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Secondary education

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

Original poster

How long is your DC's journey to school?

83 replies

Asiatarta · 02/10/2020 12:29

I am trying to decide on my secondary school application preference order. All schools seem equal in everything more or less so it boils down to travel and I'm just wondering...how long does your DC travel to school? How many buses (if any) do they have to catch? Did it worry you them travelling alone to school when starting year 7? Do you track them, if so what do you use?

Thank you!

OP posts:
runwithme · 02/10/2020 12:33

For DS it's one bus away. Precovid, it was a single decker, every half hour. For the first month it was very stressful as the bus would sometimes drive past, as it was full. Or it would get stuck in traffic.
Then I got a job closer to his school so I can take him in. I'm working from home now so still taking him in as the buses are working on lower capacity and less regularity. It's a 40 min walk which he doesnt mind doing, occasionally

runwithme · 02/10/2020 12:33

And yes, we use live360

Gumbo · 02/10/2020 13:21

10 minute walk.

We thought long and hard about which school to go to (the nearest one didn't have a great Ofsted, so we had several meetings with the school to raise specific concerns before making our final decision). I'm SO glad we chose the one that is easily walkable - the school is actually great and the ability to just walk to meet friends locally in the park etc (particularly during Covid) is really important.

Literallynoidea · 02/10/2020 13:23

Pre-Covid it was one bus, 17 minutes. Now I drive him there and he walks back - it's about a mile and a half so takes him half an hour or longer if he's dawdling with his mates.

KindKylie · 02/10/2020 13:26

I would always choose the school that was within easy walking/cycling or independent travel distance.

I think it is good for young people to build their independence by being able to get themseves to and from school but also it is easier from a social pov and if they want to take part in clubs and activities.

Runnerduck34 · 02/10/2020 13:29

We live rurally, they go to school in nearest town, leaving home 7:25 am to be in school for 8:45am.
Driving it would take 30 mins but buses are slow!
So journey time is around 1 hour 15 min each way. Tbh it does make for a very long day , particularly when combined with homework, which is hard going when in year 7, by year 8 they have adjusted but still not ideal

dancemom · 02/10/2020 13:41

About 45 minutes all in.

5 minute walk
10 minute train
5 minute walk
10 minute subway
10 minute walk

LadyCatStark · 02/10/2020 13:44

40 mins on the bus then a 10 min walk. I do track DS on find my iPhone as he’s only just started but I’m refreshing less and less as time goes on 😂

crazycrofter · 02/10/2020 13:46

Both mine have long journeys to school - we live in a big city and the local schools are poor.

In his first year ds got one school bus, taking about 45/50 mins. That was fine and he adapted quickly, but it was very expensive and he hated the inconvenience of having to get a particular bus (it went from the girls grammar). He wanted flexibility to stay at school to play football and to go on public transport with his friends - which was 2 buses or a bus and train or a tram and train. He did that for year 8 and half of year 9 but found the change, waiting for the second bus, really hard and tiring. Now I drive straight to the second bus in the morning (10 mins) and pick him up from there and it’s made all the difference (bus journey is still around 45/50 mins).

So I wouldn’t go for a two stage journey, too tiring and they’re often late too. My daughter also travels 45/50 mins on the train and she’s had no problems. Both travel with friends (or rather, they made travel-buddies by happening to go on the same bus/train) which makes the journey fun social time.

passthemustard · 02/10/2020 13:46

My yr8 and yr11 have a 30 minute walk.

There's no bus that goes directly from near home to near school. I also think the walk is good for them as neither are very sporty.

They refuse to walk together though. And I don't track them.

fishywaters · 02/10/2020 13:47

10 minutes to station, 20 minute train, school bus 5 minutes the other side or walk up hill 15 minutes. So 35-45 minutes. I think anything more than about 50 minutes can be too much. Most kids I know travel to school and use the journey to socialise. They really don't mind it. Sometimes they do last minute homework on the train etc. However, in addition to time you really need to factor in cost. Many people get stung by that.

copernicium · 02/10/2020 13:52

DD usually one bus, takes about 20 minutes but it's at 7:35am for a 9am start. Currently only enough provision for a quarter of those who need it so I'm driving every day, which takes 10 minutes but means she has to stand outside for 45 minutes so I can be at work. She walks home as no provision, takes over an hour.

