Townley (Bexley) v Dartford Grammar for Girls (Kent) v St Michael's Catholic Grammar (Barnet)

When is the deadline to apply op? I’d love to know what you decide( purely bring nosey!).

Happy to help. If you work at the Wharf, then East Greenwich is good and a few less ££ for housing. For your other children just be aware that they'd need to be in the 'top 180' to receive a Bexley Grammar school otherwise it goes on distance of they get a 'normal' pass. Newstead and St Olaves also accessible from East Greenwich/Blackheath via school buses from either Lewes coaches or the Bromley mini bus company.

OP - I'm sure you have aspirations for your child and incredibly proud of her for her achievements. We all want the best for our children.

My daughter has passed her Kent 11+ with a great score, and for her to get to Dartford Girls Grammar is an 8 minute walk. She could fall out of bed at 8 o'clock and still make it. She came out of the open morning and declared it 'unwelcoming' and doesn't want to go there. We're respecting her decision and luckily have other fantastic options.

Is the commute worth it? These schools get great results, but I often wonder whether that's because they only take the most academically gifted. Are they all they're cracked up to be?

Are there other options locally? Clever kids thrive anywhere. Can you move, so she only has to do one of these commutes for a short while?

Please have a think about your own journey to work and how it affects you. I've done the hill from Dartford train station to DGGS. It's not easy, and the walk from Bexleyheath train station to Townley is a long way for an 11-year-old after a long tiring day.

All good wishes, whatever your decision. I've found that as a parent, I've been score-blinded, and wanted to push my child into the 'best' school, but it has to be what's 'best' for them.

I hope that helps, maybe not, but good luck.

DGGS is a very good school, but I wouldn't particularly like my 11yo DD walking alone through Dartford to the station. Even more so when it's dark.

I'm feeling quite sad for your DD. Whichever of the 3 schools you choose, she's going to have a punishing commute (factor in heavy bags/bad weather), extremely long days, and grammars are renowned for their tough homework schedules. She certainly won't be getting much down time that's for sure!

It's much easier to get to Dartford from the Maze Hill area of East Greenwich as then you have the Dartford line but can also whizz up in the car to the Blackheath line to Dartford (10 mins in the car in the morning) if there is a problem. Plenty of children do this journey. There is quite a long uphill walk once you reach Dartford as I'm sure you know.

I think the Isle of Dogs is doable but will realistically take 1 hr 15 minutes or longer door to door. I would consider moving to Greenwich or the Maze Hill area if this is the option you go for. It's very tiring at secondary school and as others have said, there are after school clubs, homework, friendships to consider.

OP you're quite right - apologies, have reported my posts and asked for them to be removed. have you tried the elevenplus forum to see if anyone has personal experience there?

OP, you can search for train performance data at recenttraintimes.co.uk. Since the beginning of September the 0727 Greenwich to Dartford has arrived within 5 mins of schedule (i.e. by 0802) on 92% of journeys; it has been cancelled once and very late twice. Bear in mind though that trains usually have more delays in late autumn and winter.

I would want to know what the school's attitude is to lateness because of train problems. People have posted on other threads that Newstead Wood is understanding about this, but many schools would not be. For me, it would tip the balance between the journey being just about doable or being completely unreasonable, if DD will get a detention every time the trains make her late, or if she has to leave home half an hour earlier to avoid that risk.

Just answering the point about Barnet schools not being for local kids. There is a lot of truth in that but the tide is turning..

St Michael's has introduced another class this year - every single extra place has priority for girls with pupil premium. The current parents are hugely in favour and this will lower the preparation bar for these girls who can't afford it, but will no doubt flourish while there.
Henrietta Barnett has added priority for local girls from this year. It'll be interesting to see how many they grant as it was for 2nd round only. The 1st round is the hard one to get through. It seems like a nod to the locals but we will see.
Dame Alice Owen's has defined postcodes across Barnet, Enfield and Herts.
Latymer restrict the catchment to certain postcodes too. (Enfield so Barnet benefit from this).

There are dozens of non selective schools that do amazingly well in the Borough - Compton, Archer, JCOSS, Wren, QE Girls, etc. Places on catchment area or religious criteria are as highly sought as those of the academically selective schools.

But there are several admissions black holes across Barnet so DC get the school places that are left over, go to religious (mostly Jewish or CofE) schools or independent. I don't know what the answer is. Brighton moved to a blind lottery system and it wasn't popular.

Only QE Boys refuse to consider a catchment area/access to pupil premium students. But then again they ask 40 boys to leave after GCSE - a bonus to local schools happy to accept them - so they do seem to have their own way of doing things.

Yes - the service from Lewisham/Blackheath is more regular and faster which would make a massive difference.

There are regular problems on the North Kent lines via Dartford. I think the service from Dartford to Greenwich only runs about every half hour so if she misses one or its cancelled it could make a huge difference to the journey.

the ironic thing is that the person shouting the loudest about the fabulous state schools in Barnet declined to send their children there...

OP Greenwich to Dartford and walk is one hell of a journey for an 11 year old. Try it one morning in the rush hour and you'll see. Well done on your dd for passing all these exams but really the schools are all too far away IMO.

I wouldn't do that commute for a job. I live in Greenwich and would allow over an hour to get to Dartford, If she's starting at 8.30 that's a before seven start surely, from isle of dogs? Then getting home about 5 if no clubs? It's a long day and a long journey at her age. I understand wanting the school but practically that sounds very tough. As someone who had a long commute as a kid, I didn't always feel safe, especially in winter with dark evenings. Maybe try the route at the times she would need to do it and see how it feels?

Many of Barnet's state-funded schools don't really serve the people of Barnet, as amply demonstrated by this thread and umpteen others on these boards over the years. A number of these schools are selective, either by examination (which requires the funds to tutor, in most cases), by religious observance or socially by the age-old method of committing admissions fraud paying a premium for a house in the right area. Barnet is by no means unique in this, but it does have a preponderance of such schools, more so than neighbouring boroughs.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if these undoubtedly excellent schools could serve their actual communities and be realistic options for ordinary local families?

Anyway all this is something of a tangent. It sounds to me - as to many other respondents on here - like the OP needs to move house if she is so determined that her daughter attends one of her chosen schools.