Is a 30 minute morning drive too long to primary school?

[jibbss]

Looking at primary schools for DC start start next year and we really don’t have any great options close by. Theres an outstanding school 6 miles away that has a large catchment area but with morning traffic will be around a 30 minute drive. Afternoon collection only 15 minutes as no traffic then. DH will be doing morning drop off as it’s on his way to work and I’ll do afternoon collection. Just wondering if that’s too long morning journey for DC?

Assuming the large catchment area stretches to your address so it's a realistic choice, I don't think 30 min is too long in the car with a parent, but what happens if DH doesn't work in that direction any more, or if he's away on business, will you be able to get him there? And also what about parking time and availability etc, what time do the doors open so children can actually be left? Will this all work? And ditto for you in the afternoons - 15 min drive is all very well but at some schools you may find you have to find a parking space either by getting there earlier, or by parking further away and walking to and from the car which will take longer (are you working yourself? Do you have other children?) If you have other children, what is the current sibling policy at the school, would they get in too? And although it's a long way in the future, do you plan to move - would this school and more local ones to your current home feed into the same or different secondaries?

Have you visited the local ones to compare or have you ruled them out on paper?

I think its difficult living further from school.

You need to consider:

• all their friends will be a drive away
• people might plan things like birthday parties even further so you could be stuck driving a lot
• you won't ever be able to swap favours for a school run here or there in an emergency
• if you ever rung at work because DC is ill, is it quick/easy to get back, and if not, do you have anyone close to the school who can help
• you can get hammered if the traffic is bad

Every time there's an event at school it will be annoying.

So firstly – would you get a place there? Certainly schools in the next village to me that are well-rated don’t usually have space for my area – only 2-3 miles away – tho ofc that is area-dependent.

Secondly, assuming the answer is yes, do consider that the 30 mins may be longer. Is that just the drive? Does it also take account of minutes spent looking for a parking space – or even minutes walking the child to school if you park a five-min walk away (which you may have to, and which is a good idea anyway, to cut congestion)? How does that factor in against the time you would need to leave and the time DH would get to work?

Finally and this is a key factor – it’s much much nicer to walk to school. Even setting aside the time factor it’s really calming and pleasant. Plus when the DC are older they can walk to and from school on their own (year 5 and 6 in my DCs’ case) which is a big plus. If the school is in the area, they will have local friends, local parties at weekends, people to call on to walk with or go to play with, yy neighbours to call on when one child is sick and the other needs walking to school. Don’t underestimate the value of that. IME most DC go to their local primary school.

What are your local schools actually like? Have you visited? Ofsted is definitely not everything. I would have been very unwilling to drive six miles each way for primary – the local schools would have had to have been a lot worse (they were fine tbh but not rated outstanding) before we made that decision.

That's a lot of time on a school run, it may take more time if parking is limited. On top of a work commute, it's a lot.

The first thing would be to check the likelihood of you getting a place by looking at the data from the school which shows the distance offered. It seems unlikely that you'd be in with a shot of getting a place if it's outstanding and therefore likely to be oversubscribed.

Secondly don't underestimate just how valuable a close school run can be especially as they get older and want to make their own way to school. The commute will with traffic, parking, roadworks and other obstacles also be very unlikely to be just 30 minutes.

I would always choose a local school for infant / primary age children. The benefits of local friends, impromptu trips to park, and in yr 5/6 being able to get to and from school independently should not be underestimated.

I love my time in the car with the children on our school run, it’s OUR time and we’ve had some great conversations, experiences debates etc good for music education (classical for us), times tables, interesting podcasts etc

My parents sent us to schools 30 mins drive away and a bit further for secondary. My mum didn't seem to mind it as she was mostly a SAHM however it was really boring having no friends nearby, and my parents spent most weekends ferrying us around in the car to social stuff so they never got a break. If friends are another 30 minutes on the other side then you're easily driving them an hour each way to a friend's house on a Saturday.

As we got older it became more and more annoying not being able to meet up with a single friend independently, we had to be driven absolutely everywhere. This has really stayed with me and I deliberately now live in a place where my DC will be very close to their schools and friends.

