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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

How important is it to be able to walk to school?

39 replies

MrsMonkey · 29/03/2009 08:24

Hi - I'm a Brit currently living overseas, but will be moving back to the UK with two primary aged kids next year. We are currently looking for houses and have seen a couple we can afford in the right kind of areas. One you could easily walk to one of three local schools. The other I would have to drive every day. In fact the other I would have to drive pretty much everywhere, where as the first I could walk to local shops.

I currently drive the kids into school - no choice because it is the international school, but parking isn't too bad. However, I hate doing the school run, and dream of the day when we can all walk from home.

The question is, how important do people think it really is to be able to walk your kids to school? I will be walking with a 6 year old, 5 year old, and little one in a pushchair. When it comes down to it, am I going to want to put them all in the car during freezing/wet weather anyway? What is the maximum distance people would be willing to walk to school (bearing in mind as the mum you will have to do it four times a day). I always thought walking the kids to school would give us/them a much better quality of life during the week - but is it really worth coughing up for a slightly more expensive house for?

Cheers!

OP posts:

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sarah293 · 29/03/2009 08:28

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brimfull · 29/03/2009 08:31

I think it's more important at senior school age as that's when you'll beable to let them walk themselves.A very important social thing around here-walking to school with your friends.

It would have to be a very safe short walk to beable to let young primary school ones walk.

Is the first house close to the senior school as well.

brimfull · 29/03/2009 08:32

It would have to be a very safe short walk to beable to let young primary school ones walk.

by that I mean -alone

ProfYaffle · 29/03/2009 08:35

What's parking like near the school? If you can't park that's a major pita.

Notquitegrownup · 29/03/2009 08:43

Agree with ggirl. Think about the location of good secondary schools as it's nice to have a good alternative to taxying 3 kids everywhere once they are teenagers.

As for now, we turned down a place at a really really good school, in order to go to the local one, which we walk to. We have to walk a mile each way as it is, which is fine - I think that it really adds something to our quality of life, with extra fresh air, makes spontaneous play dates much easier, and gets the kids used to the idea that they don't have to go everywhere by car, so better for them/the planet too.

mloo · 29/03/2009 08:44

I think you answer your own question. You hate driving to school. Nobody needs to tell you why. Choose a school you don't have to drive to.

It was a top priority for me to have a school we could walk to; I've felt strongly about it since I was a teenager, long before I ever became a parent or an eco-freak. And I come from a culture where most people drive everywhere.

What happens when you get home from the school run and see somebody's lunchbox left on the table (so you have to go right back up to the school that morning)? Or when the school rings you up at 9:05pm to announce that your little Tarquin just puked all over the TA? The closer you are to the school the better. Also, walking distance to the shops means you can start letting your DC run errands for you (bits of independence & freedom) that much easier when they get older.

If the house is slightly more expensive for being walking distance to facilities, that convenience will stick in the value of the house; you'll recoup that premium in the house value when you go to sell. You'll see more of your neighbours in the shops and strolling to them, and that leads to a better community feel. You're probably also walking distance to a pub, no bad thing as DC get older.

compo · 29/03/2009 08:45

we walk about 15/20 minutes to school in rain or sunshine (or snow, lol)
I don't drive so don't have the option of taking the car which so many parents do who could easily walk, and drive even if there is a little bit of drizzle

BlueCowWondersWhenItsChocTime · 29/03/2009 08:47

I'd choose walk-able every time. It gives you so much more time with the children, and they can go on bikes/ scooters etc if they want. As Riven said, if you've got a little one, that's a lot of years at the school ahead of you! Around here, distances are perfectly walk-able, but schools don't let children out of the playground without a parent, so no walking alone anyway.

Original poster

MrsMonkey · 29/03/2009 09:06

Wow, you guys are so quick! Thanks for all the great responses!

Not sure about parking at the schools - one is literally 2 minutes away, the others more like a 15/20 minute walk. Secondary isn't too bad either, about a 20 minute walk I think.

It is just that every time DH says 'what about this place' I keep saying 'oh, but you can't walk to the school', and so it feels like we are turning down a lot of good/possible houses. I kind of just wanted to see whether people thought it really would make a difference to QOL to be able to walk to the school and shops, or whether I'm living in some kind of fantasy land! Of course I'd be walking with the kids too for the foreseeable future - until number 3 is old enough to go on their own.

