Would pay for ride for teen to school

[NewHereNeedDriver]

Help! We need to hire a 3 mornings/wk driver from Hampstead Garden (near Golders Green) to get our teen girl to school in Rickmansworth 7:30 to 8:15. We don't have a car, and thought she'd use transit or a coach, but couldn't find a rental close to either. We signed a year-long contract for this fee school (couldn't get into a state school without a post code when we moved from California for a job). Our 13 yr old is exhausted and often in tears by the time she gets home from the long commute (1.5 hr each way, but would be 45 minutes in the morning by car). Hoping someone trustworthy may already be driving that way, or could use some extra cash: 100 gbp/wk. She would be most comfortable with a mom or young woman.

Have you asked anyone at the school who drive their kids?

There are apps which put commuters in touch with each other for this sort of thing so you should Google them.

But you would need to be more careful because she is a child.

£100pw works out at £13ph minus fuel costs, not a great rate of pay.
Is there a parents whatsapp that you could ask if anyone is going the same route?
I do wonder why you'd put her in a school you can't get her to easily.

Not looking for judgment, just friendly solutions.

(I'd already noted in the chain that I see I'll need to pay more, and if you read the situation you'd know that of course I wasn't trying to set her up for an overly-long commute-- we had very few options)

Unlikely that anyone else is driving Hampstead Gardens to Rickmansworth.

OP, is there any part of the journey that a cab could cover eg if she is taking a bus and a train, could a taxi replace one leg?

You’ve already started one thread on this OP?

Can you get a car?

Or possibly a mum/dad could pick her up for the second half of the journey?

Or - now you are here and have a postcode, apply to nearby state schools. Is she in year 8 or year 9? She needs to be settled somewhere before she starts GCSEs (or are you planning to move nearer to Rickmansworth? If so, you may be able to terminate your rental early if the landlord can find other tenants and you pay any fees etc)

You already posted this thread and got lots of advice and suggestions 🤨.

Hi OP,

I suggest you have a chat with the school to see if they can help. They may be able to put you in touch with other parents in the area (I live locally, and am fairly sure there will be others with kids at the same school), or help come up with some alternate transport plans.

One option might be to find a regular driver from a local Minicab firm who has a full CPs check (they do exist!) to take /collect from the coach route: that would be more cost effective and also be less prone to failure (it wouldn’t be impossible for your teen to take an Uber home from the coach stop in an emergency, for example).

Be prepared to try a few different things before you figure it out, there’s never a perfect solution.

And good luck!

Given that you've now got a UK address can you move her to a nearby state school? If she's 13 she's not in a GCSE year. It sounds as though the current school really usnt suitable for her due to distance.

THANKS to all who heeded the "Help!" tone of this email and offered practical solutions-- Filly, you hit on one that works that I hadn't thought of in this in my frustrated, rattled state when we failed to find a rental near the Mertropolian line (we have other family members commuting the opposite way). We can stretch for a mini cab to the coach (already found one) and the coach is social/ comfortable. So grateful for this!

WOW to the scold emogi for 2 threads so glad I didn't know the rule about only posting on one since I got the solution on this one, and didn't know if everyone checks every thread. The other thread had a criticism field day for my stupid choice one fellow parent called me "batshit crazy". I'm 60 (fortunate enough to have adopted my kids) and it's my first time on social media because I heard how harsh it can be, but thought a mums group would be supportive. (Honestly I don't even know why I'm called "OP", or what some of the other initials on the other thread stand for)

Would have LOVED to use the state schools, which are generally are a cut above US schools, but couldn't get in without a post code and had to sign the standard year-long contract with RMS (the only school she got into). But Sheila and Ilove, it was useful to be reminded about this new thing for us GCSEs and I'll see about next year. Evelyn is, in fact, behind, so the wonderful support at RMS is worth it now that we have a better commute solution thanks to this thread.

I'm now going to take the time to read the Talk Guidelines right below this post. : )

(I'm so old I use : )
; )

OP is the originally poster who started the thread.

It’s fine to use :) or :-)

You need to think about the school fees as a sunk cost whichever. Is your DD in year 8 (second form) or year 9 (third form)? Some state schools choose gcse options in year 8 and some in year 9, so I would start exploring state places ASAP.

I don't really understand what you are hoping to get from asking mumsnet? You say you need to hire a driver, so contact a private hire company and see if they can offer a regular driver for her

Looking “for next year” at state schools may not be doable. If a place becomes available you are normally expected to take it up within 4-6 weeks (as it isn’t fair to someone else who might join the waiting list otherwise).

However, London schools are often very full so there may not be a space available next September at the moment of asking eg in June. So start early.

The thread is less than a page long. Why not at least read both of OP’s posts?

@SheilaFentiman

The thread is less than a page long. Why not at least read both of OP’s posts?

This is one of the oddest things anyone has ever said to me on here.

Why on earth would I search up OP and read their previous posts?

What is the relevance of it being less than a page long?

I’m not suggesting you search OP! This very short thread has two posts from her.

The second post was 9h before your post about “what does she want from MN” and noted that she had found a solution, thanks to the suggestion of - oh wait, an MN poster. So looks like she did, in fact, get what she wanted from MN.

Hope that’s clearer for you now.

Maybe just scroll past if you see someone has posted something unnecessary? I can understand you engaging with me to have a discussion, but just to have a go? Leave it out

You had a go at OP with your phrasing, IMO. Maybe be nicer to posters if you want posters to be nicer to you.

Have a most excellent day.

Oh, I didn't mean to I was suggesting she contact a private hire company

I agree with the excellent @SheilaFentiman @NewHereNeedDriver - can you think about the year's fees as a sunk cost and start looking now for a local state school,with the plan to move soon?

When is your dd 14 - is she currently in yr 9? If so I would certainly prioritise moving her to local state ASAP as GCSE options are usually chosen in Feb of yr 9. If yr 8 then it's less urgent, but I would still prioritise it now you have an address. The ££ you save on transport alone would pay fir any tutoring needed to help her catch up.

Bless you, OP (original poster or opening post) 😀

MN (Mumsnet) is utterly fabulous and helpful and utterly dreadful in equal measure imo (in my opinion)

The acronyms are used across many chat forums, not just on MN, and they confused the heck out of me to start with 🙄

Take what you need from MN and ignore the rest 💜

Good luck with the transport (I don't live in the South East so can't help)

🥰