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Secondary education

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

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Original poster

walking to school??

51 replies

billsnewhat · 07/09/2019 15:56

Where we live very few children seem to actually walk to school!!! I would say probably 80% are taken by car and dropped off rather than walking. My son has just started in year 7 and I on one hand feel really bad making him walk but I don't drive so couldn't drop him anyway but on the other hand I was under the impression it is good for their independance and health. It is a 20 minute walk. One of my friends who lives 2 roads away from us drops her kids on her way to work and it takes her 40 mins in the traffic. My son can walk in 20!!! Just wondering if lifts to and from school is the norm nowadays??

OP posts:

Titsywoo · 07/09/2019 16:02

I drop mine in the morning as I am passing by to go to work. It only takes 2 minutes though. They do walk home every day. Lots of kids seem to walk or get the bus where my DC go to school.

Janleverton · 07/09/2019 16:03

Not at my dcs secondaries. Dd has a 25min walk in one direction and ds1 a 20min walk in the other direction.

I have only ever driven there or collected:

Collecting sick child
Collecting/dropping from school trips out of school hours I.e. 4.30am drop off/evening pick up.
Collecting for appointments at orthodontist.

Janleverton · 07/09/2019 16:04

And I don’t think I’m unusual in this. Though dd says it’s been chaos this week with the year 7s starting (she’s 6th form now).

AlexaShutUp · 07/09/2019 16:08

DD and her friend walk to school and then home again. It takes them half an hour each way. Quite a few other kids walk but lots get lifts every day, even when they live nearer to the school than we do. I understand if it's raining or if the kids have extra stuff to carry, but I do think it's much better for them to walk if possible.

I do try to pick dd up if she has stayed late for extra-curricular stuff in the winter, as I don't really like her walking home alone in the dark.

MrsKCastle · 07/09/2019 16:12

My DD1 has just started Y7 and will be walking. We don't drive, but even if we did the logistics of where to park and so on would still mean that it would be easier for her to walk. It takes about 15/20 min. DH walked it with her the first couple of days, but now she'll be on her own most of the time.

RedskyLastNight · 07/09/2019 16:13

Not here - most DC walk or cycle or get the bus. The roads round school are so congested in the morning that, like you, it would probably be more of a pain to drive than walk!

LolaSmiles · 07/09/2019 16:13

Most of our students walk or get a school bus. Some get a lift but it's not the norm (as in we don't have loads of traffic outside school).
The norm is to walk or school bus at most schools I've worked at. There's something a bit mollycoddling about door to door dropping off a secondary student each day (assuming entirely able bodied and NT and live close by).

Lindy2 · 07/09/2019 16:16

I'd be happy for my year 7 to do a 20 minute walk. Unfortunately our school is about a 40 to 50 minute walk which is a bit too far IMO for every day.

The plan is to use the public transport bus. At the moment I'm driving her until she settles in a bit more and gains confidence. You might find less are driving their children to school after the first few weeks.
Dd has only done 2 days so far and was exhausted at the end of the second day.

Pipandmum · 07/09/2019 16:17

I live between three schools and the two state schools children seem to walk, and most of the private’s school kids walk or take the bus. Some get driven because they live far away and aren’t on a bus route.

BackforGood · 07/09/2019 16:19

I've never taken notice of what other parents are doing, as I'm never near the school at the start or end of the day.
My dc all walked (one school was a mile away the other dcs' school was 1.5 miles away).
I feel - apart from the exercise and the pollution and clogging up of traffic around schools - it is really important for their mental health and wellbeing to have that 1/2 hour of 'putting the world to rights' with their mates each day on the walk home.

Of course it is going to depend totally on everybody's individual circumstances - what the walk is like and how realistic it is to walk there, if the parent happens to start work at a similar time to the school starting, in the next road, etc etc, but where feasible I think there is a lot to be gained from walking.

FantasticPhyllis · 07/09/2019 16:20

My dd has just started reception. We walk 30 mins each way. Apparently this is akin to child abuse. I don't drive so she's very use to walking that distance (we regularly walk to that area, walk around the supermarket, she plays in the park then walks home).

