Are Sutton/ Bexley Grammars 'do-able' from SE26?

Way too far! It's unfair to put that on a child. One missed connection and he could be catastrophically late and the school will not be remotely sympathetic if it keeps happening - which it will. Plus it will be very difficult for him to bond with his schoolmates if he cannot realisitically do things outside school hours with them due to travel constraints. Unfair all round.

Too far! We live 4 miles from our kids' school, on a direct bus route, and that seems too far to me at times! Apart from the issue of hauling heavy school bags, games kits, musical instruments etc backwards and forwards, it would make socialising with school friends really difficult.

My kids have got a few friends who live as far away as you do from the schools you are considering. However, they either get lifts every day or they live on a direct bus/train route.

No school, however fantastic, is worth that kind of commute IMO - how would your ds cope with homework, extra-curricular stuff/outside school clubs etc if he was having to deal with 3 hours of each day travelling? Not to mention the fact that his friends would come from all over the catchment area which could make socialising tricky

If I were you I'd either move if I thought my ds would definitely thrive in a grammar setting, look at the independent options and have a really good look at your local achools

DS has just started at one of the Sutton grammar schools. So far we have met boys who come from as diverse places as Battersea, Walton on Thames and Hampton Court.

That said, I would seriously consider the length of the journey (which you obviously are!) My DS has what should be a relatively easy commute (10 mins in car to bus stop and then half hour on a direct bus). In the first week of school we have had the bus not turn up twice, we've had accidents in town centres causing buses to be on diversion and he's been late once and almost late twice.

Although I know things will settle down, I do wonder whether getting up at the crack of dawn and potentially having stress filled travel to school every morning is worth it? My DS could have gone to a perfectly decent comp ten minutes walk away but we decided the school would justify the travel. I really hope that that proves right in time, but I must say that I do envy the local children their lovely short journeys to school.

An hour and a half each way seems a very long time to me. All you then need is bad traffic or a missed connection and you may well then be looking at a two hour journey