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Secondary education

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Original poster

Travelling to school

37 replies

morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 14:17

Have found the perfect school but not sure about travel, how much if any to allow dd to do by herself and how much accompanied.
Would appreciate your views.

The school is situated in Manchester v. close to railway station.
School starts at 8am so dd will need to be on the train at 7.00 am.
It is a 10 min walk to station from our house, through the town centre.
She will be 11.8 when she starts. The train takes aprox 45 mins and has about 9 stops, if this makes any difference.
Obviously the return journey is the same and will usually return at station about 6pm

Would you allow the entire journey yourself, none of it, or some of it.

Tia of your replies.

OP posts:
titchy · 30/09/2014 15:25

The journey itself sounds fine as long as the walk through town to the station is ok.

But she'd hAve to leave home at 6.40 every morning which sounds hideous for a teenager tbh. She'd be travelling in the dark all winter.

Original poster
morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 16:04

titchy

Thank you.
The thought of those early winter mornings made me think too. In the winter she would hardly see any day light which isn't good.

The alternative is boarding and I don't want her to board this young.
I can't see dh being able to help out much neither although he could be transport in an emergency.

OP posts:
Missunreasonable · 30/09/2014 16:06

I know Manchester quite well and a train journey which is going to take 45 minutes must be quite a fair distance out from Manchester. I used to get the train from 12 miles away to the centre of Manchester and it would take around 15 minutes.
Are there no suitable schools nearer to home?

Missunreasonable · 30/09/2014 16:17

If it is the school that I am thinking of (near to the station) then it is a unique school and might be worth the long journey but I would probably drop her at the station each day due to the very early start.

WhatAHooHa · 30/09/2014 16:21

The train journey I would be fine with, the walking to and from the station, alone and in the dark I wouldn't be so keen on at that age. If you can drop her at the station I think it would work fine.

Original poster
morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 16:22

Missunreasonable

It is a specialist school that dd has always wanted to attend and has been working up to audition for a few years now.
We have every intention of moving but obviously it won't happen over night and were thinking maybe 2 years time.
We are about 20 miles away I believe.
Apart from leaving it until we move, I'm not sure what to do tbh.

OP posts:
Original poster
morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 16:24

sorry x posted there.
Yes, it is the school you mean Missunreasonable
I haven't named it as have posted a fair bit about dd and don't want it showing up on searches iykwim.

OP posts:
Missunreasonable · 30/09/2014 16:26

20 miles isn't that far. I presume it takes so long on the train because you are not on a main line into manchester and therefore the journey takes much longer.
Just drop her at the station each day and she will be fine. Lots of other children who attend that school may also get on the train and she will just buddy up with somebody.
She will not get the opportunity at any other school within a long radius so this is an opportunity not to be missed.

Missunreasonable · 30/09/2014 16:27

Congrats to your dd BTW on getting an offer at such a great school.

Original poster
morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 16:41

Missunreasonable

Not official yet, but has been taught by a couple of teachers there and asked to audition several times, but we thought she was too young before.
She lives for music and has never wanted or been interested in anything else.
Many thanks, will fill in the forms now Grin
I think it can cloud judgement when it has been such a long process and part of your life for so long.
I suppose its similar to what grammar school and ss parents go through.

OP posts:
crazymum53 · 30/09/2014 16:46

dds secondary school (different city) is a few minutes walk away from the main railway station and a good number of children travel in by train. So the chances are there would be other children she could walk to school with at the other end of the journey. If possible you could try a trial journey with her before she starts to see what it's like.
The school provides information about season tickets etc.
If it's dark in the early morning/evening, I would probably offer her a lift to/from the local station. Would be perfectly OK with an 11 year old dd walking home when it's light though.

AtiaoftheJulii · 30/09/2014 17:19

It sounds similar-ish to my daughters' journey and they are fine :) I might walk her to and from the local station if it was dark, but I wouldn't drive half a mile to give her a lift! (Wouldn't be worth it here, the station is not at all easy to get to by car.) Would she get a seat on the train?

Original poster
morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 17:26

Atia

I'm not sure about seat on the train yet, probably be ok as the journey starts from our station, but have never been that early before.
I was thinking of a dummy run before hand.
My main worry was the walk to station in the dark and as people have said they too wouldn't be happy with this my mind is set on taking her when it is dark.
On the journey back the school is so close to station, literally next door and the area is well lit and busy during this time, so I know this wouldn't be a problem.

OP posts:
Hakluyt · 30/09/2014 17:30

Is there a bus she could get to the station?

