11 Plus Exams Forum

hi all,
we moved recently to uk and to bracknell..so all this a bit new..
dd has got a place in kendrick. will start in sept 2011.
didnot expect her to get in. so didnot plan this . i have a problem with the commute from bracknell to kendrick.
my older daughter needs to be dropped off to her school(no good public transport connection between bracknell and her school) and i work in frimley. so driving to kendrick n back everyday is almost impossible. i read in the forum that many girls take the train and walk to school from reading station, but elsewhere, i read about private coaches to kendrick. i feel very uncomfortable to expect her to travel alone by train and walk the distance from reading station to school..(feel she is too young). dd is a bit apprehensive of not going to the same school as her older sister..country move/school move/house moves and now a new school -kendrick..all have been somewhat of an upheavel for her.. add to these is the prospective train commute with the walk in a new town..
is there any possiblities of car pooling with other parents ? are there alternate options like a mini van or bus that children can take to reading? i think there will be other parents from bracknell or nearby areas who are in similar situations. car pooling can be a good solution.
any leads/guidance is highly appreciated. thanks.

Firstly. Well done to your girl. result!
Hi! I do not live in Bracknell but my DD went to Kendrick in 2009 and she had to go from Maidenhead Station and walk to and from school. At the time it appeared a really hard thing for someone who had only ever been to school by car. But she made friends on the train very quickly and she has been fine! She is Year 9 now. She was not an over confident kid etc. What I did do is try and meet up with some of the parents before and was pro-active in getting the kids together before they started. They are not buddy pals at school but are getting to school pals etc and get on well. Don't worry too much. It will be fine!

I cannot speak for Bracknell nor for Kendricks but my DS has just been accepted at Reading. I was told that for the first year it is possible to jump on a bus at the meadows , Camberly. I need to get this confirmed myself but could not tell you if its for everybody or not or what the exact route would be, but I hope that this helps in some way.

Good Luck and congratulations.

@tinabf - tks for sharing your experience. good to know that quite a few girls travel by train..
dd took quite some time adjusting to her new junior school, and took a while before she made good friends..(almost a year)..after hearing her results , dd is having mixed feelings ,as she feels she will miss her friends who are going to the comp school. hard for me to see it.
i expect it to be the same with kendrick ..so am hoping I can find a car pooling option, even if it is just for a year or so to ease the "transition"..
@william..tks for the lead about camberley..will check it out..

look at the bus - First 191/2 i think from bracknell stops by Lyndhurst pub about 1/4 mile from kendrick

We live in Reading, so my daughter (also y9 ) cycles to Kendrick. However, if you go into town one morning, you will see streams of green and red girls, and boys going to Reading, coming from the train station and the bus stops. Even if you had no idea where the school was, you could follow someone in the same jumper as you and end up in the right place! So crossing roads and so on is not at all the same as sending an inexperienced 11 year old out by themselves - all they have to do is follow the herd, and they will be fine. If you have the opportunity to do the journey with her one morning during term time I think you would be reassured.

As for the settling in - some of the girls there will know one or two others, but most of them are all having to start afresh, and so everyone is in the same boat. It's nothing like joining a school where everyone else in the class has known each other for years.

I hope you will both feel more confident about it by September. And well done to her for getting in

Ayerm - congratulations and please don't worry. My DD is now in Year 8 at Kendrick.

30-40% all girls take the train so I can confirm what other posters have said - there is a constant stream of girls going to the station. We did a few trial runs in the school holidays just beforehand and they soon get the hang of it.

When my DD started, at one of the school induction sessions (in summer term) they had maps where the girls plotted where they lived so that they could identify others from the same area.