How long does it take your DC to get to school?

[evtheria]

How long does it take your DC to get to their secondary school? And how - walking, by car, by bus...

Anyone whose child has a long commute eg over 30mins one way? Do they regret it? Does it really affect their social life, or how tired they are on average?

The teens I know walk to theirs in about 10-20mins, but being nearby was a huge factor for the parents in choosing the high school, no matter how good/bad the school was.

I'm just wondering if that is basically the norm in other areas (and therefore we'd probably be terrible for considering a longer commute for our kid).

We chose the school that was best for the children rather than the one that was nearest. But it also had to be one that they could travel to independently because my husband and I both had long train commutes to work in London and couldn't take them.

They walked about 8 minutes to the railway station and then caught two trains and walked about 2 minutes at the other end. It always took over 30 minutes and sometimes more like 45, depending on a) whether it was a fast or slow train and b) the wait between trains.

I don't regret it. There were other children doing the same journey and it became part of their social life.

I had a long commute to school and it was a complete ball ache. Really tiring and also socially isolating.

50 minutes by public transport, on a day with no disruptions (various route options).

There are advantages - train friends, really savvy on public transport, not tied to coach times so can go early or stay late as needed - but I think it does make them more tired by the end of term. And it makes playing big musical instruments impractical, as they couldn’t manage them on the journey.

We never drive them, when we go to school for concerts etc we use public transport, too. London traffic means it would take longer, unless it was the middle of the night.

Feels like about 3 years to get them all into the car. Then it's a 5 minute drive. Is about 20 minutes walk by myself with the pram, 30 mins with the older kids (5 years old) and about 45 minutes if the 2 year old is there. I would always pick the closest school unless it was truly terrible. I've never known anyone to do otherwise.

10 minute walk for us.

My son leaves the house at 6.25 to get to school for 7.45
he goes to a grammar school though and he agrees it’s worth it. I do feel sorry for him in winter when it’s dark and miserable though!

15 minutes in the car, 45-60 minutes walking depending on how desperate they are to get home.
They go by car in the morning and then walk home in the afternoon unless it’s absolutely chucking it down

30 min walk each way for my DC but it is the nearest school and they all meet friends on route and walk with them. I offer a lift if I'm free and the weather is especially bad but generally only the littlest one accepts, the others prefer the walk despite the weather

An hour and fifteen minutes. Two buses. Can be close to an hour and forty five, if there is a delayed or missed bus.

May I ask if that's out of lack of schools nearby/rural living, or from choosing a specific school?

Round here (Kent/London borders) it is totally normal to do an hour on public transport to school, and many parents (including me) consider it worthwhile for the right school, without moving house.

It has pros and cons of course but a short walk to a school where your child isn't happy or can't study the subjects they want, isn't great either.

DD does a lot of homework on the train...

An hour door to door. I don't think sitting on a train or bus for a full hour would be good.

Ours is a 10 min bike ride or 15-20 minute walk. It's the best school in the town (and a very good one) we were hugely relieved to get it because it's extremely difficult to get in (they don't have a catchment, they randomly select from the whole town), so if you live on this side of town and don't get a space, you get the double whammy of a crap school with a traffic heavy commute. The schools the other side of town don't even have bus services.

30/40 minutes for my 3.

5 min walk to the train station, 5 min train journey then 5 min walk to school.

It works great until there's train strikes or "leaves on the line" then it's a mad scramble to drive him to school then try to get to work on time in the opposite direction.

Will there be others doing similar journey too? I'm sure he can be resilient about the travel and more so if he has company and it's within the range of the norm? We're facing a longer commute for secondary but I'm less worried about the time/distance, than if we will be able to find companions on the route and friends local enough to socialise with outside school. Either way please don't feel you're failing him- it sounds like you're doing the right thing

About 20-30 minutes or so, depending on pace and whether they stop for sweets. They chose the school cos all their mates were going. It's not the best school, but they're happy enough.

They're not keen on the winter or when it rains, but they've managed for 4/2 years so far. But it does mean they can stay for after school stuff because they're not reliant on lifts- because we'd never be home in time to pick them up.

Secondary age SEND children are expected to travel 75 minutes; however, that is just a guideline and many travel far further. (For primary aged SEND children it’s 45 minutes, but many will be forced to go over the hour mark. Our LA tried to send my son (6) to one 55 minutes away!

Our local secondary puts on buses for those outside a 3 mile radius of the school so it’s a 5/10 min drive.
To use public transport would take 15/20 mins but the only bus that goes by the school leaves at 7.52 so that’s not an option for most kids! Some jump on the 8.52 if they miss the school bus but that obviously makes them late.
To walk would be at least an hour. Not necessarily unmanageable, or they could bike, but it’s not deemed a safe route which was why our village fought (and won) the fight to keep our school buses. There are two possible routes- one is a country road with no kerb in parts and the other involves a super busy road with a dangerous bend and only a very narrow kerb on one side.

My daughter starts in September and she will have a 5 minute walk. Most kids walk/bikeride to school.

Ten minutes on foot. DS has always attended the geographically closest schools to where we were living. Most schools are much of a muchness.

5 minute walk for us. We chose our house based on the school they would go to, giving them the independence to be able to come and go and with friends nearby. Lots of their activities are on our doorstep too so they come and go and they please, with friends also living close by.

15 mins on bus. In the car it would be 5 mins but bus stopping frequently. Large village in semi rural area.

We had 2 main options. We live on a town. A fairly big town. One high school. For our child the walk is about 15 minutes. But if you live at the other end of town it’s either an hour walk or a short bus ride of about 20 minutes. Our other option was a catholic secondary on a town nearby. As it is a catholic school which takes from catholic primary schools in neighbouring towns they have buses. The bus likely takes longer than a car would as it does a route around the town to collect all the kids. Out bus stop o think the bust leaves about 7:30/7:45 and get them there in time.

There’s no real issue of better schools. Everyone goes to the town school except the catholics who have a choice - or non catholics who also can choose the catholic school.

If a child is sen and needs a specialist school the taxi can be anything from 20 mins to over an hour depending where they live and which school they pick.

Occasionally some kids attend from the next door town however that is a different county/LA although closer than some of the town kids who live across town. They can only get in further down the criteria as it’s not their catchment or county.

I do know that where o used to live, a small city, the kids did travel much further as they had a wider choice of school. Many competitive such as a grammar (not private) and a church school that took on ability as well after an entrance exam if not baptised. My ex DH couldn’t get his head around the lack of choice for our kids here.

10 minute bus journeys