, what’s going on after school and, if you’ve chosen well, you’ve got a school with lots of sport and running around available at lunch time!