Distance of home to school

[Dingaling]

Hi all

I'm new to this forum, and apologise in advance if this question has been asked to death, but I've tried looking but can't seem to find a post that answers my question

I am relocating to Singapore in December with my husband and two sons and we are currently trying to decide where to live and where to send the children to school. We currently live in the UK and the children walk to school, although they are lucky in being able to do so and many (including myself many years ago) have long-ish bus journeys. I was therefore wondering how important is it to live close to a school or could we, for example, live in D15 and send them to school in D10? Are school bus routes varied across the city or are they limited to close proximity to the school?

Both myself and my husband will be working full time so we will hopefully find a nanny for the children (although they are 9 and 12 so independent with supervision!) but there is moe logic in my thinking in that the longer they spend on a school bus the less time they will have with the nanny waiting for myself and my husband to come home (yes bad mother alert but I had a 1hr journey each way to school as a kid and now don't think twice of commuting unlike some of my friends who walked to their school!)

Thanks in advance

[katbh]

Just something to be aware of ..... Singaporeans are known for many things, hard work, diligence .... but one thing they are definitely not known for .... good driving!

[the lynx]

I thought the district number system is long gone already? I find it hard that it is being used again.

Anyway if Google serves me right, D10 will put you around Holland and Tanglin area while D15 puts you at Katong and Siglap area. So here's my take about driving and commuting (I drove here for my first 2 years in Singapore and changed to public transport after that):

Travelling through the CBD area between these two points, whether on private vehicle or public bus, is a nightmare during peak hours. MRT helps a lot as it is not affected by road traffic.

If the school provide bus services to pick your children up to and fro, it should easier but you will have to check with individual schools for more info. But if you intend to have them to take public transport themselves, remember what I have mentioned above.

[katbh]

We lived in D15 (and yes the district system is very much still the way to classify areas) when my daughter went to school in Orchard. She got public bus in every day with no problems. She could have got school bus, and did so for some time until she was 10 years old, but after that she went on public bus straight from our house in D15 to almost outside the door of her school in orchard area. I was always concerned about the school bus drivers - not always the best drivers and the bus aunties had little control over the unruly children.

[nutnut]

public bus may be easier in this instance, school bus will depend on the route it takes, some kids will be first picked up and last dropped off which could mean 2-3 hours a day on a coach.... This is obviously not ideal, and it doesn't always matter where the school is in relation to your home, check with the school first.

[Hannieroo]

The buses are island wide. I live 4km away and they proposed a 75 minute journey each way so I would find the school and then ask for their routes and then figure out my triangle. In rush hour we are 20 minutes from school and work which suits us.

[Mi Amigo]

+1 for checking with the school for the actual bus routes relevant to the areas you are interested in. School bus travel time does not always relate to distance in a linear way, due to the impact of pick-up / drop-off order. E.g. when we moved a considerable distance further away from the school some years ago, our children's travel time was only slightly longer than before, as on the new route they were the last to be picked up and the first to be dropped off, compared to our previous location where (almost) the reverse was the case.