Distance to primary school

[tingalayo]

What would you say is a reasonable walking distance to primary school? We have a choice of a few schools which are 5mins, 12mins and 20mins walk away respectively but there are lots of factors to consider and they might come out in favour of the 20mins away one. I'm just not sure what's an acceptable walking distance for a 5 year old.

Depends how good a walker you've got I think.

All of those are fine.

Is it 20 mins with how fast you walk? What's the distance ish in miles/km do you know? Does your child have a scooter they'll use?

20 minutes equates to you walking 80 minutes a day for the next 8 years or so, is this something you can commit to?

DDs schools have been
-15min walk/5 min cycle

• 30 mins on school bus (after 5 min walk to bus stop)

-20 min drive

• 3 minute walk

The 15min walk was fine. 20 will be fine.
The usual problem is what happens after for the parent getting to work.

We are 7 mins from primary, I know exactly because I used to time it to get the train to the office.

It's a godsend, particularly in shite weather like it is here this morning. I wouldn't fancy an 80 minute walk in the rain every day.

Mine are in y6 now and walk to / from school by themselves I don't think I'd be comfortable with them doing 20 mins yet.

Unless the closer schools are really bad I wouldn’t even consider the 20 minute away one. It’s 80 minutes walking a day for you, just for the school run and presuming you’re in the U.K. you’ll frequently be doing it in the pissing rain. Of course it can be done but I’d only do it as a last resort.

Is that 20 minutes at a brisk adult pace or kid speed? When kids come out of the buggy and walk you slow down immensely (mini micro scooter helps massively)

In general at primary school close is best. You then have the advantage of school friends generally living very nearby whereas a school friend at the 20 minutes away school might live a further 20 minutes the other way so be 40 minutes from you. I would choose a good nearby school over an outstanding further away school any day. But I would rethink if the nearby one was inadequate/needing improvement.

20 minutes is our time and it’s fine but I don’t leave 20 minutes before. I plan to leave at 8 15 then there is no rush (hills and woodland) and we can chat / practice spellings etc I’m not a morning person and this just feels better. Oh latest little one gets up is 7 45 - no tv just breakfast, teeth, medication and dressed.

20 mins in fine weather is good. 20 mins in cold and rain not so much.

We currently live about 2 minutes walk away fro DS school. We have the same problems as everyone else, drop offs and pick ups are still waiting around in the cold and wet. The main saving is time - I can guarantee I’ll be home by 9 to start work.

If being back home quickly isn’t an issue, 20 minutes is fine. I did that daily as a youngster.

My first would happily walk an hour to school and back a day but second would moan after 6 min so really depends on your kid!

15-20 mins here and never been a problem.

We do 20 minutes done it since preschool.

I’ll miss the exercise when we stop!

It really is nothing!!!!

At 8.35am every morning I am grateful that school is 5 mins away. Actually, it was 5 mins away at 4 year old pace with a buggy. It’s even closer at 10 year old pace.

I used to walk 35 mins each way twice a day. It was an amazing school but the walk used to get me down occasionally. Kids were fine in fact it was good to know they'd had a decent bit of exercise every day. On balance I don't regret it.

@TonkaTruckduck

20 minutes equates to you walking 80 minutes a day for the next 8 years or so, is this something you can commit to?

It sounds fabulous - built-into-your-day exercise that will keep you fit for the next 8 years without even having to think about it. A 5-minute walk won't do that.

20 min is on the edge of acceptable if your child can scoot there and back and you can drive in really bad weather.

The school furthest away though would need to be heads and shoulders above the closer schools to make it worthwhile. The amount of things your child can do with an extra 30 min a day is a lot (study an instrument for instance). It also is an extra hour of commuting for you so you should think about what you could do with that extra time and how it might free you up to better support you son in primary.

My kids walk a mile to school. They are 7 and 4. It's pretty hardgoing for the 4 year old but the 7 year old does it fine. We almost never drive it, even in the rain. I'd say if you choose the one that's 20 minutes away it will feel like a slog during reception and then get easier during Y1.

Scooters make it easier, if your kid scoots. Once they're big enough for bikes then that makes it much easier still. And it's great exercise for you all.

That said, I do often think our lives would be just that bit easier if we lived say 10 minutes away rather than 20 minutes.

Oh and our two closest schools are both a mile away, so we didn't have a choice.

Thank you for the input :) the shorter distances are definitely preferable so maybe it will come down to the open days etc, if the closer schools seem very nice then I imagine we will go with one of them.

My school was a 25 minute walk away, it was fine. I remember the walks to school being really fun because we used to walk another girl to school so her mum could get to work.

As they get older the closer the better. By Yr5 you can say goodbye to school run

@boyblue

As they get older the closer the better. By Yr5 you can say goodbye to school run

This, absolutely!!

DD will be walking herself to school and back on Mondays from Easter, as DS did from Y5 Easter.