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Secondary education

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

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Original poster

School Journey Time

34 replies

InTune · 01/05/2010 16:24

I am new to this forum and this is my first post.

My DD starts yr7 in September and I am now looking at travelling time. She will be doing about an hour 15mins to school.

Would you say this is too much??

would like to know what would be a reasonable travel time and what sort of journey times other yr7s will be doing come September.

OP posts:

deaddei · 01/05/2010 16:30

Personally I think that's too much-is it on public transport?
DD luckily can walk to school in 10 mins, and ds will have a 15 minute busride/30 min walk in September.
If your dd wants to do after school clubs, that is a late time home in the winter.
But presumably you knew that when you chose the school? (or maybe that's your allocated school, not being judgy )

Falseacacia · 01/05/2010 16:36

I think it is a long journey. My daughter does a similar one she is in year 9 - occasionally it is down to an hour and sometimes more if the transport is bad. We did know before we applied to the school. We were desperate to avoid the local comp where she would have been badly bullied due to a minor but visible disability. She is happy at her school and it is a good one. I do a similar commute to work and so does DH and we both hate it. Moving is out of the question as we live in social housing. I do feel guilty but she seems to cope well with it. As well as the journey she only sees her school friends occasionally out of school but she does have other friends.

RatherBeOnThePiste · 01/05/2010 16:50

That is an awful lot over the week, but something I am sure you considered when applying to this school?

My DS will be joining DD at secondary in September and will do 5 mins on the train 15 minutes walking each way.

violetqueen · 01/05/2010 17:16

I think a lot depends on nature of journey .
My DC does 60 mins each way ,but is doeable because leaves early ( school start 8.25am ) and this plus where we live on bus route means he can be sure of getting a seat .
Also just the one bus ,no changes .
Could you reduce journey at all by taking her some of the way ?

deaddei · 01/05/2010 17:18

Don't get sucked into taking them to seconadary school if you can help it ! (words of a dear friend who seems to do it every morning)

bruffin · 01/05/2010 18:21

DC's take an hour or more door to door but most of that is walking to and from station.

It's really not a problem, they often leave at the same time as children in our road who go to the local schools and are home by 4.30 very latest if they have stopped in the park.

mumeeee · 01/05/2010 23:47

Yes an hour and 15 minutes is to long for a journey to school. What if she wants to stay after school for some club or sports activity

edam · 01/05/2010 23:49

It is a long journey. I did it (varied between an hour and 90 minutes) and it was knackering. Also a pig when I was older and wanted to go out with my mates in the evening - only got the chance when I stayed over at someone's house.

Worth it, though, educationally. But far from easy.

Needmoresleep · 02/05/2010 09:20

What can matter is:

how reliable is the journey. More than two mode of public transport is probably too many.

how safe is the journey. we ruled out one school because it involved changing transport in a dodgy bit of South London, something even I would not have been happy doing.

whether you can get a seat. In London commuting out and the chance to sit and do some homework, is much better than being packed in link a sardine.

whether any friends do the same journey. This helps a lot, and friendship groups are formed on the bus. Or whether there is scope for parents to share the journey.

How frequent is the service. Some of my DD's friends boast of a great bus. But it only runs once every half hour, and then not very reliably, which is a strong disincentive to take part in matches and other after school activities. The same applies to school buses.

Cost. Trains can be expensive, as are school buses for some indies.

DD has a 30-40 min journey, which she is fine with.

hocuspontas · 02/05/2010 09:42

Is she travelling for that amount of time? If so, then that is quite a lot. But if that is door-to-door then probably ok. Dd1 and dd3 go to a school in the next town. 20/25 min walk to station, 5 min train ride, 15 min walk to school. Longer coming home as train times more awkward. I think an hour is reasonable altogether. Dd2 on the other hand lives 5 min walk from her school and constantly moans about walking!

bruffin · 02/05/2010 11:18

Agree with Needmoresleep, a group travelling together can make a lot of difference. While our dc never turn down a lift to the station, they rarely accept a lift all the way as they like sitting on the train with the others.

The actual distance matters as well. Although the trip by public transport is over an hour,in the car it's only 15 minutes and they do get to see friends at weekend etc

BigTillyMint · 02/05/2010 13:31

We decided to go for one of the local schools to keep the travelling time as low as possible, but it's a bit late now for you to worry about that! Hopefully it's free public transport or a school bus?

