Think your school run is tough? – Spare a thought for this family

Mums Tips

Schooling

Published on Monday, 21 November 2016 11:38

Last Updated on 17 November 2016

lewisdarren

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Love it or loathe it, if you’re a parent there is no avoiding it. The school run is an essential part of the day and the average parent has now been found to spend nine weeks of their lives on the School Run. With winter well and truly upon us it seems parents are about to be handed a new set of problems to get their kids to school before that all important first bell.

Whilst London Mums have their problems such as traffic, broken scooters and forgotten Oyster cards (Thank God for you contactless). It seems we should spare a thought for other parents across the UK whose school runs are a little more, shall we say – extreme.

For example, in the county of Sutherland, Northern Scotland, and in Ceredigion, Wales, one in 10 parents regularly have to stop to allow sheep and cattle past – almost twice as often than any other rural location. Hazards such as flooding are 18 per cent more common in areas such as the Scottish Highlands and Welsh Valleys when compared to the national average.

The research of 2,000 UK parents who do a daily school run – along with the nationwide search for the most severe school run – was commissioned by ŠKODA. It found that over a third of mums and dads said dropping the kids off at school is the most stressful part of their day, with the most common problem being a build-up of traffic.

However the school-run faced by the Jones family from Pontrhydfendigaid, Wales, is believed to be the UK’s most extreme. The family’s unpredictable journey can take anywhere from 25 minutes to two hours to complete – depending on weather conditions.

Dad, William Jones, is regularly found with his chainsaw clearing away felled trees that block the family’s path to school – while last year a broken-down lorry blocked roads for TWO DAYS.

Mum, Sarah Jones, said: “Every day when we wake up we don’t know what we’re going to come up against on our school run, which is part of the fun of living up here really. We could take our horse Willow, but a 4×4 makes things so much easier.”

Check out the Joneses ‘extreme school run’ below and let us know what you find stressful about the school run.