DS two buses but he finds it easier to catch the first bus and walk 20 minutes at the end. Leaves at 8am for a 9am start. He's home well before 4pm.

Malmontar · 02/10/2020 13:54

Y8 DD- 10mins bus and 10min walk. 45min walk if she wanted as it's about 2 miles.
We very nearly went with a school an hour away. So glad we didn't. Lots of kids go to the same bus stop and her friend gets off a stop before.

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 02/10/2020 13:56

Total of 1hr 30 each way:

8 minute walk to station
48 minutes on train
change platform
14 minutes on second train
4 minute walk to school

Even through we live rurally, DD has been commuting to school in London since Y1, so she's used to it.

I was slightly worried the first week about her doing the journey on her own, and I went with her on day 1. Now she's found other friends on the second train and to walk to the station with after school and she's fine.

I have Life360 tracker and Find My Phone.

She uses the train time to do all her homework (a lot to be said for having a decent chunk of time sat on one train) and they nearly all have free wifi nowadays.

Given where we live, there was no option that was a 10 minute walk round the corner - the nearest options either involved an hour on a bus, or a 15 minute train journey and 30 minute walk.

OhCrumbsWhereNow · 02/10/2020 13:59

Will add that DD goes to a secondary without a catchment area so she's not the only child with a long commute, and she's not missing out of social life with everyone else just around the corner from each other.

We did have that a bit at primary, but she did after school club and we made the effort to go in for playdates/parties etc

Brockwell · 02/10/2020 14:04

If direct, about a 30 minute walk, but she goes round to her mates houses first (only 5!) so more like an hour and they walk together. She gave up on the buses this term because they were so crowded with no chance of SD, but before the pandemic she would bus it straight there in about 15 minutes.

WeAllHaveWings · 02/10/2020 14:06

ds gets a partially subsidised (£26/month) school bus at end of road, the bus takes

movingonup20 · 02/10/2020 14:22

Dd changed schools at 10, 1 bus, 20 mins journey. I personally went 45 mins on foot to school (buses took longer)

BlueChampagne · 02/10/2020 14:56

Pre-covid, 1 bus, about 30-45 min depending on traffic. Now he cycles (3 miles).

reluctantbrit · 02/10/2020 15:05

Pre-Covid DD took a bus but in reality it only cut the journey by around 10 minutes.

She now walks and it is around 35-45 minutes, faster on the way to school, longer coming home.

She started walking to school on her own in Y6, they need to learn the independence. She walks where around 1/2 the school walks plus commuters as she passes the train station so she is hardly walking all alone around dark alleyways.

We can ping her with “find my iPhone” but in two years secondary only needed it twice.

iamthankful · 02/10/2020 15:30

40 min drive

clary · 02/10/2020 15:49

Two minute walk. We could hardly live nearer.

When ds1 started we were maybe seven mins away. Both dh and I had long commutes on buses to secondary which brought friendship issues so we wanted to avoid that.

Ds2 is in sixth form now and can pop home with a couple of mates at lunchtime, plus he is home in the pm at 3.20, gets some work done then footy at 6pm. Spot on. A 45 min journey by bus and foot to the next village (which he considered for 6th) would see him home at 4.45 (later finish) so not great.

spotsorstripes · 02/10/2020 16:00

15-20 minute drive (independent school, no bus). We did think about the lack of independence, but there are ups and downs. Nearest state options would have been same distance by bus, but because we're rural there'd only have been one bus home - so if DS was doing clubs etc we'd still have to pick up. Plus, friends have lots of issues in the morning with buses being late or full, and parents having to take anyway. But having to drive would be a pain if it didn't fit well with work.

Lougle · 02/10/2020 16:07

1.5 miles. 10 minutes by bus, 5 minutes by car, 30 minutes to walk.

Janleverton · 02/10/2020 16:20

Dd has a 20 minute walk in one direction. DS1 about 15 minutes in the other direction. Very lucky to be in position of having decent schools locally. DS1 will either go to ds1’s school or dd’s. Depends on which he prefers.