The school run is a great time to go over spellings and times tables before tests.

I’d be more concerned about play dates and after school clubs being further afield than anything else.

When my 2 were at Primary I used to be there quite a bit (worked PT) and used to get called if the DC were ill or similar
I would think 30 mins is a bit far

A 30 min drive away would be far too far for us, all of DDs friends live a short walk away from school which means there’s always loads of play dates and meet ups. We are in London and finding a fantastic school community has changed our lives

What are your other options?
It's lovely being able to walk and bumping into friends in the local park tbh.

Outstanding ofsted only tells you what they were like the day ofsted visited. Do not put everything down to that! I really do think that having friends nearby is more important in primary school. What if she wants a friend round for tea? Their parents wont want a rush hour drive like that to collect them afterwards!

Most schools are doing their open mornings/evenings this term so try and visit the ones closer. I wouldn't even rule out a requires improvement school tbh, depending what area it was that gave them that rating and how long they have had it. They'd be getting extra visits from the LA to make sure they were on track to fix what was lacking

Are you just going by the Ofstead rating? Because I’d choose the nearest one any day if the week. It can’t be that bad?

Agree with everyone else.

It would have to be a really, really dire local school that made me drive 30mins+ to avoid it.
OFSTED is one very tiny part of how I'd judge a school. Very, very tiny.
The ability to be able to walk there and back is not to be underestimated.
The positives of having school mates nearby is not to be underestimated.

I’ve had four kids go through primary school. When we chose for our eldest son 15 years ago we went for the requires improvement school because it was in walking distance and I firmly believe communities are much stronger if kids go to their local primary.

It’s been wonderful for them. Honestly by the time your kids grow up you realise that the only important thing is that they’re happy. If they’re happy they’ll thrive.

Having firm ties to their local community instils a sense of belonging that can’t replicate with a slightly better school elsewhere. Mine walk home with their mates, go to the local youth club and play in the same sports teams as them. They have friends for life.

Plus I’m backwards and forwards to school constantly for assemblies, forgotten lunch bags, after school clubs etc and who CBA driving 30 mins backwards and forwards multiple times a day?

Used to take me and my daughter half hour to walk to her primary school.. we didn't have a car.. can't see a problem. We set off at 8.15.. okay my walk was an hour to get back home.. but did me good.

Our commute is around the same, children do get play dates with friends, you can still be involved in the local community. You just have to be proactive about Facebook and WhatsApp groups to stay in touch with everyone and everything.

Our afternoon commute takes longer than morning though which is interesting! I didn't expect for you to have less traffic!

It would be too long for me anyway, plus difficult for playdates

We moved a 30-40 min drive away from school. Its doable as I work near the school still and can lift share with another parent that lives near me. More fuel, more time travelling back and forth, earlier getting up times.

Half an hour's walk means that your child is still part of your community though. The downside of a half an hour drive is that OP's DD won't have any local friends and all the socialising and being part of each other's lives that goes among with it.

Go for it, my journey takes up to 40mins every morning, 20mins in the afternoon. Although it's a secondary school. I mostly do the runs although DH does it if his got a day off.

DD primary school best friend did and it is harsh

Parking is an issue - you often have to park early to get a place and parents are needed for drop off and collection

it is a lot of time in traffic and then a lot of time for play dates etc

and then high school - DD no longer sees her the distance was too much

it is a lot

Parking up early is a point actually. I live very near a couple of schools, and there are parents parked up on the streets immediately around them from about 2.45pm. I guess if you don't mind your DC walking for 5 mins it's not so desperate.

I wouldn’t do it.

I specifically held out for a house near the school I wanted my DC to go to. 3 house sales falling through and 15 months staying with family, I got there.

It’s everything I imagined; 10 minute walk to school, never having to drive (except if it’s torrential rain). Best thing is having a few families at the same school and year group living within 1 minute’s walk, so we take it in turns to do morning drop off, which means I no longer need childcare early doors - win win 😊😊😊