to even be considering this (private school related)?

[pickledsiblings]

40 minute drive to a Park & Ride

20 minute bus journey

10 minute walk

Would I be insane to consider doing this with my 7 year old as a daily commute/school run (and the reverse journey home again)?

School is a-maz-ing and just 'round the corner from potential new job.

"I think that WordFactory is right in her comments re genetics."

Up to a point. No matter how genetically robust you are,you can't produce more hours in a day, or do independently a journey that depends on driving a car if you're under 17.............

You can catch a cab Hak. My older 2 may have to start doing a bit of that if I can't get to pick them up off the bus.

I agree Hak, I wouldn't do it but that's just me. I'm happy to drive a fair distance but all that walking, buses, trains malarky would stress me out big time esp in the winter.

Hi pickled, I was right actually in which school I thought it was. I'm very familiar with that route.

I have visions of us spending quality time together chatting and reading on the train.

I'd be a bit worried about this. Any commuter-time train into Cambridge is pretty much standing only unless you get on right at the end of the line. It would be less often chatting in the train and more often standing on the train packed in, hot and strap-hanging - not ideal for a little one.

The P&R would be your best bet, but it is also packed and slow in peak times - I'm not kidding about it taking up to an hour (fast run times can be ten minutes - in rush hour can easily be 30-50 mins or more). Rush hour starts around 4 and is normally over by 7. Traffic's made worse on that route by the fact that there are only limited routes in and out of the city and there are lots of private schools, Waitrose etc along there so rush hour starts early. Buses on the whole route often get very delayed between 4 and 6:30pm. Driving would be along this route anyway so you'd get stuck in the same traffic.

There is a P&R stop right opposite though so the walk at the end would be less than 10 minutes.

I have to say I'd think it was a bit heavy for a 7-year-old in commuting terms. If the traffic and journey times could be relied on then that would be one thing, but they really can't.

It sounds like one of the best schools in the country. I would do it if I could drive the whole way. No way would I do the 3 separate stage journey you suggest in the op.

Purple, DH feels the same and thinks we should drive the whole way too.

Penguin, do you think the train from BSE would be packed at that time?

If you were considering Babraham Rd P&R - it is probably better than Trumping ton Rd at peak time. Traffic builds up 7:30 onwards from the Gogs roundabout. The bus bypasses the first stretch towards Addenbrookes.

You need a definite job offer with the requisite salary before this is an option for dc3 as I understand it so I would wait for it before expending too much angst.
Would it not make sense to decide where dc2 will be going first since that is more imminent? Having all dc commuting to the same area for schooling would have far less impact on family life than what you seem to be proposing.
The only way I would contemplate indie schools in Cambridge is by moving house (btw, I live in the same region and have dc of similar ages). I sympathise and this thread has actually made my own dilemma easier. Dc1(11) faces a 10 min drive followed by just over an hour's school bus to an indie to the east of us next year which I had a few qualms about despite the fact that I did a similar journey in a different city from the age of 11. Personally, the rubbish public transport/direct school bus from suffolk to cambridge or indeed Essex made me rule out selective schooling, however fantastic in those regions. As for my dc2(7), I believe that my support at home certainly at a primary level is sufficient. Apologies for the slight hijacking.

I meant lack of direct school bus obviously

Sorry for the delayed response, I am in a different time zone at the moment. 4.30 traffic is hit and miss. Much much worse on rainy days as fewer people cycle then. I miss the worst even at that time because I can use the back streets and am heading west, not south or east. Certainly there is a queue down Hills Rd at that time, but if you could park further south and walk the first bit that would help.
Bear in mind that all the CA offices are moving to the Triangle site in 2018 which is further south, off Brooklands Ave. Lots of staff will lose parking spaces then (currently a perk for those with over 7 or 8 yrs service but planning restrictions mean there will be far fewer spaces at the new site). So parking in residential streets near there is likely to become hard or impossible if the council impose restrictions for the sake of the residents (they should). But by then your DC will be old enough to do the last bit of the commute themselves I think, and could come to meet you at the end of the day? On a more positive note, traffic in the city centre itself is fine up to about 8am. After that, you'd have to do a test run on a rainy weekday in term time to find out what sorry of queuing time to factor in. I have to be honest and say that if I hadn't been able to sort out my working hours to start at 8 at the latest, I would have reconsidered our school choice as commuting in a traffic jam every day is stressful for parent and child alike.
I don't know anything about the trains though as there are none from the west.

Good luck with the interview process. CA is a good place to work for many reasons, so I hope you get the position you want.

No I wouldn't. A friend of mine had a similar commute with her DC. They were all knackered with no quality of life and have actually just moved so they are an hour closer to school and are much happier.

