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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

11 year olds travelling to school - London

184 replies

TeddyIEI · 22/08/2023 16:53

Hoping some London parents can put my mind to rest or something.
My brother his wife snd 3 children live in south west London. My eldest nieces (twins) turned 11 at the end of July, they are due to start senior school. I've just learnt they will be going to school in central/west London and taking the tube there alone!!
On the first day my brother is going to make sure they get off at the right stop and they have done the walk from their stop to the school before with their mum before. They have to be there for 08:10 and will leave at 16:50ish, so will almost definitely be caught in the rush.
My sons are 13 and 15, we live rurally and right now they can do whatever in our village, walk to the bus stop for school (school provided bus), my 15 year old has been allowed into the nearest town to go for food with friends and I wouldn't mind dropping to the cinema/picking them up or similar. But the thought of them going into central London alone, at peak times at 11 makes me feel a little ill. They will be on the tube for nearly 30 min (no changes) and a 5 or so minute walk either end.

Is this normal? Do lots of kids in London do this? AIBU to think this can't possibly be safe ?

OP posts:
CecilyP · 26/08/2023 12:44

Their journey is actually a very easy one on the tube as it’s one line getting on at second stop past the terminus, and mostly overground. It’s a fair distance though, so will be more problematic if tubes aren’t running.

waterrat · 26/08/2023 12:51

I went to school in sw london.
I didnt know anyone who was driven to school by year 7 it would be totally considered weird

There are rarely delays on the tube as there are so many and they are so frequent

Remember in london the transport is free for teens and incredible compared to anywhere else in the uk.

Needmoresleep · 05/11/2023 00:33

I assume the risks are:

  • being intimidated by the Godolphin girls who despite the constraints of a uniform manage to look as if they work in a trendy advertising agency
  • Paulinas. (St Paul’s Girls) No uniform obviously but a scarey amount of confidence
  • Latymer boys attracting more attention than they deserve as about the only significant group of boys travelling eastwards from Kew.
  • Latymer girls who claim a proprietary interest in the boys. They may show them a level of familial contempt, but they don’t tolerate flirting by girls from other schools.
  • Frances Holland SS who are probably posher.
  • A mixed bag of St James’, More House, Queensgate and more.
  • The Lycee kids. French. Say no more.

I pity the commuters.

whereismysleep · 06/11/2023 08:45

Needmoresleep · 05/11/2023 00:33

I assume the risks are:

  • being intimidated by the Godolphin girls who despite the constraints of a uniform manage to look as if they work in a trendy advertising agency
  • Paulinas. (St Paul’s Girls) No uniform obviously but a scarey amount of confidence
  • Latymer boys attracting more attention than they deserve as about the only significant group of boys travelling eastwards from Kew.
  • Latymer girls who claim a proprietary interest in the boys. They may show them a level of familial contempt, but they don’t tolerate flirting by girls from other schools.
  • Frances Holland SS who are probably posher.
  • A mixed bag of St James’, More House, Queensgate and more.
  • The Lycee kids. French. Say no more.

I pity the commuters.

You should write a blog 😂😂

Needmoresleep · 06/11/2023 09:11

Thanks. I wanted to illustrate to OP just how many secondary school kids you find travelling east on the district line. A few state schools as as well. Catholics whose prayers paid off, Tony Blair was one, and secured at place at Hammersmith's Oratory School, for example. OP should not worry. They seem tiny in their first term, but very soon they are part of the gang.

Another fun one is the 77 bus starting in Waterloo going south to Tooting. Kids from Lambeth commuting to Harris Battersea, kids from Battersea heading for better schools between the Commons, and then the final wave. Those kids who secured the very sought after place at Graveney in Tooting.

whereismysleep · 06/11/2023 09:13

Needmoresleep · 06/11/2023 09:11

Thanks. I wanted to illustrate to OP just how many secondary school kids you find travelling east on the district line. A few state schools as as well. Catholics whose prayers paid off, Tony Blair was one, and secured at place at Hammersmith's Oratory School, for example. OP should not worry. They seem tiny in their first term, but very soon they are part of the gang.

Another fun one is the 77 bus starting in Waterloo going south to Tooting. Kids from Lambeth commuting to Harris Battersea, kids from Battersea heading for better schools between the Commons, and then the final wave. Those kids who secured the very sought after place at Graveney in Tooting.

Yes, it's hardly the ghetto is it?!

whereismysleep · 06/11/2023 09:14

The child in question will have started school by now. I wonder how they're getting on.

@TeddyIEI have you heard?

swiftimania · 06/11/2023 12:21

Needmoresleep · 05/11/2023 00:33

I assume the risks are:

  • being intimidated by the Godolphin girls who despite the constraints of a uniform manage to look as if they work in a trendy advertising agency
  • Paulinas. (St Paul’s Girls) No uniform obviously but a scarey amount of confidence
  • Latymer boys attracting more attention than they deserve as about the only significant group of boys travelling eastwards from Kew.
  • Latymer girls who claim a proprietary interest in the boys. They may show them a level of familial contempt, but they don’t tolerate flirting by girls from other schools.
  • Frances Holland SS who are probably posher.
  • A mixed bag of St James’, More House, Queensgate and more.
  • The Lycee kids. French. Say no more.

I pity the commuters.

Love it!

Lamelie · 06/11/2023 12:56

AppleDumplingWithCustard · 24/08/2023 16:56

In ye olden days London Transport sold a bus ticket called a Red Rover. Red because you could use it for one day on any red bus, getting on and off when and where you pleased. At age 11 upwards we kids used to rove around London for whole days getting buses from one end of town to the other. Even venturing to the other side of the river! Eek! It was great and helped to make us capable and confident. OP would have had a heart attack if we’d been her nieces.

All London kids have that now! £10 zip card and they get free bus travel and reduced tube. It’s a one off fee unless you’re my careless little darlings
@Needmoresleep 😂

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