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

Oh and I know of plenty of girls locally that have passed their 11+ and haven't got a place at either school as they are ridiculously over subscribed.

Your walk time from Dartford Station to the school and Bexleyheath station to Townley are completely inaccurate. You also make the assumption that as soon as you get to the station there will be a train waiting. You could be waiting 30 mins for a train! Send them to a local school with friends they can socialise with!

"3) St Michael's - about 1:15 hour"
DLR to Bank (9 stops, 17mins), Northern Line to West Finchley (13 stops, 31mins) + 10min walk"

Hmm. . . I thought this might be a bit ambitious. . . i.e. the minutes and total travelling time.

The following is an actual journey I took just 3 days ago on Thursday at 7.30a.m. on my way to the US Embassy near Vauxhall tube station.

1. Took Bus 221 literally a stone's throw from St. Michael's Catholic Grammar School at North Finchley headed towards Bounds Green tube station.

2. At Bounds Green tube station took the Piccadilly Line straight down to Green Park and changed for the Victoria Line headed towards Vauxhall.

3. Reached Vauxhall tube station almost exactly one hour later from start of journey at 8.29a.m.

4. Walked to the US Embassy (intentional for fresh air and exercise) from Vauxhall tube station along the side of the Thames River - 10 minutes.

Total journey time: 1hour 10mins.

Please note that except for the final leg, there wasn't any walking done. Both public transport modes, bus and tube, are regular straightforward runs, i.e. not much waiting and time-wasting. Also, North Finchley to Vauxhall is much nearer than to Isle of Dogs.

For information:
(a) Bus 221 starts at Turnpike Lane (Piccadilly Line) and finishes at Edgware - and of course, the opposite direction. North Finchley is one of the stops which is 2 minutes walk to St. Michael's.

(b) Bus 134 starts in central London, Tottenham Court Road/Warren Street and finishes at North Finchley, i.e. St. Michael's. But the route takes an hour! It runs 24 hrs throughout the day and night.

Hope this helps in your planning and decision.

Likewise, dartford station to dgsc is more than 20 minutes and is uphill.

She must be able to walk bloody fast if you think she can get from bexleyheath station to townley in 20 minutes!

You're looking at more like 40 minutes, and that's without factoring in having to negotiate the crazy zebra crossings in bexleyheath and potentially walking slower if she has lots of things to carry on a particular day.

South eastern trains to bexleyheath and dartford are far from reliable as well.

Bexley grammar test is harder to pass than Kent. Townley is the better school of the three.

Oh and it is not a 20 minute walk from Bexleyheath station to Townley Road. I’ve walked it. More like 30 to 40 minutes walking fast as an adult and Upton Rd (if you go that route to avoid the town centre) is not a nice hill.

You haven’t factored in delays and cancellations mcinesi, which are common on those routes. They can be daily or every other day. Late detentions will be therefore be regularly given in DGSG and TSG (I don’t have experience of St Michaels.) Also, after school booster sessions when she is older may also be out of the question. Yes, it is you and your DD’s decision but doesn’t mean advice is not helpful or well intentioned.

One plus for the trip to Finchley - it's against the rush hour so she will get a seat most of the way.

I think the trek to St Michael's is too much. If she's lucky, she may have company until Angel but that's still only half the story.
Don't forget you'll be doing it too for parent evenings, various meetings especially in year 7, family events.. Unlike (say) Henrietta Barnett it's not a school that expects children or parents to travel far, so isn't set up for it. HBS has its clubs at lunch mostly and finishes a bit early to allow longer traveling while still daylight.

@GHGN St Michael's is 128 intake now so not so tiny!

St Michael's is a great school but is a long way from the Isle of Dogs!! Most kids live within 5 miles of the school, though there are mini buses to Harrow and some kids travel by tube to Islington and Hackney.

Curriculum wise, St Michael's appeals to the academically minded: Latin, languages, sciences and maths prevail. It is only streamed for maths (y9 onwards) AFAIK. It isn't anywhere near as pushy these days: there is a lot of focus on pastoral care these days.

Lewisham and Greenwich have at least direct routes straight to Bexleyheath though and takes about 30 minutes. Isle of Dogs would be many train and bus changes for her poor thing-at least an hours worth. Dartford would be more multiple changes and Barnet would be about an hour and a half travel. All not so bad going home from school but the early starts to secondary means she will be getting up very very early.
I know one or two children do it at Townley from your distance, out of about 1500 girls but they do struggle with punctuality and homework. Do consider the distances a little more.

Kids travel 1 to 1.5 hours to St Michael’s due to its reputation. Some people move home from hundreds miles away. A few extra minutes is neither here or there. However, if your DD is sporty then Dartford Girls might be best actually.

Do you have no good schools nearby? How will she socialise with her friends?

Townley and Sid and Chis are great
Sid and Chis is mixed , whilst Townley is all girls.
If your dd is sporty Sid and Chis is great. However, for academic excellence I would go for a Townley ( Bexley) or Dartford Grammar School For Girls( Kent)
Townley Grammar generally gets the best exam results in Bexley.

Why is chis & sid not on the list?

As you are looking at Bexley, I'd have thought you would give Chis & Sid a go. It's well regarded and I've known some successful youngsters who were there.

St Michael’s is tiny. They can’t even hold their sport day at school. Many weird traditions, very strict. However, I would send DD without a second thought. After that, it is a toss up between the other two. I don’t like Townley because it is the middle of Bexleyheath town centre. At the end of the school day, there are hundreds of kids from different schools around the area all go to town and to take the bus from there. It can be really rowdy and chaotic.