So this is a loooong time ago and I went to that school at senior level but we lived in the city itself and I always felt immensely sorry for my friends who lived in beautiful rural places but could never have the same social life as those of us who were city-based - and the city is pretty beautiful too. There is more opportunity to keep in touch through social media now but I loved the independence as a teenager of being able to cycle to see friends/home from parties/tothepub My DS did a long commute for half a term at 13 and he was completely shattered.

It is a very good school in lots of ways, but certainly back then it definitely suited some people and scarred others for life.

pickled I live near BSE and the commuter trains to Cambridge are often pretty packed, especially at school run time. You have to remember the train comes in from Ipswich and BSE is not the first stop, and you then get all the school kids coming on at Kennet and Newmarket. You would be extremely lucky to get a seat with your 7yo, and the train would be far too busy for you to be able to sit and have a nice chat.

The service IS pretty reliable in terms of timings and it's rarely cancelled, but in winter it can be hellish and I've often been stranded at one end or the other because Abellio have suspended their services. Do you really want to risk being stuck in Cambridge in the freezing cold/snow with a 7yo?

Also, you need to consider that if the trains are cancelled, you'll have to either fork out over £40 each way for a taxi, or keep DC off school PLUS have a day off work yourself. The hassle of all that travel seems more detrimental than beneficial at such a young age. I would either drive the whole way everyday or not bother. The hassle is too much imo.

It sounds like a complete nightmare even when it is working perfectly tbh.

OP I think possibly you are setting your expectations very high, excited about the job understandably but I think you would come down to earth with a considerable bump within the first week.

The travel times you posted are the best possible scenario-highly unlikely unless its half term which defeats the point!

Likely to be a bus journey twice that and as others have said -train is not going to be cosy with a seat ,it will be heaving.
Parking off Hills rd -yes if you get there at 7am!

I dont mean to be unkind but you seem a bit all over the place

Do you really want the job?
Will this school be preferable to others for thisDC(just because its fabulous doesnt make it the right school)
How will this impact your family,social life, theirs and yours?
Is your child fairly robust?It seems an awfully longday for a 7 yr old.

Have posted on mn before to say my dcs are at a very sought-after school, gazillions of applications for v few places from miles around. But children still regularly leave after a year or so because parents find they overestimated the misery of the commute. Or they delegate travel to a nanny, still no fun for the child, however.

Just getting back to this now, thanks for all the additional responses. Lots of useful information. Saw my friend today and she continues to be very happy with the school and thinks it would really suit DC3. She drives all the way in and I'm going to go with her a day next week.

Feeling a bit deflated today as haven't heard about the job. There is such a lot to think through that I do think it's worth doing it now, even without a job offer. Have seen another position that I am probably better suited to as I mentioned up thread so I think if I stick at it I'll get something eventually.

As for concentrating on DC2, I will sit him for a school in Camb and DC1's school and hope for the best. He can actually stay at his middle school for another year so there isn't too much urgency.

As for being 'all over the place', I am a bit. It's just so hard knowing what's best. I'm going to have a break from thinking about it over the w/e but thanks once again for all your contributions and I hope this thread is helpful to others facing similar dilemmas.

I have found a parking space to rent for £100 per month on Hills Rd near Brooklands Ave, so about a 15 minute walk away. I hear you all and I think if we are even to consider doing this it would have to be the drive all the way and park option.

Will you be able to leave home early enough to account for rush hour? It can be absolutely hellish especially around the Hills road area.

Could you eventually aim to buy halfway between the schools (Dullingham, maybe?), or is your oldest so near leaving that school that it's not worth it?

I have done the commute into Camb but only part the way down Hills Road from Addenbrookes. How long do you reckon it takes to get from Blinko Grove or thereabouts down to Stephen Perse? Anyone know?

ATail, I don't think we'll move, it's too expensive.

We all want the best education for our DC, but surely not at any cost.

Are all other schools near you sink schools? Will this school guarantee him all A* or entry into the Uni course of his choice? Why is it so, so important that you would make a 7 year old have a working day as long as some adult's?

OP what would the cost of moving be VS the cost of one DC at The Perse ?
Taking into account that you have 3 DC you might be better off moving into the catchment for an outstanding secondary/village college than sending one to The Perse and having a horrible family life.

Village schools in the surrounding area are good and often have small class sizes at KS2 due to those moving to Private.
My eldest went to Hills where he did well, many of those who left to go to The Perse were in his year.
Several of his classmates at Oxbridge < deliberately vague>

Is it really financially impossible to wait until DC is older, bearing in mind other DC may have left school by then?

That kind of commute would be more feasible for an 11 year old. Or, if you're the Ipswich side of BSE, why not some of the private schools out that way, or even in Ely?