School Journey Time

[InTune]

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.

[maggotts]

Our nearest bus stop is a 10 minute drive away!

School is 45 minute drive from home which is done as a lift share so I only have to do it once a week. Home again would obviously be 45 mins in car but DD likes to go on bus for social reasons (big group together) which is 1 hour 15 mins (and then 10 mins from bus stop). Clubs mostly at lunchtime but some after school fixtures etc so collect from them. DH works in same town so not too inconvenient.

Closest school would be about 30 mins door to door by school bus or 15 mins by car (bus goes round the houses).

Nowehere is very close in the sticks but both DDs adamant they would rather live here and do the travel than live in town.

[upahill]

Op That is the same amount of time that my DS does on the school bus. It would take less than 10 mins for me to drive it may be 12mins during rush hour and i could do it on my way to work some mornings BUT my DS likes being with his mates and doing the school bus.

(Incedentally it takes him about the same amount of time to walk home if he has missed his bus after school!)

[DecorHate]

If it is a school where a lot of pupils commute a long way, the school may run clubs and activities at lunchtime rather than after school. That is what happens at my dd's school. I would think that quite a few travel around an hour door to door. I guess the parents think it is worth it - I personally don't think it is but then again I don't know what their local schools are like!

[Mimiso]

It is rather long, but my DS will be doing the same although the difference will be that I will be doing the school run with him as his school is near my work. I drive to work so the 60 - 70 minute commute will be in the car. I specifically chose that school for that reason as didnt want DS alone at home after school for about 2 hours before I got home. On one hand I feel sorry for him as he will be the only one from our neck of the woods, however his school is not a school which is a catchment school as most of the children there travel from far anyway. So he will not feel as if he cannot meet up with his friends as they will all be heading home after school anyway. About 90% of the school commutes.

I will be able to drop him off each morning and either pick him up when he finishes school or he can get on the bus (10 minute ride) to my work and then we will go home together.

As other posters have suggested, maybe you could alleviate the time by dropping her off half way etc

[Boobaddum]

and there's me thinking a 10 minute bus journey with very short walk each end was too long for DD!

[IHeartKittensAndWine]

I did a journey of this sort of length, but it was London Zone 2 to Zone 6 so always had a seat, and lots of students did my journey or one of a similar length, which helped. Never used the journey for written homework, but learning french verbs, lots of extra reading, and from that POV wasn't wasted time. Never regretted it for a second, but I would say that biiig difference depending on whether you are going with/against flow of commuters (into London would've been ghastly)and family does need to be supportive (my parents never asked me to do chores during the week for instance).

[sandripples]

Seems far too long to me. I had about 45 mins myself and have always had a commute to work ever since but its dead time out of a life which is for living! Personally I wouldn't want my DCs to travel anything like as long as they haven't. Sorry if you are in a difficult situation.

[foreverastudent]

I used to travel an almost 3 hour round trip to school, I left at half 7/twenty to 8 and got back at 5.15/30. That was if the trains were on time, though. My train home was frequently late as it was the last leg of a 10/12 hour cross country journey.
It didn't stop me from doing after school clubs. I stayed late for these 2-4 nights a week, getting back between 6 and 8pm.
I liked the train because there was a big group of us and I made my best friend in high school on these trips.
However I did feel segregated from the rest of my year group. I never got to go to friends' houses or parties. Personally I wouldn't put my own kids through it, I'd either change school or move house.

[TheFutureMrsClooney]

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.

[ajandjjmum]

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.

[ilovecanada]

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.

[pointydog]

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

[beegood]

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.

[bruffin]

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.

[RatherBeOnThePiste]

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.

[sunnydelight]

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!

[LadyLapsang]

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.

[bruffin]

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.

[violetqueen]

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 .

[justagirlfromedgware]

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.

[BigTillyMint]

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

[bruffin]

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

[hocuspontas]

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!