Acceptable commute times for children and commute to Churcher’s College

[WonderMum22]

Hi mums,

I was wondering what you think is acceptable in terms of independent commute time (public transport) for children, particularly in secondary and then in College, for A-levels. Want to strike the right balance and really value your thoughts!

I like the idea of a commute at some point where children independently make their way to school to increase their autonomy and I suppose commute time can also mean a transition time between home/school or social times if you travel with friends?

We could have two siblings walking together in secondary which reassures me slightly, though they’d probably want to live their own life and be with their respective friends!

More specifically, I’d like to know - for the families living in or around Godalming - and sending their children to Churcher’s college, how is the commute like? Do the children take the train and walk, or do parents tend to drive them and what do the children think about that commute?

Many thanks in advance for your views or sharing your experience - would be really appreciated! 😊😊😊

No direct experience of commuting from Godalming to Petersfield but this might be helpful...

My children are now in their twenties. When they were at school there were lots of children commuting on the line between Petersfield and Guildford.

Most children started somewhere between those two spots and headed out in one direction or the other. Mine went towards Guildford but there were plenty going
in the opposite direction too.

There may not be many going to Petersfield from as far as Godalming, but there will be almost certainly be several Churcher's pupils that join the train at Haslemere and Liphook.

In terms of the length of the commute, I'd say it was absolutely fine. Your children's journey will be longer in terms of miles than my children's was, but (depending on your journey to Godalming station) will be quicker because mine had to change train.

My girls happily did the commute from the age of 11 and both made a good set of train friends.

Good luck. It will be fine!

No experience of that particular location, but DD has been doing a 90 minute commute each way since Y1 and has done it independently since Y7... now going into Y11.

Primary was 7 minute walk, train, 3 stops on tube, 5 minute walk. Secondary is 7 minute walk, train, platform change, train, 3 minute walk.

There are masses of kids on her morning trains going to different schools.

The easiest commutes are ones with a long train journey with guaranteed seats, tables and wifi (then they get homework done and it's not tiring). The worst commutes are ones with lots of changes and lots of hanging about waiting.

I commuted half hour train ride and 20 minute walk from year 7 to sixth form.
I found it incredibly tiring and suffered a bit from not having local friends. I didn’t want that for my kids.
it’s not just the length of the train journey it’s the frequency of the trains and they’re not great on that route.

i would have thought more kids go to private schools in the Guildford area from Godalming. I’m not sure Churchers is so special to warrant such a commute is it?

That’s really helpful all - thank you.

I would like a co-ed school and Guildford seems to be girls or boys only.

I want to stroke the right balance so may sometimes drive them, for instance on the way back when they are all tired but also want some independence and hopefully we can all manage as both parents working.

Have a lovely Sunday ☀️

If you want co-Ed in Godalming surely you want Charterhouse?
Otherwise the single sex schools in Guildford are excellent, you may find some ds going to Churchers from Godalming are doing so because they didn't get into RGS. For dd there are so many options. Lots of areas in SW London and Surrey have single sex as the top performing private schools and it's well documented that dd achieve excellent results in a single sex environment.

Thank you - Charterhouse is not in price range sadly. What do you think about St Edmunds? Seems like a really nice environment, good academic focus and the commute would be shorter than Churcher’s?

I’m also totally open to state schools too, they seem totally great in the area, it’s just that for some of my children the entry point is not a “usual” one so not sure we would get spaces where we want.

Thanks for all your posts <3

Quite. Charterhouse is way outside the range of most private school parents. Day fees are over £40,000. At Churcher's they are less than half that!

St Edmunds doesn't have a sixth form, which might be a disadvantage.

Other local options are King Edward's, Witley and The Royal School in Haslemere (used to be girls only but is now co-ed).

Thanks again for all of your responses so far.

For our eldest, he has a deferred offer from Royal Grammar Sschool in Guildford but we are not sure whether this is the right type of school for him. Also the commute involves walking through Guildford during morning rush hour which we think could be a bit stressful for him (he is used to a quiet rural school with basically no commute!).

Regarding St Edmunds Hindhead - lack of a 6th form is not ideal but I suppose that does open up a lot of options for 6th form, at which point he will hopefully be more mature and able to handle a longer commute. Not sure where St Eds seniors go after GCSE but presumably they scatter fairly widely!

Regarding the Royal School Haslemere - given our DS' strong academics, would this be a good fit for him and provide sufficient stretch or would the extra commute to Churchers College Petersfield (which appears to be more academically rigorous) be justified?

Thanks again!

Have you considered Lord Wandsworth - a very similar profile to churchers and fully co-Ed?

Hi - I haven’t, let me look into this option! Thank you

If I had a son who was academically strong enough to have had an offer from RGS I'd definitely go for that. I can't see that the walk from the station to the school would be difficult or stressful. There will be lots of boys doing it, and many will be from out of Guildford. They get used to it very quickly (based on experience of friends' children).

If you prefer co-ed, I'd say that Churcher's was a better option for an academic child than any of the other local options (though I don't know anything about Lord Wandsworth and my second hand knowledge of the others is out of date)!

Incidentally, RGS works closely with the Guildford girls schools to put on a number of joint activities. And there is a lot of mixing on the train before and after school!

Lwc is a lot more academic than it used to be (two current DCs) - definitely up and coming but it isn’t RGS.

Very helpful, will check it!

Thank you - good point regarding opportunities with other schools and social times during commute times!

It is an excellent school - just want to ensure DS owns the decision and is happy.

I don't think Lord Wandsworth College will solve your dilemma on the commute. They have extensive bus routes in the mornings but they don't include Godalming. The car journey is longer than to Petersfield too and I don't think it's possible by public transport? There are a fair few families from Godalming at Churcher's.