Public bus to secondary

I mean, that is part of the deal with deciding to send your child to a school that isn't your local school.
It is one of several factors you take into account.

As per the first reply, you practice with her over the Summer.
However scary it seems to you now, it becomes 'the norm' very quickly and in October you won't believe how much she has grown up.

Totally normal

Check what time school gates open, ours open 30 mins early and they can buy toast in the canteen so they have a place to stay warm and dry. Trial runs before she has to do it and talk about what ifs so she knows what to do, don't give her the answer immediately let her try to think for herself. The worst part will be winter and darkness depending on what time that bus gets to yours. I got 2 buses to school at 11 with a couple of other kids and spotting where you are in the dark when it rains, when the bus windows were fogged up was hard. Get her onto google maps on her phone so she can track her whereabouts, plus on google maps you can share your location. As a family we all share ours and my youngest is in sixth form.

See if she can buddy up with anyone local. Ask friends if they know anyone else who got into the grammar or try local facebook.

I'd send her on the bus, at senior you can go in early, but pick her up and encourage her to join all the after school clubs or use the time to do her homework in the library. Both are a great way to integrate with school life.

The other thing to think about though is after school activities and returning home after those , also them coming home after a busy day if they're exhausted (my child finds this tricky but she is ND) - or if your child could get there, could you pick up after picking the youngest up and have older child wait in the library/ canteen'/if thats available?

That's why I asked if the school was open earlier - one of the schools here does open early, the other opens at 8.27 on the dot.... so no there would be nowhere to wait.

Similarly - others assumed there would be lots going the same way, and it was worth clarifying as OP has said there won't be.

I know mine (at a grammar) does feel a bit sorry for those with the long commutes, however on the whole it is a fab school so is worth it so may well be for your child!

won’t she just spend some of the time going into the nearest macdonalds to get a drink with her friends?

does the grammer school have a bus route that’s closer. ? I know you said your not in the bus route but would it be easier to drop her on the school bus route. ? I say this as one of my friends did this. She would drive her to the closest bus stop and then she would get on and meet others. Find out the routes.

Depends on the area and if travel times are reliable - most of the kids in my son's class are late often because of a commute like this. We live near Reigate and if there are problems on the M25, it impacts a few towns / roads in the area.

All the kids round here take the train into town, from our village. Only one every half hour, and often cancelled as is it the rural line. Some of the kids then have to change trains in town to go onwards, often they don't match up, and when they are cancelled they have to run through town to make connections, a good 15 minute run, top to bottom. They also need to make sure they get off at their stops....... Looking at you DD! And need to wherewithall to get off at the next, cross the platform, and get the next train back again.

All good life learning experiences.

They do grow up quickly once they're at secondary

I used to regularly catch an afternoon bus used by schoolchildren going home. In September one could easily spot the Y7s - they were so small and new and shiny. By the end of the autumn term they were indistinguishable from all the others.

My ds is an August born, and he had a similar journey in year 7, although the walk at school end was 10 mins - except it was a 'school bus', but not specifically for his school, which is why the timings didn't tie in. The school it served finished at 3.30 and his at 3, so he nearly an hour to wait for the bus after school. It was fine, because kids tended to hang around at school playing football or table tennis and the school gates weren't closed until 4. He also arrived about half an hour before school started, but the gates were already open - I think this is fairly normal?

The area he had to walk through was very rough - not a town centre, but a fairly deprived 'high street' in an inner city suburb. He did used to complain about the drug addicts passed out on the pavement and the slightly edgy atmosphere, but nothing ever happened and there were plenty of kids walking the same way.

By the Feb of year 7 ds was desperate to switch from the school bus to public transport, as it was more flexible. He wasn't good at keeping time! From year 8 he took two buses/ a train and tram and managed that fine too, including a change in the city centre. They do grow up quickly once they're at secondary.

Some very good advice on here, practice a few times over the holidays, just before she starts in September, remember there will be lots of other students on the bus too. She may find someone to walk with.

Sounds fine, they become independent very quickly. I'd just want to be sure she can go straight into school when she arrives and again in the afternoon can hang out somewhere whether at school or in the town till bus comes.

45mins every day stood at busstop in all weather's will soon get tiring

Why would she spend 45 minutes every day standing at a bus stop? OP says it's a busy town centre. If she can't stay at school, there might be a public library. There will be shops and cafes. There might be a park, for when the weather's fine.

And by the time she has got out of school, stood chatting with her friends for a bit, and walked to the bus stop, it won't be 45 minutes anyway.

I have the same, but my kids are older now (year 9 and 11). They get the bus there and back every day now but at the start, I was taking them in and picking them up (I was self employed at the time so I was able to - if you can’t, you can’t and many kids do this around here so it’s fine).

When I started school I had 2-3 buses and a 40 minute journey which was quite the contrast to the less than 1 minute walk to my primary school! My mum and a friends took turns to take us to school on the bus for the first couple of days and then left us to it. Would something like that be an option?

I did this as a kid from 11 with a few other kids who got on the bus at different stops. We’d generally walk in 2s and 3s up to school then bump in to each other in the way back to the bus stop.

It’s easily do-able, and rough areas are generally rough later on. Mornings and afternoons are often fine.

Where we are school buses only serve the villages with no public transport at all. Everyone else is expected to take public transport. We only have one bus an hour but luckily it’s only a 30 minute journey. Some villages only have 4 buses a day.

Do you know she won't be the only one doing that journey? Depends where OP lives/why she's chosen that school and that could be an important piece of info. It's definitely easier if there's multiple people doing it.

And yes to it all being worse in the dark.

Do some practice runs in the holiday and she'll be fine. She won't be the only one doing that journey.

I agree that it really depends on how happy she is to wait around and whether there is somewhere to wait. My DC's school is open half an hour before official registration and they choose to arrive early. They'd be able to stay for an hour after school in the library. Is that possible at your school? Mine used to choose to stay after school in Y7 so the buses would be quieter. But when the evenings started getting darker that was a much less appealing prospect so it stopped. Getting home in the dark in November is not much fun.

Either there will be a whole bunch of other kids doing this and she'll have company, or you've opted to send her further than necessary. There's a world of difference between doing that sort of commute with a dozen others and doing it alone.

It's the waiting around that's the problem, not the distance in itself. Hopefully it's possible to stay in school in the library/homework club so she's not standing around quite so long. I'd be asking the school about that. 45 minutes presumably means that if she does an after-school club she misses that bus and may have a long wait for the next - really unfortunate timings.

Are the buses reliable? (My DD has given up on the one with best timings for her as it is so often cancelled, and now takes the one before. She's sixth-form, which means she can get in before the doors officially open.)

That sounds unmanageable to me but obviously from pp others do it!

What time will she be leaving home/arriving home?

What will she do while shes 30mins early? Is school open? Several secondaries here won't open the gates so they'd literally be hanging around outside a locked gate here. Same with afterwards- can they sit in the library/etc or do they need to be off the grounds? Where will they wait? 45mins every day stood at busstop in all weather's will soon get tiring.

I'd only do those comutes if there wasn't also the timing issues with school. And even then only if there wasn't a nearer school!