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Original poster

Acceptable school commute?

17 replies

umbel · 16/05/2021 07:46

We’re looking at a house in a town about 6 miles away from where we are now. It’s lovely, and would meet all of our “at home” needs as a family. We also like the town, and it too has everything we need within easy walking distance.

What I’m really struggling with though is the school commute. We currently live literally a 3 minute walk from the kids’ school. We don’t want to move our kids into a new school, so they would have to travel in. Lots of the kids in this new town go to the school our kids currently attend anyway, even though there is a school in the new town.

If we moved, they would have a 10 minute walk and a 25 minute bus ride to get to school (and the same home).

I think I feel bad because the main reason we are moving is so that my partner and I can work from gone more comfortably (we WFH anyway, pre-pandemic), so it would not really inconvenience us, only the kids! I worry too that they don’t really know anyone in the new town so will feel left out miss their friends. We would love to stay in the village we are in now, or even the next town which is only a mile away, but housing stock there is very limited, very little is coming on the market, and both current location and nearer town are significantly more expensive, so less space for our money.

Am I being ridiculous even worrying about this?

OP posts:
MintMatchmaker · 16/05/2021 07:49

How old are your children? Can they travel independently to see their friends if you move?

User24689 · 16/05/2021 07:54

We do a 5 mile primary school commute and it's absolutely fine but then we drive and it's only about 15 mins. Is driving not an option?

The fact there are other children from school also living in the town is a benefit as I would say the only drawback for us is feeling a bit like outsiders in the community in which the school is situated.

transformandriseup · 16/05/2021 07:54

For my rural secondary that would have been a normal distance to travel for the catchment area.

daisypond · 16/05/2021 07:57

How old are the DC?

Livingintheclouds · 16/05/2021 07:58

If there's a number of kids going from new Town to old school have you considered a private bus? If this is not an alternative, then it really depends on the age of your kids. At our school (which runs from nursery through sixth form) an adult had to drop the kids in until secondary (and collect them with teacher seeing the adult), so if your kids are young you'd have to accompany them. I did manage to get them to allow my senior school son to pick up my junior school daughter once she hit year 6. Once they were in secondary they could get to school by bus, and your description sounds acceptable.

Original poster
umbel · 16/05/2021 08:08

Kids are currently Y7 (secondary) and Y5 (primary) though it is a through school so they are both on the same site.

The older one could travel alone, but we would probably need to drive the younger one in until they started secondary (so likely they would both be getting driven for that period at least). So I suppose it would be a commute for us for that period even though we’d be WFH!

There are excellent bus and train links so yes they could travel to see current friends.

OP posts:
FAQs · 16/05/2021 08:14

My daughter travels 1 hour 15 minutes to school, each way on a bus.

Moonlaserbearwolf · 16/05/2021 08:21

As you children get a bit older, they’ll probably prefer the freedom of living in a town rather than a village - they’ll be able to do things without you always having to drive them.

LaLaLandIsNoFun · 16/05/2021 08:22

My child’s school commute is a 50 mile round trip morning snd afternoon.

bigbluebus · 16/05/2021 08:25

It only seems far because of the short distance you do now. Where I live (semi rural) it is quite normal to travel those sort of distances for secondary school and some families choose to do it for primary too - and also for private sector.

Igmum · 16/05/2021 08:29

DD14 is two buses and two short walks away from her school (about 40 minutes). Yours sounds fine. The DC can travel together and will soon make friends with others on the bus. I occasionally do drop offs and pick ups which is fine (couldn't do it every day!)

Neighneigh · 16/05/2021 08:58

Don't worry about the distance, it's more about logistics for when they're older. If there is a bus they can both take from the new house (or close) that'd be fine. I'm just setting up for September where ds1 will need to be taken 3 miles to catch a bus to travel the rest of trip (an additional 4 miles) So ds2 is now going to a primary school in the same village as the school bus goes from, and I'll take them both there. It's going to be a faff but both the schools are better than our more local options. It is also down to rural living.

buckleten · 16/05/2021 09:54

Mine have 10 mins car, 10 mins train and 25 mins walk!

pinksnowball · 16/05/2021 12:01

In a very similar situation! We will be swapping a 6 minute walk for a 10/15 minute drive. This thread has made me feel a lot better about it.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 16/05/2021 12:06

Sounds like a perfectly normal time to travel to school. (When I was at Secondary, in London, my 10min walk, 20min bus, 10mim walk was considered short by many.... My younger DD was doing 30mins on the school bus at 4yo.)

Original poster
umbel · 16/05/2021 12:20

Me too @pinksnowball! Thanks everyone. We’ve decided to put in an offer.

OP posts:
motogogo · 16/05/2021 12:32

My kids took the bus from year 6 (normal city bus) a similar distance. Most kids can't walk to school by secondary

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