How far do people travel for Primary school?

[BeHappyReader]

I used to live 0.1 miles away, a 5 minute walk from my kids primary school. We are looking to move to a more suburban area long term and will be moving our kids school when we do. However, due to unforeseen circumstances we’ve not been able to make that move now, instead we have moved temporarily to the family home. We are hoping to be out of here by the end of the academic year but nothing is confirmed as of yet. This house is about 5.4 miles away. With traffic it’s anything between a 25-40 mins drive door to door.

We’ve been doing this for about 4 months now but I am now wondering if it is worth moving them to a local school. I was totally against it initially as this is only supposed to be a temporary move so we will have to move their schools once again once we make the big move- I’m worried about disrupting the kids. They are really happy where they are atm. My eldest has already moved once when he started reception and it took him a while to settle. I just feel like it’ll be way too much moving and instability.

Would you move their schools even if it’s temporary? Or would you stick it out. Does anyone have any experience with moving kid’s primary schools several times?

I’d much rather commute to school than disrupt my child’s friendships/education by moving them multiple times. MNers seem to have a strange obsession with kids needing to go to primary school on their doorstep - in my experience it really isn’t such a big deal.

DD’s prep school was around a 30 min drive from home. Yes, you have to leave a bit earlier in the mornings but apart from that she had the same primary experience as any other child. Definitely no shortage of play date or birthday party invites! Many families were in the same position (some drove up to 45 mins) so we always kept locations varied to suit everyone. The distance really never bothered me - my child’s happiness at a school that suited her was much more important than the mild annoyance of driving to/from school each day.

Agree with the first response, though prep schools will always take a wider catchment so less downsides if many live further away.

But moving schools has negetive effects on children, short term at least, so I would definitely not be doing it repeatedly.

My dc used to do 30-40 mins each way on a school bus. It wasn’t ideal but it was ok. However I guess the key thing there is that I didn’t have to do 4x40 min drives each day so whether it’s manageable for you is another factor.

Do you know whether there are spaces in the year groups you need at local schools?

If it’s a temporary situation, I’d stick with the school they’re at. Children adapt, but too many changes will be unsettling.

We did 90 mins each way - moved house, no local childcare, massive issues with train strikes that meant we'd never get back to pick up from local school or childminder, so DD just stayed at her London primary and we all commuted.

Did that from Y1 of primary, whole of secondary and now in Y12 at college with same commute. Never found it a problem.

There's definitely a benefit to going to the local school but I don't think that outweighs the negatives of potentially disrupting your children's education and friendships twice in short period of time. If they are happy and you can manage the commute (even if it is a pain) I would stick it out until your living situation is more settled.

The problem with living 30+ mins from school is when the DCs make friends with kids who live 30+ mins in the opposite direction. It make it difficult for them to meet up after sxhool
or at weekends.

In a state primary school, unless it is very rural, that doesn't really tend to happen much. More likely if it was a prep school, ditto a secondary school (whether state or independent).

I have emailed admissions at one of the local schools just to see what their waitlist is looking like but they require me to fill out an application form and send it through before they can give me any information.

So far, it’s not been a problem for us. On weekends we are happy to travel back to our old area for birthday parties and meetups etc. It’s more after school concerts and parents evenings that have been a little hard but that’s only like 3 events a year

This is the only thing swaying me, whether it’s manageable for me. I have a 6 month old at home too. My husband works from home so I am able to leave the baby at home with him. But when work gets busier and projects kick off it won’t always be feesable to leave baby with him. At the moment, when he needs to go into the office on the rare occasion I have a grandparent stay with us to fill in.

Honestly, I do think once winter passes and the days get lighter/warmer, things will get easier and taking the baby with me won’t be such a big deal. I just wanted to know if I’m crazy for continuing as everyone I speak to is always shocked that I haven’t changed schools.

Like everyone else, I wouldn't move them now if you are then going to move them again within a few months.

Obviously lots of dc move schools once - due to house moves for example - and it is fine, but continual moving isn't.

I know dc whose parents are in the forces sometimes have to move every 2 - 3 years, but it is far from ideal for them.