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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:

MrsBlondie · 07/09/2019 21:51

If secondary school kids cant walk 20 mins due to tiredness they need to rethink fitness!

Starlight456 · 07/09/2019 21:52

My Ds walks the 10 minutes to school . Co incidentally 5 minutes less walk than to primary school.

I think that it’s important to get them to have a walk before expecting them to sit down in class.

Comefromaway · 07/09/2019 22:00

I usually drop Ds off on my way to work (it’s 10 mins in the car or an hours walk along a lane with no pavement or sometimes he cycles. After school he tends to walk back to his grandparents house (40 min walk).

Some days though he has food tech ingredients or musical instruments to carry and so I pick him up then.

BringMoreCoffee · 08/09/2019 00:40

Most walk here up to about 40 mins. I'll pick them up if they stay late for clubs and don't have anyone else to walk with (and it's not my work day).

Weenurse · 08/09/2019 00:45

Mine always walked as I started work at 7am.
They did complain on music days about carrying instruments.

Melfish · 08/09/2019 01:04

DD gets the bus or train. However sufficient numbers of her classmates must be driven in/escorted by parents as I was invited for a parent meet up after drop off this week.

MotherFuckingLanguages · 08/09/2019 20:05

Buy him a pair of headphones for the walk

PettsWoodParadise · 08/09/2019 20:11

Please do not encourage use of headphones when walking. I’ve seen too many reports of accidents crossing roads when not hearing traffic or being distracted on ‘phones.

There will also be missed opportunities to talk to friends they might meet up with when they get closer to the school.

LifeOfBox · 08/09/2019 20:12

Buy him a pair of headphones for the walk

Not sure thats a good idea at that age with roads to cross/parked cars to navigate etc. I don't encourage DD to use her headphones for that reason alone.

LifeOfBox · 08/09/2019 20:12

X post.

RedskyLastNight · 08/09/2019 20:14

As PP has said he might get to know other people once he starts walking. My DC have both gone through phases of having "walking to school friends" who aren't really friends at any other time.

And DD is now going through a "walk the very long way round to school so you can meet up with others phase" - which is another possibility!

Focalpoint · 08/09/2019 20:51

How heavy are the school bags in the UK? In Ireland, 1st year secondary school and bag massively heavy. Still getting used to lockers so perhaps this will get better over time. School a 25 minute walk/10m cycle but the heavy bag means both impossible.

LifeOfBox · 08/09/2019 20:55

Really heavy with textbooks Focal, I wouldn't want to carry DD's bag. then there are instruments and sports kit plus hockey stick or tennis racquet.

There aren't enough lockers for children so its first come first served for half of the kids at DD's school.

What doesn't kill you and all that.

BackforGood · 08/09/2019 22:13

And DD is now going through a "walk the very long way round to school so you can meet up with others phase" - which is another possibility!

Yes, dd1 used to leave an hour before registration (for a 1.5 mile walk, if you went straight there), as she seemed to develop her own "walking bus" by about Yr9, meeting friends 'almost' on the way, and there'd be a little group by the time they got to school
Apart from the 'walk in the fresh air' before sitting in classrooms all day, the social and mental health side were such a positive.

Starlight456 · 08/09/2019 22:21

My son borrows school instrument as apparently do all others according to my Ds.

There are some kids who carry all books. My Ds looks on his timetable daily

SunshineAngel · 08/09/2019 22:41

My partner drove his son to school and picked him up all through until he left at 16. I always thought it was odd and unnecessary (and also quite annoying as he changed his job meaning I had to do it, which affected my work, but my hours are more flexible at least) - so suggested he got the bus to college.

He does so, and has taken to it easily. Proving my point that he could have been independent far earlier than he was allowed to be!

I think exercise is so important, and if your kids are anything remotely like my partner's son, they'll spend half their time playing on consoles, so the walk to school is very important!

UndomesticHousewife · 08/09/2019 23:31

If the school was a 20 minute walk ds would be walking!
It would take about 45 minutes to walk so I drop him in the morning, we leave early before the traffic builds up so I'm there and back in about 15 minutes but he gets the bus home. On occasions that's he's missed the bus he's walked. He's just started year 8 so he was doing this from last year.

TeamUnicorn · 09/09/2019 10:32

The vast majority walk, some are dropped off but it is a minority. The school has a drop of zone so it does help local traffic a little (I have to pull out into it) . It isn't a huge catchment, so most of within a reasonable distance, it is also on pretty good bus routes.

The general area gets very busy with traffic, so I imagine that puts a lot of people off, though I think some might just tip them out somewhere to avoid trying to get in and out of the road.

TheClitterati · 14/09/2019 01:48

DD y7 is now walking to Svhool by herself. Walking home too but often with friends part of the way. She loves it. Feels independent and grown up.

minesagin37 · 14/09/2019 02:05

I think most of the kids walk to school. They meet up on the way and generally takes them 25 mins. The kids that still get dropped off are the ones who live far away, have particular needs or whose parents can't let go.

DramaFarmer · 15/09/2019 22:00

I do not know a single child who is driven to school (London).

They walk, 20 mins.

joblotbubble · 15/09/2019 22:20

The flip side of this is how DC will ever build up independence is they are constantly ferried everywhere by parents.

Taking them to school doesn't mean that parents take them everywhere though. I hate the idea that people are judged for doing something nice.

We are 10min walk from school and I take them if it's raining or we are running late. I'm going out anyway to do the primary school run. I can leave the house, drop at high school then primary and be home again in 12 minutes. It's really no hassle. DD went to uni at 18 and has survived a whole year so getting a lift to school wasn't detrimental.

Echobelly · 15/09/2019 22:26

DDs new school discourages dropping by car - it's about a 30 min walk so we get DD to do that, even though DH is between contracts so at home right now, but we expect her to get used to walking it. I've not been past it at drop off time, but I suspect most kids walk or use public transport. It has a small catchment and we're at the very outer edges of it, so most kids will be closer.

Catapillarsruletheworld · 16/09/2019 03:50

I do drop mine in the morning. It’s quite far, 1.8 miles I think and takes around 40 minutes. They’re very busy after school and it’s on my way to work so no big deal.

They normally walk home.

nonicknameseemsavailable · 16/09/2019 12:39

I actually think that (assuming it isn't torrential rain or heay snow or something) a walk to school is a great way to start the day. Wakes them up, gives a calming activity, social time if walking with friends, gets the heart pumping etc so good for mental and physical fitness.

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