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Secondary education

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

Original poster

How far is too far to travel to secondary school?

29 replies

wineoclocktimeyet · 21/10/2012 21:18

Sorry to put in here but we need to decide soon.

DS aced the 11+ and so can now go to schools for which we are outside the normal catchment.

We've seen a school we love BUT it will be nearly an hours travelling each way with a 45 minute bus ride (just one bus, he wont need to change). The school day finishes at 3.30 and my concern is that if he goes to an after-school club, he wouldnt be home till 5.30ish and then there's homework etc

The other choice, is a 40 minute journey at a school that finishes at 3pm, so even with an after-school activity, he would be home by 4.50(ish).

We do like both schools, No1 has better academic results and if it was closer, there would be no question.

Does anyone else's DC have a similar journey and is it too much/long?
I keep changing my mind and any comments would be gratefully received.

OP posts:
user12785 · 21/10/2012 21:24

DH and I both had bus rides of just under an hour from age 11 to 18. I don't remember it being an issue. Most of my friends were in a similar position too, we just got on with it! I would go with the school you and your ds like the best.

Sparklingbrook · 21/10/2012 21:29

Please pick the school you think your DS will be happiest at. DS1 is at a school 12 miles away. I drive 6 miles to the bus stop and the school bus does the rest.

This isn't the first school he went to, we had to move him from the one half a mile away, but now he is so happy there the journey thing is worth it.

Sometimes he does some homework on the coach on the way home.

Good luck.

Nuttyprofessor · 21/10/2012 21:31

My DS travels for 1 hr, it has been harder than I thought it would be as it means getting up at 6.15. He only does clubs at lunch time. He only started in September so I am sure it will get easier. I would go for the school you like best.

OwedToAutumn · 21/10/2012 21:50

Government guidelines state that it is acceptable for an 11yo to travel 75mins to school.

hardboiled · 21/10/2012 22:32

75 min! Shock

Loshad · 21/10/2012 22:39

my 2 youngest dc are at school that finishes at 4pm, most nights they do after school clubs until 5.30 pm then i pick them up after work and we are home for 6 pm. If i have to stay at work they get the late bus and get in at nearer 7pm. They both seem to be coping well (y7 and 10) and many of their friends have similar timetables

tiggytape · 21/10/2012 22:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

senua · 22/10/2012 08:23

What do other DC do? If your DS is the only one from your neck of the woods, i.e. all his school mates are based at least an hour away (maybe two hours, if they also live an hour the other side of school), then that won't do much for his social life.
You said that the nearer school does not have as good results - remember that the statistic is all about the average, over the whole cohort. Nobody gets 'the average' result, they get their own one-off result. As long as the school is able to produce the occasional child with a string of A Grades then there is nothing to stop your DS being that child. If the school never produced that result then that would be a different matter.

Madmog · 22/10/2012 10:43

Luckily my daughter is only a 10 minute walk away.

I would say to go with the school your son feels happiest with. If there's a dilemma, phone and ask to see both schools again in teaching hours with your son. Many schools will be willing to do this. To give you an idea of what's expected homework wise, I'd say my daughter spends about 7 hours a week if that helps with how evenings are planned. There's the odd subject that has to be handed in two days later, but generally they get given loads of time to do homework so you can plan around that.

Lancelottie · 22/10/2012 11:53

Does he get travel sick?

Is the bus likely to be empty enough to do homework on (or was that just me Blush)?

