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Original poster

Travelling to school

37 replies

morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 14:17

Have found the perfect school but not sure about travel, how much if any to allow dd to do by herself and how much accompanied.
Would appreciate your views.

The school is situated in Manchester v. close to railway station.
School starts at 8am so dd will need to be on the train at 7.00 am.
It is a 10 min walk to station from our house, through the town centre.
She will be 11.8 when she starts. The train takes aprox 45 mins and has about 9 stops, if this makes any difference.
Obviously the return journey is the same and will usually return at station about 6pm

Would you allow the entire journey yourself, none of it, or some of it.

Tia of your replies.

OP posts:
AtiaoftheJulii · 30/09/2014 17:19

It sounds similar-ish to my daughters' journey and they are fine :) I might walk her to and from the local station if it was dark, but I wouldn't drive half a mile to give her a lift! (Wouldn't be worth it here, the station is not at all easy to get to by car.) Would she get a seat on the train?

crazymum53 · 30/09/2014 16:46

dds secondary school (different city) is a few minutes walk away from the main railway station and a good number of children travel in by train. So the chances are there would be other children she could walk to school with at the other end of the journey. If possible you could try a trial journey with her before she starts to see what it's like.
The school provides information about season tickets etc.
If it's dark in the early morning/evening, I would probably offer her a lift to/from the local station. Would be perfectly OK with an 11 year old dd walking home when it's light though.

Original poster
morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 16:41

Missunreasonable

Not official yet, but has been taught by a couple of teachers there and asked to audition several times, but we thought she was too young before.
She lives for music and has never wanted or been interested in anything else.
Many thanks, will fill in the forms now Grin
I think it can cloud judgement when it has been such a long process and part of your life for so long.
I suppose its similar to what grammar school and ss parents go through.

OP posts:
Missunreasonable · 30/09/2014 16:27

Congrats to your dd BTW on getting an offer at such a great school.

Missunreasonable · 30/09/2014 16:26

20 miles isn't that far. I presume it takes so long on the train because you are not on a main line into manchester and therefore the journey takes much longer.
Just drop her at the station each day and she will be fine. Lots of other children who attend that school may also get on the train and she will just buddy up with somebody.
She will not get the opportunity at any other school within a long radius so this is an opportunity not to be missed.

Original poster
morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 16:24

sorry x posted there.
Yes, it is the school you mean Missunreasonable
I haven't named it as have posted a fair bit about dd and don't want it showing up on searches iykwim.

OP posts:
Original poster
morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 16:22

Missunreasonable

It is a specialist school that dd has always wanted to attend and has been working up to audition for a few years now.
We have every intention of moving but obviously it won't happen over night and were thinking maybe 2 years time.
We are about 20 miles away I believe.
Apart from leaving it until we move, I'm not sure what to do tbh.

OP posts:
WhatAHooHa · 30/09/2014 16:21

The train journey I would be fine with, the walking to and from the station, alone and in the dark I wouldn't be so keen on at that age. If you can drop her at the station I think it would work fine.

Missunreasonable · 30/09/2014 16:17

If it is the school that I am thinking of (near to the station) then it is a unique school and might be worth the long journey but I would probably drop her at the station each day due to the very early start.

Missunreasonable · 30/09/2014 16:06

I know Manchester quite well and a train journey which is going to take 45 minutes must be quite a fair distance out from Manchester. I used to get the train from 12 miles away to the centre of Manchester and it would take around 15 minutes.
Are there no suitable schools nearer to home?

Original poster
morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 16:04

titchy

Thank you.
The thought of those early winter mornings made me think too. In the winter she would hardly see any day light which isn't good.

The alternative is boarding and I don't want her to board this young.
I can't see dh being able to help out much neither although he could be transport in an emergency.

OP posts:
titchy · 30/09/2014 15:25

The journey itself sounds fine as long as the walk through town to the station is ok.

But she'd hAve to leave home at 6.40 every morning which sounds hideous for a teenager tbh. She'd be travelling in the dark all winter.