Is it too much to let a child travel 50 minutes to school?

[mehesdfds753]

May I ask this question?

We are looking for a new house. The purpose is preparing for my oldest son's potential secondary school next year.

If things go according to our plan, the child is expected to study at an independent school at Year 7.

However, due to the housing budget, it is most likely my child will need to use public transport to go to school. It looks like he will spend at least 45-50 minutes to travel from home to school.

Subject to the actual location, he may need to use the rail station and then use the bus to go to school.

And we know that in real life, many children will simply walk to their secondary school.

So is it too much and cruel to ask my child to travel that far?

My sincere thanks,

My children spent nearly an hour getting to school (independent) using school transport which was fine. On a Saturday we had to collect them which would sometimes mean two journeys to and fro school if one was involved in a match and the other wasn't. Also beer in mind that if they are travelling for that long from one direction it is likely that their friends will be travelling that far from the other direction. I have never driven as many miles in a year as when they were at school.

Given public transport may well still be in chaos by September I'd say way too long (too long even in normal times)

My dd had a similar length bus ride to secondary school. I thought that our local school would have been easier but she preferred one of the schools in the next town. She was absolutely fine with it. Plenty of children from our town choose that school and the commute seems to be a bit of a social occasion.

Perfectly normal, my teen dd takes two buses to school , it takes her 45/50 minutes.

I don’t know a single child that walks to their high school.

It’s fine if the trains and buses are frequent and reliable but if the connection is a bus that only turns up every hour then it becomes a stressful commute

Consider all the factors taken together.

If, overall, the school is worth it, then the commute is not too long. If not, then it really is too long.

Also, your child will develop and grow. Over time, it will not seem as long or as inconvenient.

That's way too long. Too tiring. It's important for them to get home and dry at a reasonable hour. Those secondary school days are long and tiring, especially as the years pass and studies get more demanding.
DS1 is in year 13 and his secondary/Sixth Form is about a 10-15 minute commute by bus/bike, half-hour walk home. Things have happened over the years and I'm really glad he's been able to get home quickly during more urgent times. Above all, after an exhausting day (especially as he hit years 11, 12, & 13), he can just get home quickly and unwind, take a breather, then crack on with studies. Public transport is not a 'breather' or a 'rest'.

I wouldn’t want that for my dc.
For us they’d be doing it in the dark for a good part of the year, in soggy rugby kit a couple of times a week, and getting home that late would affect their ability to participate in some of their out of school activities.
What are the housing options like closer to the school?

Yes, perfectly fine, and quite common where I live.

It may seem a lot initially to year 7 pupil, but they soon get used to it, and they’re not baby faced year 7s forever.

Dd has done both, primary and secondary 15min walk. 6th is 1.15hrs by public transport.

she felt it was worth it for this particular school, but difficult to see friends and tiring.

On the positive the school know lots of students come from far and wide so clubs etc are at lunchtime.

Really depends if there are no other good options more locally.

I did, 45 mins changing buses in the town centre. My DD's went 30 mins

I did 2 bus rides to school probably over an hour, hated every minute, hated standing at a bus stop in the rain getting soaked, missing connections when the traffic was bad.

We chose this house for the local secondary school, it is a 20 minute walk or a 5 minute car ride. Consider after school clubs or any sort of sport club commitment and how dark it will be in winter when he comes home. Plus transport at that time rather than a normal school kick out.

It doesn't sound much when you say 50 minutes coming home, but when you consider that other children have been home for 30 minutes over a week that is 2 1/2 hours of school work being done whilst your child is still travelling.

This is interesting, a big difference here, many saying it's fine, several (perhaps not as many) saying it's too long.

I also had a similar commute as a child. I hated it. My parents would have said it was fine. But it would have massively improved my life in every way, if I hadn't had to do it.

This. Massively this. Both DH and I had long commutes. He went to a grammar school a long way away, I lived in a rural area and also went to a grammar. When I was 14, my best friends lived 15+ miles away. I really feel that I missed out as a child through lack of social life - not to mention that I was out of the house from 8am to 4.45 each day. DH says the same.

We were keen that our DC would not have to deal with that. We moved on purpose to an area with schools we liked within walking distance. In fact we are a spit away from their secondary, ds2 leaves the house at 8.30 and is home by 3.20. Means that after school stuff is easier to access, their day is not so long and their mates live an accessible distance away.

FWIW we live in a smallish city and most kids I know walk to secondary. Obviously if you're rural it's a different story.

Op, a 45-minute commute is not impossible. But personally I would try to avoid it. If you are moving anyway, why not move nearer?

It’s not impossible, many do it. But if I had a choice I’d choose a school/house with less commute time as that’s a lot of his young life spent commuting when you add it up.

How about buying.a smaller property nearer to the school? Or choose a different indie? Or just send him to a state school within sensible travel time of where you live now / where you move to, if you need to move anyway.

Moving for a specific school but choosing / being financially constrained to live no nearer than a 50minute commuter your DC to said school seems a bit bonkers, tbh.

I think it’s a long day, nearly 7 hours at school, then 2 hours on top for travel and then homework. I’d say it’s not ideal but many kids do it and cope.
My kids would hate it.

I would do your research. Is this journey typical at the school? How are you going to manage socialising at weekends and in the holidays? When are the clubs? If they are mainly after school or your child is sporty and on school teams, then they may not be home until 6ish or if they are into acting and have rehearsals after school. Is that doable on a regular basis?

Is the journey really only 45-50 minutes or are there likely to be missed connections? Usually I’d suggest giving this a go at the right time, but not possible at the moment.

What is the alternative? Is the private school worth the extra two hours travel? Have a look at what else is around as well. What catchments are you likely to be moving into?

Having done the long commute as a child and it was hard to socialise at weekends and in the holidays, we have chosen to live within 10 minute walk of one excellent state school and they’ll be able to walk to their friends houses so can meet up easily and independently.

The daily travel to school is fine for your child.
But from experience, you need to consider that his friends could be travelling an equal distance from the opposite direction, which can make after school or weekend visits to friends' houses difficult if you have to collect him.

I had an hour’s journey to school on a bus every day and an hour’s journey home from the age of 11 to 18. Added to that was a five minute car ride from the bus stop home, or a 30 minute walk. My bus left at ten to eight every morning and I usually got home around quarter to five. It was absolutely fine and actually I quite enjoyed it, it provided a kind of ante chamber between school and home to prepare/ depressurise, we had fun on the bus, and I often did my homework on it. I did not feel I missed out on anything. It was a school bus though, which might make a difference.

Can you move to the end of a school bur route and then plan for him to have a car for the 6th form?

Personally I think it is too many changes and too long. May be manageable during summer months but during winter ? Cold, dark, sitting on trains, buses for 2 hours each day in already wet clothes from the pouring rain? Nope. I wouldn't want to do it and definitely wouldn't expect a child to.

Sounds awful, I had a 25 minutes walk to high school until 5 th year when we moved and it was then a 15 minute bus ride which was fine. If I got a later bus because of a club etc it had kids coming from the next city from indie schools, often their journey was 1 1/4 or 1.5 hours, they always looked shattered. I wouldn't do that to my kids unless there really was no alternative. Sounds like you are choosing to move that far away from the school you want. I hope it is a nice house and a good school!

at 11 that’s too much. I remember having to travel to my mothers every weekend after school and that was a two bus journeys about an hour. I was approached many times by men at the bus station interchange also the kids going in the same direction used to really mess about on the bus and bully the younger kids so for those reasons no.

I’d there not the possibility of you driving half way till they get older?

How does it look on the way back? Are there really regular buses or trains? I mean will it actually be 50 minutes?