IslaValargeone · 22/10/2012 13:34

The Government guidelines that OwedtoAutumn has referred to are transport arrangements for children with special needs who have to go to specialist schools.

steppemum · 22/10/2012 13:49

I have been thinking about this too. ds is only y5, but the schools we like are 20 min bus pick up from end of our road. or 50 mins, bike, train, walk (with other kids). Trouble is the second school is way better, but am worried about the amount of travel.

marialuisa · 22/10/2012 13:50

DD has just done her first half-term of y7 with a similar journey time but earlier school start and later finish times. She (and many of her class mates) are coping fine and doing well academically whilst having busy out of school lives. DD has found that having friends on the bus has made the journeys pass quickly and she has had her mucking about/down time on the way home. We panicked about the impact of homework but talking to parents with children at the school was reassuring-the school tended to talk up the amount given significantly!

reastie · 22/10/2012 15:04

Agree to pick the one you think your DC will get on best in. I had a 45 min bus journey every day to school at secondary to the nearest grammar school. It was actually a nice way to socialise and I made great friends via people I got on the bus with every day (and it had the added advantage that they lived near me). I used to leave school at about 7:30 and get home around 4:45 - 5pm every day. I didn't really do after school activities but then the school didn't tend to do after school activities as so many people had to get buses after school as the catchment was so wide. FWIW I taught at a similar grammar school a few years ago and it was very similar re: lack of after school activities there too, so you might find that's not an issue.

reastie · 22/10/2012 15:05

Leave HOME at 7:3o not school obv!

CouthyMowEatingBraiiiiinz · 22/10/2012 15:21

Anything more than an hour is too much IMO. We are looking at first choice, Grammar school a 1 hr bus journey away (same town though, and only 25 mins by car, just I don't drive and buses are a PITA. They have to stop for other people.), second choice Grammar school a 25 min bus journey, a 30 min train journey and a 5 min walk (in a near-ish town). The journey home from both Grammars is significantly shorter by bus. So homework isn't a problem. Third choice is the Comp that's 0.3 miles away.

If it's an hour or less, and it suits your DC best, go for it.

When I lived in Scotland, my bus journey to school was 1.5 hrs each way.

Sparklingbrook · 22/10/2012 15:23

A lot of the rural bus routes are a tour of the countryside for all the pick ups. I know a route where the pick up is 7.30am and school starts at 8.50. It's six miles way but takes about an hour I think.

BeingFluffy · 22/10/2012 15:56

I think up to an hour is OK. However I would think carefully about socialising out of school and where the majority of other kids at the school live. One of my kids commutes and it is quite difficult for her to see friends out of school, the other goes to a local school and has a much better social life.

sadie3 · 22/10/2012 15:57

Thats 2 hours a day he could spend on a hobby or studying also all his friends will be far away.

jicky · 22/10/2012 16:00

Ds1 did this sort of journey for a year before we moved, but on the train.

The day to day travel wasn't a problem, it was the extra bits. For example if he had a concert that started at 7 there wasn't time to get home & back, but also a long time to hang about.

And weekend matches and rehersals often set off before he could sensibly get there via public transport.

If he hadn't done the extra bits it would have been doable, so I guess it depends how much extra stuff he will want to do.

happyoverhere · 22/10/2012 18:49

Have you read this thread here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/1575018-New-Year-7s-how-long-is-their-school-day?pg=3

Some of us have very long journeys, my son is at closest GS and it's still well over an hour

LynetteScavo · 22/10/2012 18:56

DS leaves the house at 7.30am and gets a bus which takes 45 mins to school. He's walks back into the house at 4.30, unless he has a club/detention which means I have to collect him.

Coming home at 5.30 does sound like a very long day for an 11 year old, but if you really like the school......

Original poster
wineoclocktimeyet · 22/10/2012 21:35

Thank you for all comments.

We have decided on school 1 - mainly as we went to school 2 again today and he didnt like it at all and spent the whole tour saying how much he wants to go to school 1! Smile

OP posts:
LynetteScavo · 23/10/2012 19:05

I'm sure the travel will be worth it. Smile

Startailoforangeandgold · 23/10/2012 22:46

DDs do an hour to their nearest secondary. Idiotic bus route, takes 20 minutes by car.

DD1 doesn't mind, she just reads.
It is pissing off DD2, even though she has a friend to talk to.