Journey time to school - important?

[Spry]

How important a factor should journey time be when deciding on secondary schools?

A secondary school we like very much is a long way away. Getting there would involve a 10 minute walk to a bus stop (v safe walk at all times of day) then a 40 minute ride on a frequent public bus, which drops off right outside the school.

Another school, which seems fine but not great, is just under 2 miles away - so could be reached on foot (up a v steep hill) or via a short bus journey. It's not a safe route to cycle alas.

None/very few of our twins' friends would go to either school (we live a long way from their primary) so they'd have to make new friends if they went to either of these two schools we're considering.

I personally think that is too far. It's essentially 2 hours per day so 10 hours per week just getting to and from school. Imagine what that will be like when they have loads of homework/coursework etc to do. Also got to consider the impact of making and sustaining friendships outside of school.

Agree, school 1 is too far. It will easily be over an hour when you factor in bus being late and traffic. Plus it means they won’t live anywhere near their school friends so socialising outside school will be trickier. I would only consider this if the nearer schools were really awful.

DS1 went to a school 40 mins away and got the public bus. For me, with his quirkiness and undiagnosed SEN, and despite all the times he missed the bus and I'd be driving him up the road chasing it, it was 100% the best choice for that child. The others went to a different school that was appropriate for them

Proximity was important to me. Local friends and a walk to school.

I’m going to buck the trend here and say I don’t think it matters as much as people think.

From Y8 onwards I went to an indy which was at a 1h15 coach ride each way, and honesty: it was fine. The coach picked me up at the end of the road at 7:25 and I had about 8 good friends of varying ages (then my boyfriend for the final 3 years which obviously helped!). So for me it was just extra social time with them - I particularly liked hanging out with the older kids, but generally have quite fond memories of it all.

It was more of an issue for my parents as if I wanted to meet up with friends in the school town then it was a 35 min drive each way, though when I was older I could get the train myself from the next village over.

But based on my experience I would definitely pick a “better” school that’s further away than a closer one that I’m not convinced about.

Appreciate I’m in a small minority though!

it's of course worth canvassing other opinions, which is what you're doing here, but fwiw to me personally distance matters a great deal, to me the commute is dead time and the lack of proximity will impact on the kids socially.

If you go for the further away one, you are signing up to being a taxi and their friends may well live 40 mins in the other direction from school. Theyll be less inclined to get involved in after-school activities.

Depends. If the school further away is a well regarded grammar / independant and the one closer is rubbish I’d choose the further school.

Also depends on proximity to town / local hangouts for teens - if the farther school is closer to where friends will congregate it could work out better in the long run.

I think if the school itself is that much better and it's a fairly straightforward journey 40 min isn't too bad (I did 2 buses across the city for my school)

Lots of private school kids do similar journeys to option 1. Doesn’t seem to put off the parents or stop the kids doing well, they clearly reckon it’s worth it.

Yes it does mean friends and school events can be a pain to get to. And it does limit the time available to do out of school activities, once homework ramps up.

Would other kids from your area also go to that school and get that bus? This makes quite a big difference and can change it from a burden to social time in child’s eyes.

Option 1 is pretty common where I live, a semi-rural area. The route sounds fairly easy. If it’s a popular school. They won’t be the only one doing it.

A two mile walk would probably take a similar time.

Where do the majority of the kids for the further away school live?

If say 90% of the students live within 2 miles and you are 5 miles then this means friendship groups will be difficult for your child. If the majority of the kids are also far away then not so much of an issue.

DD had a bus, tube and a walk. We never thought twice about it. Neither did she

I agree with this. Our secondary school covers lots of villages so 90% of the kids get a bus. Some bus journeys will take the best part of an hour.

So everyone was roughly in the same boat, everyone gets a bus to visit their friends. I'd think twice if my kid was the only outlier.

I grew up in London, with the typical long bus journey. I was out 7.30-4.30 (not staying for clubs, nearer 6 with a sports or music practice)

DDs go to the village secondary, 10 mins walk if they go slow. They are out 8-3pm... or 4.15 with clubs

Their overall quality of life does seem a lot better... no stress about bus times, all homework done before dinner, or dropping of their bags and going out with friends etc. My whole day felt like school.

