11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi my DS really wants to go to QMGS but with the Greenbus proving v expensive (and may not exist by next Sep) I was wondering if anyone else from Handsworth Wood/Handsworth/Hampstead areas were thinking of QMGS and how they were planning to get there?

clairenstu wrote:Hi my DS really wants to go to QMGS but with the Greenbus proving v expensive (and may not exist by next Sep) I was wondering if anyone else from Handsworth Wood/Handsworth/Hampstead areas were thinking of QMGS and how they were planning to get there?

I don't know about the green bus not being around next year I think it might not be around this year. I was told the bus broke down this morning in Solihull and left the kids stranded in the wet and windy till around 10am. Plus there's been an extra £95 increase to nearly £800!a year. Best advice: stick to the nearest gs or even the nearest local comp if it's half decent.

At KE VI Handsworth this morning, the lovely girl who showed us round was saying that more and more pupils have been taking public transport (and this in turn has made that option safer as there are more students travelling together)- apparently the Green bus is now set to increase fares to £1000 a year??

At that cost, it would be better to organise taxi-shares of children who are travelling locally to the school of your choice. There might be other local parents, who would share with you.

http://www.travelinemidlands.co.uk/wmti ... anguage=en" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have found this site quite invaluable. I know a fair amount of children travel from Great Barr to QMHS and this is the journey my dd will be doing should she get in :/. The 51 or 51x from the Scott Arms is a really regular and reliable service. I know of one girl by me who chose to stop getting the green bus and get public transport.

Plenty of buses to Walsall and direct debit for a child's pass (unlimited travel all day every day) is £26 pcm payable for 10 months out of 12 (2 months free travel !!) seems pretty good value in comparison to the Green Bus.

Um what did u think about handsworth schools this morning?

Were you there?

I already really liked the school but the visit comfirmed the friendly, happy, diverse and supportive atmosphere.

It was interesting that the girl who showed us round said that more pupils were getting the train to the city, then the 74 or 75 buses which were very regular and took about 10 minutes to get to the school. It seemed a pretty safe route as there were so many of the girls on it.

No was not there, going on Friday, but just wanted to hear what was your impression about the school? Thanks for your feedback.

My Year 8 girl gets the 74 or 75 going west. She has a little bus posse she travels with and they call each other in the mornings to take the same bus. A couple of them change at West Brom bus station and travel on to Dudley and Walsall. The buses come every 5 to 8 minutes - great service.

A group of kids go on the train from New Streeet/Duddeston etc:-

Birmingham New Street [BHM]
Duddeston [DUD]
Aston [AST]
Witton (West Midlands) [WTT]
Perry Barr [PRY]
Hamstead (Birmingham) [HSD]
Tame Bridge Parkway [TAB]
Bescot Stadium [BSC]
Walsall [WSL]

Total journey time is 27 minutes.