Grammar school commute

[Krazzywind]

Hi all,
We live in South east London (Welling(. My daughter has been offered a place in Rochester Grammar school.
There is a coach service for that but I wanted to know if someone have been doing it for their daughters and what has been their experience of the school, commute by coach and any other challenges.

Many thanks

How long is the journey? I used to get a coach to and from grammar school to my small Kent village (not Rochester Grammar). It was about a 40 min journey each way and it was fine.

The only pain was there was just one coach there and back so I could not be late and my parents would have to arrange pick up if I stayed later for after school activities.

I did it as a child. 45 mins each way on the school coach. It wasn’t a big deal.

This was in the mid 90s though and after school things weren’t a thing at that school then, but I could see that it would throw a spanner in the works for getting home.

I was at school in the mid nineties too. We had things like concerts, play rehersals, sports games etc.. after school.

To be fair, I spent half the time on the skive and wouldn’t have joined in anything anyway, hated every second of school and was bullied to shit, I wouldn’t have willingly stayed after 3:30 for more 🤣

Plus, I would have had no way of getting home after if I missed the coach.

DD commutes about 40 minutes by bus from our village to the Grammar in a nearby city. She has done this since Year 8 and loves it. I think it’s actually her favourite part of the day and she’s made loads of friends on the bus from different year groups and the two other schools that use the bus.
She does loads of extra curricular stuff. Her school know many girls commute so most activities happen during an extended lunch hour.

How long is the journey? Are there closer Grammar schools?

Dd commutes 30 mins by coach, not a big deal. I used to commute 1 hour + 2 public buses for secondary school.

I live in the north of the borough where a large number of children get the coach to the Medway grammars. Before the coaches they used to get the train. They always seem happy and jolly when they get off the coach. Some have parents waiting in cars for them.

My son's grammar school has a coach service that covers a black spot of public transport in Orpington, which seems to run well, but it's much closer for parents who need to drive occasionally.

Are you ok with travelling down the A2 to pick her up if she's ill or needs to do an extracurricular activity? What about Saturday sports?

For me the issue would be:

how much homework do they expect the children to do each day
how much after school activities is expected from them by the school
does you child do outside school activities which clash with either timing or availabiltiy
are you happy to drive him to see friends/activities/school run when there is no coach for the next 5 years
how much is the coach and would you be happy to pay for it even when the prices increase

Why not send her to Bexley grammar, Townley or Chis & Sid? Did she not pass the Bexley test? Or what about Dartford Grammar? Did she pass the Kent test? I understand that Medway is its own unitary authority so did she pass their test but not the others?

It's a long journey

Could she not have got into Dartford or Wilmington or another of the closer ones ? In theory it doesn’t take long but by the time you add in traffic and what happens with after school activities / seeing friends ? It’s not a commute I’d want to do .

So Google maps says 32 minutes on the A2... but she will be doing it at Rush hour, so likely twice that.

Leaving 7.30, home 4.30?

Is she happy with that idea?

DD did 7.30-4 until 6th form, the school is just a mile away as the crow flies but walking means at least 35 minutes each way thanks to a train line and a golf course she couldn’t cross and she had to be at her desk at 8.15.

Friend‘s DD had to take a 7am bus to actually get on the bus (normal one, no school coach) as they didn‘t get a school nearby.

That‘s all normal timings for me.

we are looking at moving to Welling for chis and Sid, is there something that puts you off it?

How long is the commute, including getting to the bus stop? And also is there a walk from the bus stop to school? What options have you got if the bus brakes down, doesn’t turn up, etc. are there other options to get home?

Are there other pupils on the coach?

It won’t be unusual for kids to travel to grammar school.