APPEAL - Accepted grammar school - now want to change.

[mike1880]

Ah, the "creepy couple". Typically for Master 1880, first we heard of them was when puzzling over the resulting cartoon in The Pupil's Voice (still chuckling about "Roden's 'The Thinker'"). He doesn't like to bother us about trivia...

For what it's worth, it looks to me as though the journey to SG would be a bit of a hike but relatively feasible by the somewhat distorted standards of grammar school education, but the return journey would be fairly impractical by any standards. I would imagine it could be an option if OP is prepared to act as a taxi service for the next 7 years.

I agree with um's comment about the importance of travel arrangements when choosing schools (not a lot of help to OP at this stage...). In the euphoria of 11+prep, open days and applications (not to mention long summer days) it's easy to gloss over the difficulties of actually getting to and from a particular school, especially in the dark depths of winter.

Mike

[serialtester]

The creepy couple made it 5ways too!!! Maybe they were parents of a Y5 kid and were targeting KE pupils to get some exam tips/intensive tuition on the cheap

But I agree with Mike re: traveling. Daughter number 2 has the longest journey to KEH (half an hour on the bus) and she has coped really well with it although at first she did find it very tiring on top of getting to grips with new teachers/subjects/homework. I would be reluctant to send a child on a longer journey than that. It's not too bad in the summer, but in the winter when they are leaving/coming home in the dark it's a bit grim. And also there are other practical considerations like getting to the school for parents evenings/events.

My son (who is going to our local state school in september) found induction day a doddle due to only having to navigate a 10 minute walk to get there - and it was much easier for me to get to the parents induction session etc... Having said that though if 5Ways rang me today to offer him a place (unlikely unless the 200 or so above him on the waiting list have left the country!!) I'd bite their arm off

[shinealight]

Having just read the posts on safety to and from KEH vis SG I think living anyway right now in the UK, the climate/rate of crime is not only a concern in and around Handsworth but any school location in any town/city. The weekly Sutton Observer will inform you that the area it is not immune from criminal activity. Obviously this a major worry for all our children but safe routes are often suggested as are safe practices for students to follow to be vigilent and protect them selves from harm..

We are considering KECHB and QM for our DS although BV is much nearer with KEAston not far too. We carefully considered travel arrangements and the locations and after examing all other issues thought KECHB came out top (for us). If DS gets through then we hope to apply same choices for DD next year and hope she gets through too. A long journey and although not as far from Alrewas it is something that we are prepared to be sacrifice and put up with ourselves, or DH has said he will , if we want our DCn to get an education that will push them to achieve their potential.