I must admit, I really like the idea of walking to places and feeling like I'm more of a part of a community, rather than just getting in and out of the car all the time - which to be honest is all that happens here.

OP posts:

swanriver · 29/03/2009 09:44

I think you can walk 15 or 20 mins (nice at end of school day to have a energising walk), but 30 mins or busy road makes it more likely you'll get in car.
People walk to our school from a long way off, but I LOVE LOVE the fact that it is 2mins away from me.
In fact I picked the house long pre-dcs for the reason it was next to a school.

coppertop · 29/03/2009 18:01

I would also take into account the other advantages of being within walking distance. It makes it much easier for you to get to the school for things like parents evening, school plays or assemblies, school discos etc. It's also easier if you have one child who needs to be collected at the usual time while their sibling(s) are attending an after-school club and need to be collected later on.

bigTillyMint · 29/03/2009 18:06

Walking distance is best.
It's free and it's exercise.
And probably most of their friends will live within walking distance, so will be nearby to play with.
And as they get older, they can go / return on their own.
And it's easier to take in the PE kit they forgot.
And easier if you have to pick one up and then return for another in a club.
And all the other reasons above

CompareTheMeerkat · 29/03/2009 18:14

I love the fact that DS's school is within walking distance. It's a 10-15 minute walk away (depending whose pace we are going at ) and the walk energises all of us

Hulababy · 29/03/2009 21:45

DD goes to school 3-4 miles from home so walking is not an option. If she'd have gone to our local school it would still have been over a mile away and not an easy walk as very hilly.

besides anything else both DH and myself work - and doing a 20 min or more walk and then back again, before work - and getting to work would have been impossible.

We selected a school on our routes to/fro work and fit it in like that.

Hasn't affected DD's social life and play dates, etc. And she gets loads of exercise at other times.

thinkingabout3 · 29/03/2009 21:54

Walking to school is the best thing that we ever did. We live a 5 minute walk from school and it's so much better than being cooped up in the car. As we live so close to school it's really easy for impromptu playdates and lovely to knock on doors enroute to school picking up friends on the way. I said to my DH that even if we won the lottery I wouldn't move house as I'd never give up being able to walk to school.

cat64 · 29/03/2009 21:54

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Tommy · 29/03/2009 21:59

agree with the walking option - I love the fact that we can walk to school. Lots of the DSs' friends live nearby too and it becomes a social thing as well as environemtally and economically better

imaginaryfriend · 29/03/2009 22:00

Walking is the best for us. I love our 15-20 minute walk to school in the morning and we always see someone on the way home for dd to chat to / run around with if they want to. Also as others have said it's really nice to be so close in case of emergencies or other school events. And it's really good for you to start the day with a walk as well as run off after school energy on the way home.

I wouldn't have considered anything else to be honest.

glucose · 29/03/2009 22:02

While walking DD to nursery we go past a very expensive school, because of the large amount of cars dropping off, and the general milling around this causes, we are forced to cross onto a road which has lots more traffic, and I cannot hear a word my dd is saying. The area has excellent public transport links, so there is no real need for using a car.

JaquelinehydeAllTheEggs · 29/03/2009 22:07

You should always choose the walking option.

Driving is a luxury so picking a school where you have to be able to drive to get the DC's there is silly.

Heated · 29/03/2009 22:14

As someone who used to travel to school 3 miles across London by car and then home by bus, the novelty of walking ds to school still gives me a thrill! Ds can't wait for rainy days so he gets to put up his umbrella and I have the excuse to splurge on a range of coats - although sadly for ds the umbrella has got little usage this year. But walking to school in the snow was fab!

Heated · 29/03/2009 22:14

usage use

geraldinetheluckygoat · 29/03/2009 22:20

we walk about twenty five mins to school, or more recently we all ride bikes to school, its lovely, especially now the weather is improving. Even in the winter it was good, as others have said it gives you a chance to chat, and its a much nicer start to the day too.

imaginaryfriend · 30/03/2009 10:00

Oh yes, totally agree about enjoying the different weathers. Dd is happy to walk in whether it's warm or cold and loves to head out in the rain in wellies and raincoat. I like it too, it wakes me up!

BonsoirAnna · 30/03/2009 10:04

Walking to school is fantastic exercise for the whole family, but it can be very tiring. IMO the best possible option is to have school within walking distance but to have a back up option of transport (bus or car) for those days when, for whatever reason, the walk is just too much of a good thing.

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