Would you change job to assist with secondary school run

[user1461609321]

Morning

Have 2 kids, DC1 going to secondary in September and DC2 will be year 5

Currently living in same borough as the primary school, but secondary will be a short train ride away and I currently work in a borough 1hr away from home

I guess I am anxious about eldest travelling in London alone, and have this notion that myself and DH can take a child each to school in the morning, then he collects both after school as he owns his own business

Current role is ok and my manager has said I can start at 10am for a period to enable eldest to settle in, however I could work more locally so I could assist more with school runs, emergency collection of youngest etc

Use to work in previous job, but left current role is ok, both in very similar settings

Is it mad to change jobs for a child who could travel independently and possibly not even want me taking him to school, he is not street smart, never traveled independently etc

I should have specified inner London, although some outer London boroughs (Richmond, Kingston, Ealing, Barnet, Harrow) are the same. I don't have the original data - but this shows the stats another way - % of independent schools per borough:

www.theguardian.com/uk/datablog/2012/apr/12/london-school-pupils-poverty-race#data

• Westminster, Wandsworth, H&F, Hackney, Camden 25-37% of schools are independent.
• K&C 51%
• City of London is an outlier at 80%.

I was a kid with autism and ADHD. I travelled a 15-mile round trip on London Transport to and from school alone from age 10, long before mobile phones, before Life 360, before those LED displays that tell you when the next bus is coming.

My kids have autism and ADHD, and learned to travel to school by themselves on London Transport from age 10. Sometimes they missed a stop, sometimes they caught a bus in the wrong direction. They very quickly learned how to sort it out and find their way home.

None of us has ever been mugged, killed, dismemebered, sold into slavery, given heroin, or whatever else non-Londoners think happens on the streets of London all the time.

Do the route with him before term starts. Get a tracking app for peace of mind and let him know he can ring you if he gets stuck or takes a wrong bus. By the first half term, he'll be fine.

@TatianaBis

I should have specified inner London, although some outer London boroughs (Richmond, Kingston, Ealing, Barnet, Harrow) are the same. I don't have the original data - but this shows the stats another way - % of independent schools per borough:

www.theguardian.com/uk/datablog/2012/apr/12/london-school-pupils-poverty-race#data

• Westminster, Wandsworth, H&F, Hackney, Camden 25-37% of schools are independent.
• K&C 51%
• City of London is an outlier at 80%.

I don't deny there are a disproportionate number of private schools in the city, but % of schools isn't quite the same thing as % of 11-18yos.

At any rate, the point stands that a really diverse range of secondaries are available in London, private and state. My state primary is 0.2 miles away, but there are about 6 state secondaries in striking range in my borough and more private.

The point also stands that on any measure, a typical teen attending school is at several times more risk of harm from being driven than they are from being knifed on public transport.

I don't deny there are a disproportionate number of private schools in the city, but % of schools isn't quite the same thing as % of 11-18yos.

No indeed, in some cases the % of students is higher.

From memory 20-30% of students in inner London boroughs in general, 55% in K&C and 90% in CoL. (Depending on the year and the survey obv).

But I wasn't disputing your point about diversity, which I agree with, simply commenting on the general assumption by posters that DS was going to state school.

Also of the 7% of UK kids in private school, 24% of those are at London schools.

@TatianaBis

Also of the 7% of UK kids in private school, 24% of those are at London schools.

Which also doesn't tell us anything more convincing about your original assertion.

24% of 7% in a London population of millions....

I’m inner London - Lambeth - and those private school stats are only 10%.
I suppose if the OP’s child is going to a private school, the school might not be as local, but even so, they should still be getting their under their own steam. I see lots of children on tubes, trains and buses going to private school, just the same as state school children

Which also doesn't tell us anything more convincing about your original assertion.

Who's us? You didn't bother to look at the % of private schools per borough then.

@TatianaBis

Which also doesn't tell us anything more convincing about your original assertion.

Who's us? You didn't bother to look at the % of private schools per borough then.

I did.

It may or may not support your original assertion. It showed the percentage of types of schools.

State secondary schools are frequently 8 form entry or more, with 30 students per class. Independent schools are not that size.

The City of London is tiny and has almost no family type accommodation, but houses several independent schools.

You can either come up with stats to support your claim that "20-50% of kids in London boroughs go to private school except for the eastern boroughs" or you can't. And so far you haven't.

At 11 they should be gaining independence - if they genuinely cannot travel alone you need to look for a closer school. In rural areas kids take buses from 4/5!

You can either come up with stats to support your claim that "20-50% of kids in London boroughs go to private school except for the eastern boroughs" or you can't. And so far you haven't.

The % of independent schools per borough supports this. If you were actually interested you could google.

It's easy to say this but what about dark nights etc?

Just to say if your child does have SEN, then there is travel training available

Tea and buns, dark nights? That about 4 months of the year. Street lights?

@TatianaBis

You can either come up with stats to support your claim that "20-50% of kids in London boroughs go to private school except for the eastern boroughs" or you can't. And so far you haven't.

The % of independent schools per borough supports this. If you were actually interested you could google.

Independent schools tend to be smaller than state schools don't they? So you really can't just look at the number of schools.

I changed my job when my dc were halfway through secondary school as she was struggling with everything and I wanted to be there for her after school It was a tricky time and I had to do the right thing by her. I would say talk to your child about it. If they are fine with the travel and can cope with it then great. However if it's making them anxious and not wanting to go to school then it's worth changing and everybody will be happier

What parts of London are we talking about?

Chances are he will make friends soon and won’t be doing all the travel alone.

Agree with others that he has to start familiarising himself with using public transport.

@1910username

What parts of London are we talking about?

Chances are he will make friends soon and won’t be doing all the travel alone.

Agree with others that he has to start familiarising himself with using public transport.

We are in south London, he would need to get to south west London

Your new year 7 will find his way very quickly and soon will not want to be seen with you

You say it’s a short train ride away. What difference is that to catching a bus to your local school? If you are worried about the location of the school, and travelling to and from, why not choose a school closer to home?

I’m in south London. South London to SW London isn’t far at all. It’s easy by train or bus. Less likely to be tube but it depends where you are or where you want to get to. I know y7s who, say, catch the train from Clapham Junction, which is a very busy station.

If you (and more importantly him) are feeling very anxious, the most in would do is maybe change my hours for a month, I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to be on his own after that.

And during that month I don’t mean pick him up in your car, but do the público transport route with him.

But as many have said, even this is unnecessary if you start teaching him how to use the public transport now.

Like on weekends, we go to London and back at Waterloo my son has to look at the boards and tell us what train to take, platform, etc.

Start with simple stuff like that.

I would think that if he’s travelling to SW London, it’s likely he’ll take an overground train, just make sure that if he has to change at Battersea/Clapham, he’s familiar with the platform changes.

I’m in SW London my kids all get public transport to school.

It’s quite likely DS will find someone who’s doing his route at least part of the way.

I’m amazed how many secondary school kids get a lift to and from school. DH drops DS about a 10 min walk from his school but he gets the bus home and has since he started in September. Not London but I think it’s easier to get home in London tbh, at least the trains and buses usually turn up… DS usually ends up waiting around for a bus for ages because they’re always cancelled. I think your DC will be fine.