Which school? 45 min walk too far?

[mamnotmum]

My child is 10 and we are looking at secondary schools.

There is a choice of 3 -

school 1 - walkable in minutes. Didn’t really like it. Ofsted wasn’t great.

school 2 - 10 mins on a direct bus. It’s doing well and newly built.

school 3 - highly accepted as the best in the area and we loved it BUT it’s either a 45 min walk or 15 min cycle (child isn’t confident but we could work on that) or a bus to school 2 and then a 20min walk. Dropping off/collecting would be very difficult due to work commitments and also it’s in a very busy area so lots of traffic. No friends would be doing the same journey.

I want school 3 to work and child loved it but is nervous about commuting in the rain/cold. Please give me your thoughts?!

Go to 3 if you loved it so much more. Invest in the right waterproof/windproof clothes for winter and a good umbrella. Your child will be very healthy physically and mentally thanks to the walk. He’ll be able to think on the way.

Assuming you get 3 choices then put in order 3, 2 then 1 or catchment school. 15 mins cycle is fine if a safe route. But, I would think you wouldn't get in a best in area school 2 miles away anyway. Could be wrong but check categories and distances for the last few years. Remember, you express a preference not make a choice.

First of all, will you meet the admission criteria for all of them? No matter how much you like a school, you have to meet its admission criteria to get a place.

A walk of 45 minutes each way, with a rucksack is quite a long one. What if he wants to join after school clubs, have friends round etc. It’ll be in the dark for quite a few months too.

2 or 3

Which of these would depend on if I truly felt child would thrive more in one vs the other

This wouldn't be down to academics personally, I'd want good pastoral care and all roundedness (sport, arts, etc.)

2 sounds more appealing from a quick glance but I'd consider 3 if I generally felt my child would have a strong advantage there

Yes I agree it would do my child the world of good. Not sure they’ll see it that way. But they also want to go to that school.

My school commute was 45mins on a bus, and perfectly doable, so I think the time is not the issue. Is it about 2 miles? That's a very reasonable walk for a high school pupil and will keep them fit and healthy. I think the main consideration is the safety of the route - is it okay even in the dark (depends where you live of course so maybe this won't apply to you)?

If a child is happy at school they won’t mind the commute. He will find friends going part of the way with him so I think bus and then 20 minute walk would be fine. My DC go to school miles away and don’t complain about the travel because they love the school. DC2 used to complain when at school 5 mins away from home.

Thanks for the replies.

Yes I’m fairly confident child would get into all of them. Obviously things can change year on year but if we’d applied this year or last then we would have got whichever we chose and the birth rate is lower than the previous 2 cohorts.

School 3 has just about every extracurricular activity you could imagine. School 2 also has a number of options. Subjects are similar, facilities too. School 3 ‘felt’ better to us and child.

Its impossible to know where his primary school friends will go but they are most likely to get into school 1 based on their location.

We would sometimes be able to collect from clubs etc but need to be certain that child can do the journey independently.

I think you have to manage expectations. Even if your child was prepared to do the journey, he may not get a place based on admission criteria, one of which is distance. It really is expressing a preference, not making a choice and you need to explain that not everyone who wants to go there may get a place if it’s over subscribed.

Do you really have a choice of all 3? Are you likely to get in to them?

In our area the notion of choice was misleading and you get your catchment school.

A 15 minute cycle is nothing and therefore that wouldn't put me off.

Re distance - this year the cut off distance was over 3 miles and just under 3 miles the year before. We are just under 2 miles away.

OK I was going to ask about will you get in @mamnotmum but I see you think you will. If you put school 3 first and don't get it, well you've lost nothing anyway tbf (I mean you've not got in – but it won't harm your chance of school 2).

How far is a 45-min walk? Have you actually walked it or is this google (which IME says a walk is longer than I walk it). I see it's less than two miles – so it's probably nearer 35 mins which is fine.

Independence at secondary is key IMHO; if he can walk, bus plus walk or cycle then it sounds fine. Mate of DS2's used to get the bus three miles but when it was full (it usually was) he would often walk.

My only concern might be – would new school friends live three miles in the opposite direction? This was my story at school (well 15 miles in some cases as I grew up in an area that was a) all grammar and b) v rural) and it damaged my social life outside school. Still, I expect parents today are more keen to drive their DC about the countryside to see friends. Is there a central place that they would meet (city with cinema/shops/bowling)?

A 45 min walk into school every morning and another 45 min walk in the evening is crazy to me
Walking for nearly an hour is going to leave your child tired and dreading the next morning especially when it’s freezing . I’m sorry but no matter how great the school your child should be arriving relaxed and ready to start the day not exhausted / sweating / frozen
I remember needing to commute an hour and a half to school with a 25 min walk and it caused all sorts of problems - I was late because of heavy traffic no matter what time I left and times I didn’t feel great but not unwell enough to stay home the walk was awful
school two sounds best - plus you should choose a school that’s right for your child rather than just choosing because it’s got a good ofsted reputation

My kid walk this distance and it's fine but they meet friends along the way and it is quite a pleasant walk. Cycling is pretty uncommon - probably their stupid restrictive uniform and then having to look after a helmet puts them off.

My eldest has just finished school and said that walking to/fro with friends was their favourite part of the day. 1.8 miles each way.

Just under 2 miles I would have thought was about a 30 minute walk although I am quite a quick walker. My children walked to school that was 2 miles away. One was fine and the other 2 started getting a bus!

Our nearest and thankfully good school is about this far, semi rural and my daughter started this year. I did similar at high school and it was fine. I stayed after school til 5.30 some nights for orchestra and walked home every time because we didn't have a car. And I live in the sodden north west of England

Decent coat and shoes as well as some mates to walk with and meet on the way and they're sorted. A healthy 11 year old should be able to manage a couple of miles in the morning. They're rarely carrying heavy textbooks they was we did in the 90s and 00s. Maybe food tech days. If it's a great fit otherwise then put it as your first preference and then the other schools as secondary and third

A 45min walk is not exhausting for an able bodied person. It’s a great way to start the day. I used to walk that far to work and back every day.

I was also going to say this - easily doable in 30 mins once they get used to it.

Definitely option 3 and consider building on the cycling option for flexibility to make it quicker.

a decent walk to school is a great way to build physical activity into their day too.

I have just looked on Google Maps and my daughter's walk is 2.3 miles each way. It takes her just under 40 min on the way there, less on the way back (there's a big hill!). She's been doing it for six years and it is fine, unless it's pouring with rain on the way home she walks rather than take the bus as that means a 15 minute walk in the wrong direction so still 30 min or so. Walking means no delays. It's so important to get the fresh air and exercise and she has ear buds.

With #3 I'd consider whether the journey is still going to be OK in winter after an after school club.
For me I'd go for #2.

is your area safe for an 11 year old to walk alone in the dark?

DD's school is 2 miles away, she walks it in about 30 minutes (she is a fast walker though) but cycles except for in winter, as its much quicker cycling. The commute is honestly not a problem at all even in winter (and it gets to -20 or even colder where I am) with a decent coat.

It won’t be dark tho. Not dark till 4pm even in mid Dec.

@mamnotmumsurely cycling two miles would take less than 15 mins? I used to cycle to work in 15 mins and I am not fast! It was too far to walk really, about 3.5 miles, tho I did run it now be then as a nice 5k ish.

I would do the walk and see how long. I’m saying 35 mins max.