I agree, group travelling is fun - I only spent about half an hour on the bus when I was at school, but really enjoyed the gossip on the bus

justagirlfromedgware · 02/05/2010 18:02

My DS is in Year 7 now. 45 minutes door-to-door is my personal maximum, especially in the winter months (see my earlier entries on crossing roads in the dark). However, to my mind the key is having other children to travel with from your neighbourhood. My own experience of crossing my home town for over an hour and on two buses was bad, as I was the only one from my locality who'd got into the 'clever kids' school. It was the worst of both worlds as I didn't fit in (no money) and couldn't invite friends back after school as I lived too far away. If your child has got others to travel with them, that would make all the difference in the world, along with the safety considerations already mentioned.

violetqueen · 02/05/2010 18:36

I think I slightly disagree with the travelling in a group ,not always a positive as this is when lots of bullying and mischief making can go on .

bruffin · 02/05/2010 20:44

we've been through they bullying and mischief making when DS was in year 7, however then it was a small group of just 4, now there is a much bigger group on the train, it works much better as they can sit with who they want and also the mischief makers don't get away with it.

LadyLapsang · 02/05/2010 23:11

If that is 75 mins each way then I think that's quite a long commute, especially if that's on a good day - no public transport problems or snow etc. However, if you don't have a choice (if the local schools are poor etc.) then there may not be much you can do. If you can make the journey shorter, school bus, car share etc. I would, especially when she is younger and in the run up to exams.

sunnydelight · 03/05/2010 08:13

That is a long journey. My kids (aged 7 to 16) leave the house at 7.50 to get the bus,and get home just before 4 after a 3/3.15pm finish but the bus journey itself is only 20/25 minutes so they get to school by 8.20 and can play or hang out with friends. If I have to do the journey for whatever reason it's a 20 minute drive.

How is it going to work with after school activities? What happens if your child gets stuck along the way? (if she has to change buses, trains whatever are you happy for her to wait for possibly a long time on a dark Winter's night at this location if the connections don't work out?).

Having said that though plenty of kids here are at the bus stop/train station as there's a strong culture of choosing the right school rather than the closest one. At least they're not standing in the freezing cold though!

RatherBeOnThePiste · 03/05/2010 08:35

I think the discussions about after school activities are very valid. DD in year 8 finishes twice a week at 6 because of sports clubs. Next year, once a week she will need to be in V early too. Our travelling time is straightforward but if she had to do 90mins or something that would make such things prohibitive.

bruffin · 03/05/2010 11:11

The only problem we find is if the DCs have something on in the evening ie parents evening, shows etc they don't have time to get home and back. Thankfully their school is attached to a leisure centre which has a cafe so they go there. Last week DCs had a theatre trip and had to be back for about 6. They were happy to go to the cafe but DD was invited to her friends that left her other friend by herself, so she got invited then DS managed to wangle himself a place on the trip so this mum ended up with a crowd of them round there for pizza.

beegood · 03/05/2010 22:28

My son has 15mins car, 35 mins train and 15 mins walk. he is in yr7 and although tiring it is the best school for him. if he has extra activities i drive over to pick up and I have met all his friends parents i know he is welcome at there houses if a problem arises.

pointydog · 03/05/2010 22:41

that seems a lot but there must be some reason why you have no other option

cat64 · 03/05/2010 23:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

ilovecanada · 06/05/2010 14:21

When I started secondary school, I had to get two busses, all in all it took me about 1 hr and 20 mins.

I wouldn't like DS to do that though. I did consider trying to get him into the city centre school but the 30 min bus ride put me off. He will spend around 10/15 mins getting to school now.

ajandjjmum · 06/05/2010 14:32

I travelled at least that far to secondary school, and it was a real pain - particularly as staying to any late activities meant three buses to get home - so I do feel I missed out on quite a lot.

So....when the 'perfect' school for my dc was 25 miles away, we made the decision that we would be happy to drive many additional miles, so that they could be really involved. In earlier years this involved an 11 miles drive to the school bus stop - they had to be there for 7.50 am - and because of the length of the school day, were collected at 6.30 pm at the same bus stop. Added many miles and travelling hours onto our lives - but I wouldn't change it for anything - the school was worth it.

Now DS drives, and he takes DD and himself into school in about 45 minutes.

And I have a lie-in!!! (not really )

Good luck.

TheFutureMrsClooney · 06/05/2010 20:54

My DD leaves the house at 7am, gets home at 5pm so probably 3 hours travelling a day.

She leaves school this year and neither she nor I can wait.

It's had a huge effect on her health and social life. She hasn't been able to do after school clubs because there's only one bus and she would have had to get two buses and a train to do the journey - manageable at 16 but not 11.

At the time we thought it would be worth it for the excellent education (it's a state grammar) but I regret the decision.

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