I would check the bus journey at 8am before making a decision... and then decide whether the time is worth it. It depends what extra the school gives.

The only other things I would consider are: 1) if they can work on the bus so could do some schoolwork before getting home (I would feel ill so couldn’t do it) and 2) if there are a lot of other children taking the same bus to school so they would make friends and could socialise during that time. These are probably mutually exclusive! But either would be beneficial and mean the commute isn’t just time out of their day.

I do think journey time is important- it is knackering for students who have really long journeys. Busses etc can also limit extracurricular options. Is it a public bus, and do the times match well with school start and end times? Is the bus reliable? Is there any chance the route could be changed or cut?

If everything else about school 1 is perfect, and far better than school 2, I would consider a journey time of less than an hour- provided it is genuinely less than an hour and he won't end up spending lots of time stuck in traffic etc.

If you haven't already, I would trial the journey if you can- ideally at the times your children would be doing it (I appreciate this may well not be possible). A journey that looks doable on paper can be tricky in real life.

I'd also ask what both walks are like? Do you think they are safe, including on dark winter evenings/mornings?

ETA: I teach at a school where a lot of students have similar journey times to option 1 (often through lack of other options). Some do okay, but some do find it really knackering, especially at first.

My DD had this journey on paper. In reality she had to leave at 7.15am to make sure she got to school before 8.30am, as public buses are unreliable and traffic complicated things further. She got home at 5pm due to traffic. She only did it for a few years and was so relieved when she changed school.

Depends on the schools, the options and the child.

DD does 90 minutes each way (now in Y11) and it was best option for us.

Nearest school was almost an hour anyway, this school caters for her specialism plus she's going into London so a huge number of transport options if she wants to stay late or get to other extra curricular options.

But, firstly she has a guaranteed seat on the train with wifi and can get homework done. Secondly it's not a faffy journey - straight into one station, change platform and second train to school and very short walk at either end - way better than 3 changes, or buses/walking where you can't do anything like read or do homework. Finally her school is lottery entry so she doesn't miss out on social life as kids live all over the place not in one central location.

DS has a very similar journey to your journey 1. He likes it. It gives him time to socialise with his friends on the journey age he is able to decompress before he gets home.

We live in London and that's a fairly standard journey time, it wouldn't be unusual at all. There are some of the best schools in the country here and if you get into one of those it is worth the inconvenience.

For us we put a limit at 40 min, but that's because our location means we have a wide choice of top schools - our DD would do just as well at one of the north London schools compared to one of the West London schools an hour away. She luckily got into a school that is an 18 min journey door to door by bus, or a 35 min walk across a park.

It's definitely nicer to have a quick easy journey - carrying instruments, art projects, staying late for extracurriculars and being able to get back near home to do extracurriculars locally, tube issues and strikes, exercise if it is walkable.

My son has a 30 min walk and has made new friends on the walk to and from school and they sometimes go to the park or into town together after, which is nice, it's good he gets some extra exercise in too.

A lot depends on the child, my daughter has a 1 hour journey home which is a short walk a longer wait for train or bus then a ride home and another short walk. Most of the time is used waiting for transport so she gets homework done lots of homework is online and then listen to music arriving home chilled. Her friend at another school has a 20 min walk gets home earlier but struggling to do home work as more distractions so is a bit more stressed

DC1 has a long journey to school - out of the house at 0730, back 1630 or later when traffic is bad. It's a school bus from the end of the street though and there are a few people doing it from our village. She doesn't much like the bus and is knackered (but she has just started y7) - but she absolutely loves the school. Our local options were pretty diabolical, so it's worth it IMO.

Where I live, most kids go to the comprehensive schools within a 3 mile radius but the kids who go over the county border to grammar schools travel about 45 mins (bus plus walk)

Do kids from your area go to school 1? 45 mins will go quickly. If kids are more likely to travel 45 mins in the other direction then that’s going to make socialising hard. How confident are you that the council won’t cancel the bus route ? Sometimes bus routes are cancelled at short notice.