To think DD should get the rail replacement bus

Is there a social advantage she gets from attending in person eg seeing friends? She sounds like she’s doing well academically which would be one of my top concerns this close to exams.

I would be concerned she is missing out on chilling and exercising which could ultimately lead to burnout and dampen her results not to mention her mental health.

How much longer is the road expected to be closed? If there are some key events then perhaps she can just go in on those days but I would let her learn from home for the majority of the time if this disruption is not expected to drag on too much longer.

I am shocked that you expect your daughter to spend over 4 hours on a bus when she is able to do the work remotely. If she went on the vus she will miss some of the lecture as it is taking so long. Also it is not as easy to work on the bus. She might do less revision when she gets home as she will be exhausted from the longer journey.

So, the college is happy, your nearly adult DD is happy, but you're not happy because you just have a feeling like DD would be better off sitting on a bus for several hours a day than keeping fit and keeping up with her studies? Do you not like your DD or something?

I agree with others if she’s doing the work and not getting marked as absent I’d let her stay home. 5 hours a day on a bus sounds awful.

It's such a nuisance when the colleges won't just stream the lessons in these situations.

We were in a similar situation. I drove on occasion, she took the bus on occasions, and stayed with friends/a premier inn for a few nights. Very annoying though!

If there's likely to this issue at exam time I would be booking a room in advance at a Premier Inn or similar for her.
How many weeks do the exams take?
I would seriously be arranging something now ahead of time.

I wouldn't expect someone to spend 5 hours a day commuting when the work can be done from home and the college are happy with that compromise. What a huge waste of time it would be.

@WrongKindOfWaterOnTheTrack

Considering the circumstances, the college have recognised, are making allowances for the temporary difficulties students are facing and will not penalise wrt attendance, it seems highly unreasonable of you to insist she physically attends (given that you acknowledge your daughter is conscientious/hard working)

Alternatively, if she does, eventually, end up driving there, she may find a cheaper space near to college on someone's drive?

If she is keeping up her studies, doing well and happy I would leave her to it. She's showing you she can use autonomy well.

If she's not socialising at all and thar concerns you, maybe raise that separately. Weekends could be used.

Also how long is the travel disruption set to last?

F2F isn’t always better.

Travelling 40 miles to 6th form is wild.

Absolutely. Someone I manage works in Hastings and commutes into Westminster. 2hrs 15 door to door each way. So that's 4 and a half hours commuting a day. They do that 3 days a week.

When the trains aren't running or the lines are closed it's nearly 3 and a half hours on the bus, so naturally they WFH. It's not efficient for people to be spending hours on a bus which is a very different type of transportation to a train.

I'm pretty shocked anyone expects their child to spend over four hours on a bus a day - that is the last thing that's going to help them study. She must be exhausted.

I voted YABU because one of my DC started Uni in 2020 during Covid lockdowns. She did not attend a single lecture in person between September and January. They were all done remotely. Since Covid most Unis continue to offer remote access to students with accessibility issues- including flooding making a reasonable commute impossible. Going in person by a rail replacement bus will make it more likely your daughter will miss some of the lecture, and have to access it remotely anyway. Since she can’t work on the bus, her grades will suffer as your insistance is old fashioned by thinking that the only way to learn is to sit in a chair in a lecture hall with a pad of paper and a pen listening to a professor and copying notes from a black board.

What is your issue then? If she is doing the work and it’s not affecting attendance why are you at all bothered? Surely she can make her own choice here without any negative impact on her overall achievements.

rail replacement buses are very slow ime

Having read more info I think i change my vote. She sounds sensible and motivated

Also if she can't work on the bus like she does for the normal train commute, not only is her day getting ridiculously long with 5 hours commuting, she then has to start homework/studying when she gets in.

I do think face to face teaching is better than remote usually. But face to face teaching after having had a horrible 2hrs 20 bus commute probably isn’t better overall than remote teaching with no commute at all, especially when there are quite a few of them needing remote teaching so it should be well organised, and when it’s only for a limited time.

It's a relatively small part of her overall time on the course though. A few weeks of disruption then its back to face to face. Think of this time within the context of the whole course, its only a few lessons out of hundreds that she will have had.

Why is it better than remote?

It all depends how inefficient a use of time it is. If it took about the same time then probably she should go in. But potentially double the commute time on an already long commute, when she’s able to study more efficiently from home and likely a lot less tiring for her, and presumably it won’t go on for ever? I think it’s reasonable to say two hours each way is impractical and so inefficient as to be actively harmful.

(I mean I’m sure she’d survive, but the extra length on her day when she’s already working hard in y13, is probably worse than the inefficiencies induced by remotely attending lessons. Quite a few of them are working remotely so the poor teachers have to make it work, it’s not just her asking for special privileges).

You could say that you expect her to put in some extra revision time to compensate for the learning likely not being quite as effective as f2f. I wouldn’t worry about the social side - it’s only a short time overall, though I’m sure it feels like far longer going through it.

If the work us being done and the college is happy with her attendance what do you see as the problem? If the bus takes much longer tha the train to do the journey, she is likelyto be missing some of the teaching if she travels on the bus, coupled with being unable to workout the bus. I think DD is being reasonable, which means that yabu, I'm afraid.

Try living in the bit of Cornwall with no trains. A friend's child, age 16, has a commute, ferry and bus journey of two hours every day. There is no other college that provides these courses.

What do you want her to go in for, though? I’m genuinely not clear. Her work is getting done, school’s fine with it and so is she. So, what’s the issue from your perspective?