school journey fron ickenham /hillingdon to tiffin boys

[asi2000]

hi
my son just got admission in tiffin boys and like to know any body from hillingdon goes to tiffin boys as i am looking for options without moving to surry.
thanks

[TheRoadLessTravelled]

Surely It's not commutable from Ickenham.

Why did you apply if you didn't want to move house?

The slough consortium and bucks grammars are commutable from Ickenham.

[singersgirl]

It's miles away and will be a miserable journey twice a day for 7 years.

[Pooka]

You're looking at 1.5 hours on public transport or 45mins potentially by car.

[muttonjeffmum]

To get to Kingston by public transport - train/bus to Uxbridge, bus to Heathrow, bus to Kingston. Or tube into town and overground train out to Kingston. Either way, it will take a couple of hours. Even driving is a nightmare first thing in the morning - that could take hour maybe hour and half.
What's wrong with the schools in Hillingdon and Ickenham? There are some excellent comprehensives achieving outstanding results.
Or, as TheRoadLessTravelled, the grammars in Slough have coaches picking up from Hillingdon.

[AmazingDisgrace]

I would not inflict that journey on your son. Either move or hope you can get him into a nearer school. Quite honestly, putting Tiffin as your first preference without having worked all this out beforehand is a bit ridiculous

[AmazingDisgrace]

Thinking about it...Your son sat the entrance test therefore you knew how far it was. What is wrong with the Slough or Bucks grammars?

[asi2000]

thanx every one but the thing is i heard there are few mini bus service runs from hillingdon /ruislip area which take kids to tiffin boys and tiffin girls and talking abt slough n bucks ,the school which he wanted are either not taking children from our area or he is on waiting list and i like tiffin boys i like to see how it goes for first six months then decide abt moving.if i get car share or mini bus service which runs from our area thats why i am looking for the parents who send their kids to these school n i know there are lots of them.....

[pinkdelight]

Where did you hear about the minibus? Because that's who to ask about it. It sounds unlikely I have to say, but perhaps it's a private arrangement. Hope you find out about it because the trek will be exhausting otherwise. I'd seriously consider moving sooner.

[HarrietVaneAgain]

As a Kingston resident very depressed by this. Congratulations to your son but my kids don't even have a secondary school to go to because of the crazy admissions / catcent area policies.

[offblackeggshell]

You could get the tube to Richmond, then train to Kingston. But echoing what Harriet said, this is madness. Will any benefit of going to Tiffin not be out weighed by a hideous commute?

[Quinteszilla]

Op, this is pretentious madness, you realize this? No good will come out of putting your child through this commute for the sake of going to a good grammar, because you dont fancy living in Surrey.

[AmazingDisgrace]

Have you thought how this would impact your son? It would affect his ability to take part in out of school activities, if he made one of the sports teams they have to practice or have matches on a Saturday morning. The Tiffin sports ground is even further away near Molesey.
Please rethink, this is really an awful journey and it doesn't sound like you've thought about it until now.
Did you go to the open evening? Every year the HT pleads for parents not to consider the school if they live more than an hour away by public transport. There is a good reason for that.

What do you like so much about Tiffin that it is worth your son having to make this journey?

[ladymuck]

I'm afraid I'm also a "me too" on the commute front - don't do it. It is not worth it and your ds's education will suffer as he will not be up for that length of commute.

But if you are determined, then your best bet is to turn up to each of the schools (ie boys and girls) at the end of the school day which is when the minibuses will be there, and then you can talk to the drivers and get the details. I suspect the school office will not be helpful.

[asi2000]

thanx again ladies
but actually i am looking for the parents who commute to these schools i been to school and know how far it is,,,,,,,,,as i said i am going to see for six months n then later think abt moving.
seriously any parents out there to respond at the moment i am getting advise how ridiculous move i have done lol
i know the journey i am looking private options for that....
many thanx ladies abt ur concerns

[asi2000]

thanx ladymuck u gave me nice information as i get meeting in near future i will go n check by my self too thanx again dear

[ladymuck]

"your best bet is to turn up to each of the schools (ie boys and girls) at the end of the school day which is when the minibuses will be there, and then you can talk to the drivers and get the details."

My suggestion is a serious one. This is how people get the details. Not from posting on online forums. I wouldn't give an anonymous person details of how my child gets to school without having at least met you. Would you?!

[ladymuck]

Sorry - cross posts.

[Quinteszilla]

If the school day starts at 8.15 (which is not unusual), what time will your child have to leave home, when google maps say that the journey between ickenham (ruislip station) and tiffin is between 1 hour and 22 minutes, to 1 hour and 40 minutes? When will he be home, if the school day finishes at 4pm? When is he going to do his home work?

How can you even think an 11 year old child should commute for more than 3 hours per day, and be out of the house for nearly 12 hours?

Why dont you try and do that journey yourself a couple of times? Can you do it every day for 6 months while you decide what to do?

He may have to leave the house at 6.45 in the morning, to get to school for 8.15. Two changes, and one of them at Clapham Junction.

[paulapantsdown]

You are crazy to be even considering this. Most working adults would not take on this commute, minibus or not. Even if there was a minibus door to door, it would still take best part of two hours each way.

Apart from grammar, there are at least 5 really really good schools within a 20 minute bus ride from you.

Poor kid!

[Pooka]

You're possibly looking at actually getting a train at 6.40am. Factor in getting to the station. And work back to include breakfast time and time to get showered/dressed. A ridiculously early start for a child. Planned engineering works at the moment too. Then a hard day at school. No time for clubs after. Straight back into the travel. Home 6pm ish. Then homework. Food. Any downtime?

Even if a minibus exists, or travelling by car, it's a bit miserable really.

We decided not to go to grammar in neighbouring area because would have involved about 55 min journey walk/bus/walk. Decided it was more important to have local friends and time to relax as well as do homework in the evenings.

I know someone who lives slap bang next to a well thought of superselective. She missed out on it by a point. Instead got into another well thought of grammar in neighbouring borough, but about 1 hr journey away. She will go there and I can guarantee that a girl from there will be crossing her path to get to the school she didn't get into. Seems nuts to me - the school near us has 13 mile catchment I think, so technically people could be coming on ridiculous journeys to get there. Does the well thought of superselective really offer so much extra value as to justify the morning and afternoon trek? I'm not sure it does, myself.

[Quinteszilla]

My son is now in year 7 at a local independent school. He leaves the house at 7.45, walks 20 minutes to school, to be there in time for an 8.15 start.

School finishes at 4, and he is home for 4.30, if he has no clubs or games after. He has clubs twice a week, and then he can leave school at 5.30, so he is home for 6 pm. Even without the nightmare journey you plan for your son, he is tired. It is a long day at school, with many new subjects, and complicated homework which is very different to the type of homework he had in primary.

I think you should focus your efforts on looking into moving nearer the school instead of searching for information about transport, if you are serious about wanting Tiffin for your son.

You dont want to ruin your childs educational experience and his zest for learning by making him put up with this journey.


Incidentally we turned down a good (Catholic) school not far from you, due to distance.

[paulapantsdown]

Quint - if it was Douey Martyrs you turned down then you made the right choice, I've been hearing bad things about that school lately.

[muttonjeffmum]

Paulapantsdown - my son actually goes to Douay Martyrs and is in year 11. He is doing really well and their pastoral care is far better than the other schools in the area. I've actually got another child in a different secondary school and from a caring point of view, wish that we had sent her to Douay. I don't bother looking at league tables and scores etc but apparently Douay is doing better than Vyners.