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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

How long does it take your child to get to school?

40 replies

QBEE · 12/03/2011 20:01

via public transport or otherwise?

I was just looking into bus routes and was astonished to find that the journey that would take me twenty minutes to half an hour, taking into account traffic, in the car will end up being one hour and forty minutes on the bus. Shock

To get home there are only three buses heading back this way that stop within a couple of miles of the house and two of those run before dc finishes school and the other an hour after although the route back is quicker than the route there...

Add to that the cost involved and it seems like madness! There will be no mates on the bus to pass the time with either and it is not a school bus.

We live approx four miles from the school but the bus goes through a few different villages and towns and there is no alternative quicker route!

Is this unusual? Confused

OP posts:
activate · 12/03/2011 20:02

20 minute walk (just over a mile)

belledechocchipcookie · 12/03/2011 20:02

An hour each way.

justagirlfromedgware · 12/03/2011 20:06

20 minutes on a school bus with 5 minutes' walk at either end.

Goblinchild · 12/03/2011 20:07

One of our local colleges is in the next town, by car it's 15 mins but the school bus can take up to an hour.
My son walks to school, 10 mins normally, 5 if he runs.
Are you lookingfor September? Are there alternatives? Couldd you double up the schoolrun with aparent in a similar position?

Original poster
QBEE · 12/03/2011 20:11

It is ridiculous, isn't it!?

Have been looking at bloody rightmove at houses next to the school Blush Grin

OP posts:
crazycarol · 12/03/2011 21:10

10 mins by car but 40mins-1 hour by bus (actually 2 buses)

RatherBeOnThePiste · 12/03/2011 23:07

2 mins to the station
5 mins on the train
10 mins walking

Not too bad but I shouldn't want it to be too far away as they both do so much sport and stuff after school.

bruffin · 13/03/2011 08:14

20 minutes walk to station
8 minutes on train
15 minutes walk the other end
They leave about 7.45 to get to school and get home about 4.30

20 -30 minutes by car

thunderbird69 · 13/03/2011 08:28

Anywhere between 20-40 mins in the car. No buses available. Sad

Op - are there any other buses they could take that would take them closer to home and then they could walk the rest of the way?

purepurple · 13/03/2011 08:31

We live just down the road, so it takes DD 5-10 mins.
OP, have you checked with the school to see if there are any school buses? We live in an area with excellent bus services but all the high schools (and colleges) have dedicated school buses too.

TrinityIsABunnyMunchingRhino · 13/03/2011 08:34

no buses but only a 8 to 10 min drive depending on traffic

HSMM · 13/03/2011 20:51

An hour each way. Not much difference between me driving and the public bus.

Clary · 13/03/2011 20:55

About 7 mins walk.

It's our local school (obv) but some of Ds1's mates travel further and by bus. Furthest any significant number of students travel prob a couple of miles tho so easily walkable/cycleable [sp??]

Are you in the sticks OP? Apart from the school we go to, there at least 3 other secondaries nearer than 4 miles away, so much less of a journey.

Linnet · 13/03/2011 20:56

10 minute walk.

Original poster
QBEE · 13/03/2011 21:18

I checked the chool website but they do not operate buses.

There is a nearer secondary but eldest has been allocated this particular one and we are happy with this, I just did not anticipate the journey being so long.

Will work around it like other parents have to. Hopefully once mates are made there will be someone who we can do car shares etc with.

OP posts:
Original poster
QBEE · 13/03/2011 21:18

*school

OP posts:
ivykaty44 · 13/03/2011 21:24

dd2 leaves home at 7.25 to catch the first local bus at the end of our road. This bus takes her into the next town where she gets off in the main high street at around 7.44am. dd2 then crosses the road and waits for the next bus at 7.55, this bus takes her with in two minutes walk of school and gets her there at 8.25. School starts at 8.35

This is a journey that would take me 10 minutes to drive and is 3 miles, it costs around £140 per term for the local bus pass and it is 7 days until 8pm at night - so she can see mates after school, stop of in town.

Coming home is quicker, she finishes school at 3.30 and walks to get a different pink bus into town and then the same busshe got in the morning to take her to the end of the road - she gets in 45 minutes after the last bell

mamatomany · 13/03/2011 21:25

We are moving so she can be 20 mins max from school, even though it'll be in a worse area than we are currently in, I am not spending my life trapped in a car on three drops offs with 4 kids.

Original poster
QBEE · 13/03/2011 22:17

I am rightmoving in another tab Grin

OP posts:
ragged · 13/03/2011 22:22

25-30 min. walk to local HS.

20 min walk to minibus pickup + 25-30 min minibus ride for DS1 who attends HS 8 miles away.

Most local HS age kids do one of those two journeys, some travel further afield and for longer, obviously (on train & bus for instance).

LadyWellian · 13/03/2011 22:30

QBEE is it all main roads? If there's a safe route then cycling or even walking would be quicker.

DD - when she goes by herself and not on the motorbike with DH - has 5 min walk to the bus stop, 20 mins on bus and 15 min walk at the other end. As buses run about every 10 mins she leaves at 8.10 to build in 10 mins' wait time in case she has just missed one.

When she starts secondary in September, she will have a 10 min walk. That's partly why we moved (which is why she has a relatively long commute to primary), although if we hadn't been lucky enough to be allocated our local school, she'd be looking at anything up to an hour.

DandyDan · 14/03/2011 10:50

20 minute walk.

LadyWellian · 15/03/2011 00:32

Took for bloody ever this morning though. 15 mins at the bus stop and then the bus was so full we couldn't get on it. Had to phone school and say she would be late but they said because it wasn't our fault she wouldn't get a late mark.

(This was at 8.25 though - I think if I'd called at 8.50 complaining about the buses they might have been less sympathetic!)

MrsGuyOfGisbourne · 15/03/2011 17:14

10 mins by car, 25 by bus or bike.

nagynolonger · 15/03/2011 17:26

10-15 mins in the car. DS go on the school bus. They have to take the scenic route to pick up at other villages and farms. This takes 45 mins usually. It is too far to walk and I'm not keen on them biking down narrow country lanes.