St Catherines Twickenham and travel times

[Elibean]

Long story short, I'd love to hear some RL experiences about travel times from SW13 or thereabouts to Twickenham - at school travel times! I get the impression its often about an hour, either by train and walking or by the very slow 33 bus.

Basically, my youngest (academically bright, sensitive, deep thinker and prone to worrying) dd has the lucky problem of a choice to make. We're not remotely religious, but she loved St Catherines because it felt gentle and safe: I think it is too far, when she also has the choice of KHS (her sister's school) or possibly PHS (on wait list).

But every time I try and type the refusal email, I can't quite

Is it best to keep journey times short, and trust we can empower dd to cope with more socially or academically competitive atmospheres - or slog the journey and go for what might be the best fit? Hard to tell what is the best fit, of course, at this age and stage.

Some MN commonsense might well help - if anyone has some to offer I'd be grateful!

Afraid I don't know the travel times but similar dilemma- We're in SW15 and DD desperate to go to Surbiton which I think would be a great fit but is the furthest school we've applied to. Also on Waitlist for PHS which she could walk to but is adamant she's not going there even if she got a place and I don't think it's the right school for her anyway.
I know people who go to St C from Putney and the don't moan about the journey if that's any help!?

Elibean have PM'd you!

how close are you to Barnes station? Good train to Strawberry hill probably better (for the morning at least) to St catherine's than the bus.

We are Putney - fast trains to Twickenham are pretty good. 33 bus is slow but there are a tonne of St Caths girls on it so it's a good option.

It's a lovely school; DD is thriving there. She has a lot of fun with her teachers which is something we've not experienced before. Its a very happy school. A lot of girls travel a fair distance - Kingston, Surbiton etc so there is always someone to walk with to Strawberry Hill or Twickenham station.

Hi there- nothing to add about your specific journey, but just to say that we chose St Catherine’s over a school that is a two minute walk away. My daughter absolutely loves it there. We did the journey with her a couple of times at the weekend ( it’s about 45 mins by bus for us) just to give her a flavour of what she was in for and it didn’t put her off at all- she was still desperate to go there!

Hi everyone with DDs at St. Catherine's, we have an offer and are waiting for one other. I would like to find out a bit more about academics at St. C. DD is very keen on Maths, I am guessing this is taught in sets for varying abilities, is this the case? Also, we would be relying on the 33, is this a popular route for the girls? Does anyone know about the sixth form, do girls tend to stay on/leave. I have been most impressed by Sister P and the pastoral care, however, I know there is a change in leadership. Any views on how this might impact on the school?

Hi - Maths is set - school is quite keen on maths and we have been very happy with DD progress. The highest set does further maths at GCSE, at least at the moment. The 33 is packed with St Caths girls. Sixth form is small, I think they are hoping to grow it. If girls have been at the school since prep they often leave, or if they are after a mixed college. My DD is planning to stay as she's very happy and the teachers are good. Sister Paula leaving is sad, but I think the teaching staff are pretty solid.

Thank you Wheresthebeach. We will be getting on from the first stop and I guess it will be a 45min trip both ways. We will make our final decision on Friday. Fingers crossed for everyone.

Thank you all, and sorry to be so slow in responding. I found a girl at dd's primary who's sister goes to St C's, and it sounds like the journey is closer to an hour from Barnes.

Train station is about 10 minutes walk, but Barnes is a tad creepy, espcially in winter/evenings - Barnes Bridge (same distance) is better but that reduces the number of trains we could use.

I think, in some ways sadly, that a 1.5-2hour return journey per day for a small 11 year old with asthma might be too much. So we're going to stick with either Kew or Putney, but I agree with all the nice things that have been said about St Catherine's - and wish all your dds a fantastic time there.