Ihatemyseleffordoingthis · 07/09/2019 16:21

Round her most of the kids get wherever they are going under their own steam - bike, walk, bus, train. Mine 2 elder ones take trains & buses half an hour in opposite directions, and walk a bit at either end.

crisscrosscranky · 07/09/2019 16:24

My DD has a 30 minute walk (it's 1.3 miles) and she walks with a group of friends. I do drop her and her friends when it's raining heavily because it saves me the bus fare and is on my way to work.

RedskyLastNight · 07/09/2019 16:26

The flip side of this is how DC will ever build up independence is they are constantly ferried everywhere by parents.
My niece is 14 and has never been anywhere under her own steam. I don't think this is a good thing ...

PettsWoodParadise · 07/09/2019 16:46

At DD’s school they come from a nine mile radius. The train station or nearest bus is a fifteen minute walk away from the school. School is 35 mins walk from our house but due to heavy bags DD tends to get bus for part of journey. For some it is an hour door to door. Those that get dropped off are only usually due to extra bags, health issues or art projects, nearly all walk from the station or bus stop. Any child who gets regularly dropped off without health reasons are gently ribbed by their classmates.

Original poster

billsnewhat · 07/09/2019 18:01

Thanks for your comments. Problem is he has no one to walk with as his friends all seem to be taken by car. The parents/grandparents seem to think 20 mins is too far to walk as their children get tired. I suppose where I don't drive we have have been used to walking everywhere so a 20 minute walk to us is nothing. A grandad of one of his friends has offered to pick him up on their way but I don't really want him to start relying on this and become lazy. A colleague at work has children at the same school and she likes to drop her sons off on her way to work so she knows they have arrived safely. She said she would worry about them walking ifshe didn't drop them off in case they didn't arrive and they are year 9 and 10!! Too much mollycuddling for my liking!!!!!

OP posts:

BackforGood · 07/09/2019 18:44

My dd didn't have anyone to walk with, until she started walking....

On her first day in Yr7, another girl ran up from just behind her and asked if she'd mind her walking with her, as she didn't know anyone going to the school. They are still firm friends now they are in their 20s.

I meet with girls I started school with nearly 45 years ago, and generally, we all became the firmest friends with people we travelled to and from school with.

You might find once your dc is walking, someone else will think their dc can walk with them too.

MigGril · 07/09/2019 19:03

If they don't arrived you'd soon get a phone call from school. Which has happened when I've forgotten to ring mine in sick.

DD cycles but she could walk if needed and has to. She has been dropped of occasionally by me if the weather is really bad, as it's on my way to work. But this does make her early and I can't pick her up anyway she finishes to early.

I have been surprised at the number of parents at school who seem to do regular drop off and pickups ones who live closer then us. No wonder we have a Obesity expedmitc if parents think a 20 minute walk is to far for there children.

CMOTDibbler · 07/09/2019 19:11

My ds cycles to school, which would be a 30 min or so walk, and I think pretty much all the children from the town walk or cycle. Those from the villages get the school bus or are dropped off by parents

clary · 07/09/2019 20:39

haha no, please get him to walk. Better for his physical and mental health, better for the environment, fosters independence, all good. Most kids at my DCs' school walk or bus, those that get dropped are a menace (well, the parents are, driving down the street like maniacs, parking in the bus stop, blocking people's drives).

LifeOfBox · 07/09/2019 20:45

I moved to within 0.75 miles of the school from an outlying village in catchment so that the journey could be walked for the seven years of secondary school!

I can walk to work from here too. Love It after years of driving everywhere.

nonicknameseemsavailable · 07/09/2019 21:36

40 minute walk each way here. bus adds up to too expensive and I see no reason to drive them every day to secondary so walking it is. not that many do though which surprises me

avocadochocolate · 07/09/2019 21:46

My DCs would walk if they could but we are too far away - takes 1hr 20 mins (I know because I have done it) and it is through muddy fields etc. They did walk to primary, which was about 40 mins.

MrsBlondie · 07/09/2019 21:49

Year 9 here and always walked. 20 mins.

mumsiedarlingrevolta · 07/09/2019 21:50

Ds's secondary school has add to add bike sheds as hundreds of boys cycle.

DD's secondary almost no one cycles-but huge groups of girls walk back and forth. Her walk was about 25 mins and I flatly refused to drive her. DS would have rather crawled over hot coals than be driven by his mum.

Maybe because cachement meant no one too far but very very few parents dropped at either.

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