travelling to Tonbridge

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ToadMum
Posts: 11946
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: travelling to Tonbridge

Post by ToadMum »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-28056123
http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/.. ... ge-station - click on 'Thameslink'.

There have been notices up in London Bridge station for a while about the forthcoming work.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
neurotic kent mum
Posts: 970
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 12:40 am

Re: travelling to Tonbridge

Post by neurotic kent mum »

35 minutes is fine, shorter than others for instance those travelling from Hastings. Many will join your DD at Sevenoaks so she wouldn't be alone for long. You might start a trend! School visits are not onerous as you can just catch the train yourself. The only issue would be the occasional school trip but in all honesty most of the late night collects are when they are returning from London - so your dd would just get home earlier. Friends are no more an issue for you than for anyone else as children travel from all over Kent and East Sussex. Just encourage her to make friends with those who live close to a railway station!
doodles
Posts: 8300
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm

Re: travelling to Tonbridge

Post by doodles »

It sounds fantastic in theory but what about after school matches, practices and clubs. How many friends will actually be based towards London? Are there matches on Saturday mornings when trains aren't so plentiful and what about travel from London bridge to home how long is that.

I would certainly consider the cons as well as the obvious pros.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: travelling to Tonbridge

Post by Guest55 »

Why would anyone travel from Hastings? That is just crazy ...
franticmum
Posts: 139
Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2009 7:16 pm

Re: travelling to Tonbridge

Post by franticmum »

That is your opinion G55 which is to be respected as you obviously wouldn't consider it for your child. It's a shame you didn't offer me the same respect for my opinion when I stated why we chose a girls school for our daughter, having been to one myself, and when all the possibly biased comments from the Girls School Association report actually rang true for me, especially when I also considered our local mixed comp. Interesting that lack of girls doing maths and physics is in the news again, and also, sexism was mentioned on the Tonight programme. These may not have rung true in your school but they do in many others.

Anyway, lets not allow that to feature in further postings on this thread. Possible reasons for travelling from Hastings could be:
1) It depends on how far they are from the station and so we're back to the door-to-door journey time again. Someone living 2 mins walk from Hastings could have less of a journey than someone further up the line who then has a 30 minute car journey home from their station. Trains are easier to get homework done on than buses.
2) East Sussex schools are about 95% mixed comps. If you want a single sex school, there is only one and its not doing brilliantly, if you only looked at the league tables and Ofsted. Despite some bright children doing well at comps, some of us don't like the current policies in mixed comps and feel that bright children do not always reach their full potential so they may prefer a grammar school. Also, unless you are in big towns like Eastbourne, or you're mid-way between two schools, you basically are in the catchment for only one school, despite having 3 choices, so like it or lump it.
3) The same reason people are considering in recent threads, for travelling from Orpington, Bromley and, obviously, London Bridge is that TGS is a very good school.

... and there are probably loads more other reasons, personal to the parents concerned.

Tension - As someone with a child travelling from Sussex, I would definitely contact the school to find out how many join at Sevenoaks and Orpington. I believe the train is fast to London Bridge after Orpington so its only the next stop, albeit 20 mins. If friends are in Orpington, that's no worse than someone from Sussex travelling to a friend in Tonbridge.

All clubs are lunchtime, except p.e. matches, so depends how sporty a girl your daughter is.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: travelling to Tonbridge

Post by mystery »

I was also told by a pupil guide at Open Morning that they have a new homework policy which states that teachers cannot set homework which requires working with another child and that no homework has to be in the following day.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: travelling to Tonbridge

Post by Guest55 »

There is a girls comp in Hastings which gets OK results ... it sends students to Oxbridge.

I do know East Sussex ...

We'll agree to diagree on girls schools as of course a report by the GSA would be in favour! The recent Ofsted report was no so enthusiastic:

MIXED SCHOOLS ARE BETTER THAN SINGLE SEX SCHOOLS SAYS OFSTED CHIEF INSPECTOR

"Ofsted Chief Inspector says that mixed schools are better than single sex schools"

The Sunday Times reported on 28th September that the Chief Inspector of Schools Sir Michael Wilshaw has said recently that girls and boys learn better when taught together in mixed classrooms rather than in single sex schools.

Our own review of research evidence gives a picture that is not quite as clear cut but we do feel that on balance the evidence is that boys and girls are indeed "better together". The most recent piece of serious research was undertaken by Professor Alan Smithers.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: travelling to Tonbridge

Post by mystery »

There is always a piece of educational research kicking around to prove whatever one wishes to prove.

I think people like to go north from Hastings to get away from William and his horses.
PurpleDog
Posts: 223
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 1:21 pm

Re: travelling to Tonbridge

Post by PurpleDog »

Everyone has to make their own decisions weighing up all the pros and cons for their individual child.

An hour train journey each way may well mean most homework is done before they get home so it's not wasted time.

We have friends in Hastings where the Mum works in Tonbridge who want their daughter to go to TGS. She very definitely knows what the journey will be like!

I'm not really a big fan of single sex education but I am very impressed with what I have seen from TGS and definitely feel it is the right school for our DD.

They do however have a mixed sixth form which I think is a good thing.
tension
Posts: 14
Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2014 3:40 pm

Re: travelling to Tonbridge

Post by tension »

Thanks a lot Ladies for all your advice and intervention.

It helped me a lot and I am really impressed.
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