Hi 3underThree
My son started at Reed's in September in year 7 and has had an amazing time. The school is absolutely brilliant and the teachers are fantastic - I'm not just saying that. We are thrilled. He commutes from SW19 by train mainly, but others come by coach. The school coach from Coombe is very efficient and just whizzes down the A3 - the one from central Wimbledon (where we live) goes around the houses a bit, but he comes home on it sometimes and it takes about 35 minutes so it's not terrible. The train from Wimbledon takes 18 minutes and goes every half an hour which we like - it means he can leave school at 4pm rather than waiting for the 5:30pm coach to leave. But honestly, when he stays later for the coach he never grumbles - he has such a great time them and, because it's a boarding school (a minority board) there is always stuff going on out of hours. He goes in early for breakfast each day (it's super-yummy) and yesterday, as an example, he was in a poetry competition at 5:30pm so the school put on dinner for him and his friends before-hand. They can have three meals a day there (included in the fees.... partly why the fees are a bit higher).
Onto Clapham commuting - he has a friend in year 7 who ALWAYS catches the train to and from Clapham Junction and is absolutely fine with it. The only thing is that the 10 minute walk from Oxshott station is through the woods so we're not too keen on our son doing that after dark yet, but lots do, and since trains are every half an hour there really is a cohort of boys aiming for the 4:30pm, the 5pm or the 5:30pm. The 'woods' are in fact lovely - much of it is open heathland, with pine trees and sand dunes and dogs taking their owners for a walk. I think the small risk of walking through the woods could be off-set against the health benefits of all that fresh air, but I know some mums prefer to wait until their kids are slightly older before letting them walk through the woods. It's remarkably simple to do the walk though - perhaps try it out? Otherwise, you have the coach option (but coaches mean you miss the delicious breakfast!)