Colchester schools from Suffolk

[cheekyradish]

Just wondering how children attend schools in Colchester if they live in West Suffolk? I am wondering whether it's worth considering the grammar schools in Colchester as an option. I don't wish to turn this into a debate into pro/anti selective education. I'm just seeking advice as to whether it is potentially doable.

[ByTheSea]

My DD is at the Colchester grammar and quite a few of her classmates commute from Suffolk.

[justicewomen]

It depends where you are in West Suffolk; and the practicalities of getting to that part of Colchester in time for school, day in-day out.

We live in East Suffolk and my son turned down a place at CRGS due to the complexities of the journey (and his getting very travel sick so unable to use the long journey time for study).

Given his full timetable of school work, and lots of extra curricula activities, he made the right choice

[cheekyradish]

We live in BSE. Is there a school bus/parent organised bus then?

[cheekyradish]

I'm aware of children travelling to schools in Cambridge (via the train) and schools in Ipswich (via direct school buses) but I have no idea whether it's even viable to access the schools in Colchester hence this query. If it means being driven by their parents, I guess we have to take that into consideration.

[Essexmum69]

I have children at both Colchester grammar schools and there are quite a few children from Suffolk but most live either close to the Ipswich Colchester train line and thus train into north station or there is a couple of buses from sudbury that wind through several of the villages before ending up at Colchester County high School. However it is a very long day for them and the bus option is a "school special" so doesnt allow for after school activities. This doesn't seem too much of a problem at CCHSG but is a problem in later years if you are looking for boys, as CRGS has several twilight options at GCSE and A level, plus requirements to attend certain afterschool clubs dependant on the options taken. So if you have a sporty and/or musical boy I would say no unless you are prepared to have them on public transport or are available to collect at 5pm. Not aware of anyone coming from as far as BSE.
A relative of mine trains to a Cambridge uni every day along with lots of children going to Cambridge schools from West suffolk.

[weserwoirwabbit]

We have a child at one of the Colchester grammar schools and we live within a 10 mile radius. Would I do that trip twice a day as an adult? The answer is a resounding no, whether I took the A14/A12 route or the back roads via Sudbury. I definitely wouldn't want a young person to do it as they'd have very little time to fit in after-school activities of any sort. No-one in our DC's class comes from BSE - one lived in London but has since moved considerably closer as the travel was a killer.

Why not try the journey a couple of times in bad weather during rush-hour and then it may help you to make that decision?

[cheekyradish]

Thanks for all those who have replied. We are just exploring all the options available for the future and yes, impractical travel would be off putting unless we lived closer. DC is currently YR4 so we're starting to think about potential secondary options now. We moved here 2 yrs ago for DH's job and to be honest, we didn't really consider the secondary school options back then - we were just happy to get a primary school place mid year.

[pickledsiblings]

I would say BSE to Colchester is a no-no, it's just not doable. Even if you drove there it would be 1hr minimum but traffic can awful and add a good 30mins on to that. I can recommend Ipswich school and as you already know there is a parent run bus (from Tesco).

[cheekyradish]

Yes, I think that's our conclusion - thanks for all the responses, it's been useful to be able to discount this from a pure practical perspective.