What these distances don't tell you is which schools will have bulge classes next year as this makes a huge difference to the number of places available and the catchment areas for each school. In fact I don't think Lewisham have published the figures for all the bulge classes from September 2013, only some of these have been included, not the ones added in a hurry in July.

In reality Lewisham will try very hard to place children in one of their local schools. We are very lucky in Forest Hill that we have a lot of good/outstanding primary schools to choose from, but their are still areas which remain just beyond the catchment areas for non-faith-based schools and end up having to travel quite far. I would love to see a map for the average distances children have to travel to school based not on each school, but on each street where this children live, this would give a better indication as to where there are a lack of local school places (assuming that most people want to send their child to a local school).

2m door-to-door distance means that the distance as the crow flies will be much less. For me the nearest primary school as the crow flies is very close, unfortunately it is a long walk down and up the hill to reach the school, unless you send your children via catapult.