How long is your child's commute to school?

[twerkit]

Does 8.5 miles and up to 40 mins in bad traffic seem too long?

14 miles - 30 mins on the coach

There are much closer schools but at the time they were all struggling so we chose a school in a nearby city.

It's not ideal, as it's a hassle if DS wants to see his friends who live near school so I'm hoping the local school will continue to improve over the the next year or so before we have to apply for DS2

1 mile walk

2 x DD:
15 minutes walk to the station [or 5 minutes, if they get a lift]
30 minutes train journey
15 minutes walk to school.
[In total, an hour for a journey of about 15 miles]

1 x DS
50 minutes on the bus
[about 10 miles]

We live in Kent. Children in our town who pass the Kent Test, and wish to attend a grammar school have to travel out of town. It's either a train journey, or a bus journey - the times end up being very similar. So many children do it that it's the norm. My children have coped with their journeys well - and I guess they'll be ready to commute when they're adults.

DD will be starting our nearest grammar school in Sept, 24 miles away! However, we've secured a space on the school's dedicated coach service that operates in our area - she will be picked up from our nearest village (1.5 mile away) at 7:50am and dropped back off at 4:30pm.

Dd1 has a 40 minutes bus ride and 20 minute walk to get to school.

DD15 - 6 min drive or 12 min by bus and maybe 5 min walk this end (stops at school other end)

DD17 - 20 min drive or 20 min walk(5 min drive) plus 30 min bus plus 5 min walk.

DH drops DD17 at the bus stop in the morning and drops DD15 at school - both drops are on his way to work, then they both get the bus home. Both are general public buses not school buses.

About 0.4 of a mile. We moved specifically to be nearer the school in the second term of year 7. Before that we had a rural bus drive of O mins and we were turning into an endless taxi service.

30 mins not 0 😂

Just over 3 miles. 10 min walk to school bus, 5-7 mins on bus.

It’s not tne time or distance that would put me off, it’s the lack of independence.

Except in extremely rural areas with no school bus, I personally think it infantilises teenagers to be driven to and picked up from secondary school. And your day! Add up the return journeys per day and week? 2 80 min return trips?

And what when they want to do activities or socialise after school? It isn’t good if they have to be dependent on you.

Is there a bus, train or public transport?

Pointless to send your child to ‘one of the best schools in the country ‘ and then infantilise their independence.

Book her on to the bus from the off. That is how she will make friends. And you might not get a bus place otherwise.

They grow up a lot in the summer after primary (prep!) . Let her spread her wings.

4.5 miles. Can do it in 10 mins, traffic permitting. At school start time it is more like 25 mins in the car. I have 2 younger dc so don't want to take oldest first as it involves the little ones being in the car for 45 mins before they even get to school. So dd (13) gets the bus which means a 35 Min journey door to door (dh takes her to the bus and it stops at school so no walking). I feel bad for her as the bus leaves early to avoid traffic and she therefore has to leave home at 725 even though school doesn't start until 830. The way home is obviously better as it leaves 5 mins after finish time so she's home at 410.

Agree with the others that independence is really important (for me and dd!).. I was adamant she would go to a school where she could get herself there and back. It's a bit awkward as without the school service at beginning and end of school day she does need dropping off / picking up (for co curricular) as the bus route is otherwise too arduous. However she has got good at managing public transport to and from friends houses. She can also get a bus to a local shopping centre from school to meet friends and another bus to home.

Stop knocking the OP because she mentioned it’s an independent school. It’d have to be a fantastic state school to warrant that journey time so she said it for clarity.
My DD won a scholarship to a girls public school and she took the school bus from day one as there was no other option. I didn’t have a car. She had to be at the pick up point at 7.45 each morning. She survived!

Not unusual if it is something other than your local state school. It is perfectly doable, if not ideal.

Just over 3 miles. 10 min walk to school bus, 5-7 mins on bus.

Five minutes walk to tube, half an hour tube journey and then five minutes walk to school. DC’s did the journey on their own from age 11.

No one is knocking the OP for school choice. But it is a trade off: like others who have spoken of longer journeys because of school choices, there is a longer journey, more complication over socialising, often more reliance on Taxi Mum and Dad. Observing my wider family who live in a great swathe of villages and market towns with no public transport, I think relying on parents to be ferried around affects their maturity. Family and friends agree. —and send them to stay with us to get experience of travelling independently on tubes, trains and buses— .

And going straight from parental taxi to own car is worse!

1.1 mile walk/cycle trip. Was 4 miles on school bus. we moved.
Local state comprehensive, rated inadequate We have always been different to M&S and MN in our House

DD left school now used to do a 17 minute car journey to the tube station (8 minutes if there was no traffic). 30 minutes on the tube then a 7 minute quick walk at the other end.

DD had one of the shortest runs in.

Some came from much further out and would sit on the train for more than an hour each day as well as the getting to and from the station

Yes I send my kids to private school.
Yes they go to Prep school now.

Shoot me.

5 min walk

NO ONE has criticised your choice of school.

People did comment on the gratuitous grammar mentions, the perfectly normal short journeys, whereas a grammar can involve a much longer commute, so it’s relevant.

But it is a trace off: favoured school v convenience, independence and easy social life of more local.

Mine have a 10 minute walk.

When I went to school I used to get the school bus. It was great, hated when my mum would drop me off or pick me up. I was at the first drop off point and used to wish I lived further away so I could stay in with my friends for longer. School was only about 3/4 miles away.