I am incredibly impressed, by the way- I didn't think they took singers so young! She must be something very special.

Taz1212 · 30/09/2014 17:30

DS(12) needs to leave the house at 7:10 for his bus or train at 7:15 (takes either the school bus or train depending on what time he needs to be in). He usually gets the train home which means a 10 minute walk to the bus stop then 15 minute bus ride then 15 minute walk to the train station.

I get him to his bus or train station in the morning and collect him from either one in the afternoon. He copes just fine with all the travel in the dark - feels the school is worth a commute of over an hour each way. Grin

If possible I'd take your DD to/from the station- otherwise the journey looks fine.

Original poster
morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 18:31

Hak

They don't take singers as first inst only 3rd until sixth form. They said may take a little earlier if exceptional and going as chorister was just not practical for us.

The bus station is next to the train station. The weird thing is if she cut through churchyard it would be quicker, but not on my life Grin

I'm really happy to see that others make long or early trips to school, wow Taz that is some journey for him, but well worth it if its the school for him.

Its looking like an early rise and walking to the station, I don't drive Sad
6am is the middle of the night for me, I'll need at least 6 alarm clocks.
Dh can't be relied upon as not always here or only coming in at 2/3am himself.

OP posts:
titchy · 30/09/2014 18:46

Make sure it's safe for you too! Could you both cycle?

Taz1212 · 30/09/2014 19:03

morethan It is an adjustment for the parents as well! Grin I drag myself out of bed each morning at 6 so I can sort the dog first before getting DS up at 6:30. Somehow he bounces out of bed but I find it torture! He's often home quite late as well- on Mondays and Thursdays he rows until 5:45. By the time he's made his way home it's well after 7. Last week he fell asleep and missed his bus stop. He did really well and phoned us to say not to worry, he'd work out how to get to the train station at the other side of Edinburgh and did so even though he's not very familiar with that part of town. Grin

I'm sure it will work out for your DD!

Original poster
morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 19:12

Ah thanks Taz

I know, we have to do these things for our dc. I think your ds must be in a really good school to be rowing.
You made me laugh about Edinburgh as that is my biggest fear on trains. All of them seem to terminate there Grin Not so bad if you aren't too far away.
I suppose I will have to get used to it and maybe bribe ds1 to stay over one night and ds2 to do another day every so often.
We should manage it between us when the time comes.

titchy
Yes we both can cycle and there are plenty of places for dd to leave hers at the station, which is a good option, thanks hadn't thought of that.

OP posts:
choirmumoftwo · 30/09/2014 19:15

Would you consider weekly boarding, or do they offer flexi-boarding so she could stay at school a couple of nights each week? Just to take a bit of the travel pressure off until she's older or you move nearer?

jeee · 30/09/2014 19:18

OP, my dd is normally driven to the station as it's a 20 minute very brisk walk. She catches a train at 7.30 which takes about 30 minutes. Then she has a 10 minute walk through a fairly rough town to get to her school.

She's now in year 9, and despite occasionally finding the journey too much, is still glad we allowed her to go to her school.

If your dd has a real gift, I'd say the journey to a school which will nuture it is worth it.

Original poster
morethanpotatoprints · 30/09/2014 19:35

Thank you jeee it looks like we will have to let her go. She has been begging for the last 3 years so we took her out of school to allow her to concentrate on music with the plan of her attending from y8/9 onwards, because she was adamant she wanted to board.

Choirmum

Hello, I bet I know what your dc do Grin
I haven't heard that they flexi board, but the dc come home at weekends every 3 weeks. I know this sounds good, but we would still miss her too much. I will certainly ask if its an option as I know they let them stay the odd night if they have a particularly late concert, or somebodies birthday etc.

OP posts:
Taz1212 · 30/09/2014 19:58

If she's that keen I'd definitely let her go. DS is madly in love with his school. I also had an exhausting schedule as a preteen/teen because I played in a local university orchestra which toured all over the place and on top of hours and hours of weekly practice, we spent most weekends away, not getting home until 1-2AM Monday morning. When I look back at it, all I an think is, "My poor parents!"

I know I'm over the top gung ho (I used to be a Yank so can't help myself Grin but if she's been begging for three years it's worth trying to make it work, IMO.

Taz1212 · 30/09/2014 19:59

Grrrrr, typos- thanks DH for interrupting me!

Hakluyt · 30/09/2014 22:32

Well' obviously if she gets a place she should go- it's how not whether, surely?