11 Plus Exams Forum

When the time comes (early april I think):

- which site will you give a preference for

- which site do you live closer to as the crow flies?

- do you have sibling priority for the Tonbridge site?

If lucky enough to pass, we'd ask for Tonbridge site, but we're closer to Sevenoaks site (as crow flies but uourney takes longer) and have no sibling link --- so it could be iffy. Hoping lots of people will want the Sevenoaks site and some people like us would be lucky enough to get the "wrong" site for their home address.

Hi mystery, DD thankfully passed and we want Tonbridge site ( sorry ) luckily we have sibling priority. We live in central Sevenoaks but want her to be at an established school and with her sister.

From playground and club chat all the parents i know echo this, and they all live in Sevenoaks ... will be interesting to see who chooses Sevenoaks site as their first choice.

Well done to yours ... 3rd time here and am glad i'm done.

Hi Mystery
We are in the same position as you in that we are much closer to the Sevenoaks site but it is harder to get to, with a longer journey. So my preference would also be the Tonbridge site. If it was easier to get to I would have been happy to choose the new site. I thought they were going to take the journey into account but I could be wrong?

Thank you to both of you. I wonder then if more Sevenoaks parents might put TGS first rather than Weald then this year so as not to get the new annex they wanted so much?!!!

Hi there,
Does anyone know what the travel provisions (if any) are for the Sevenoaks site? Looking on the map, it doesn't appear to be particularly close to a station? Are there plans for a private coach firm to run a service from Sevenoaks station/High St or any other locations? School secretary's response was a bit wishy-washy. I can't see there being that many applicants choosing the Sevenoaks site unless accessibility is made easier.

If you put the annex address into http://www.traveline.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is that any help?

Thank you for the link - yes it does - but only to give the detail that there's a number 8 bus that runs from Sevenoaks station on school days. It's still quite a schlep.

Hi Watbots,

I live very close to the annexe site and my nearest bus stop is one serving the site.

There are many school bus services available to the annexe already. They started up last year when Trinity School, which shares the annexe site, moved from a different temporary location to portable cabins adjacent to the construction site. That school is now in its newly-completed permanent building and the number of buses serving the school has increased and must surely increase further with each year's new intake, as the school first opened (elsewhere) with only Year 7 in 2013.

So my recommendation is to check travel routes for Trinity School and the same information will apply to the grammar annexe.

I don't know the specifics of the school services (my DS goes to TWGSB) but I have, for example, seen a 431a, operated by Go Coaches, go direct to the school. You might like to check Go Coaches and Arriva local bus services from Sevenoaks station and the town centre, such as the 308 and 452, but from memory they don't tend to operate until about 9:00 AM - I suppose they have a shortage of vehicles until then.

The nearest train station to the site is Bat & Ball, one stop from Sevenoaks station on a Thameslink line which runs to St Pancras via Bromley South. Bat & Ball is about a 12 minute walk from the school. It is currently unstaffed and services are unreliable, but there are plans to upgrade the station as part of a Thameslink refurbishment programme and Transport for London is looking to take over the line when the current franchise ends in (I think) 2018.

Sevenoaks Town Council are working on plans to build a new council chamber/community centre next to Bat & Ball Station, having apppointed architects after a competition last year. They propose having a cafe which will also serve commuters and make the station more user-friendly in bad weather.

Hope that helps a bit.

Thank you so much for this, Chimera-ma,
Really useful. I'll check out Trinity School routes. I do think WoK could be a little more helpful about this, if I'm honest. Otherwise everyone will chose Tonbridge, regardless of whether they live near Sevenoaks or not.

chimera-ma wrote:Hi Watbots,

I live very close to the annexe site and my nearest bus stop is one serving the site.

There are many school bus services available to the annexe already. They started up last year when Trinity School, which shares the annexe site, moved from a different temporary location to portable cabins adjacent to the construction site. That school is now in its newly-completed permanent building and the number of buses serving the school has increased and must surely increase further with each year's new intake, as the school first opened (elsewhere) with only Year 7 in 2013.

So my recommendation is to check travel routes for Trinity School and the same information will apply to the grammar annexe.

I don't know the specifics of the school services (my DS goes to TWGSB) but I have, for example, seen a 431a, operated by Go Coaches, go direct to the school. You might like to check Go Coaches and Arriva local bus services from Sevenoaks station and the town centre, such as the 308 and 452, but from memory they don't tend to operate until about 9:00 AM - I suppose they have a shortage of vehicles until then.

The nearest train station to the site is Bat & Ball, one stop from Sevenoaks station on a Thameslink line which runs to St Pancras via Bromley South. Bat & Ball is about a 12 minute walk from the school. It is currently unstaffed and services are unreliable, but there are plans to upgrade the station as part of a Thameslink refurbishment programme and Transport for London is looking to take over the line when the current franchise ends in (I think) 2018.

Sevenoaks Town Council are working on plans to build a new council chamber/community centre next to Bat & Ball Station, having apppointed architects after a competition last year. They propose having a cafe which will also serve commuters and make the station more user-friendly in bad weather.

Hope that helps a bit.

That's really helpful Chimera-ma.

Having similar issue getting the facts here too while considering whether to put Weald first, second or not at all.

It's easier for me than some as, like Chimera-ma, I know it's next to the Trinity School so can use that address when searching for transport information. But otherwise it's a well kept secret unless you have carefully filed away the bit of paper with it on from the open morning at the end of year 5.

A friend in a similar quandary called up and no-one at the school end seemed to have the address anywhere. it's not on the school website either - or if it is, it's very difficult to find.

Anyone who applies for 2017 has to be willing to be allocated to the annex if the Tonbridge site is full. This makes it imperative that the school provides sufficient clues for parents to work out if their child can get to both annexes.

Also, the supplementary information form says that girls at the Sevenoaks annexe will attend the Tonbridge site for "at least the equivalent of 1 day per fortnight". Whereas the FAQ says 1 day per fortnight. There is a difference in these wordings.

It seems as though anyone applying needs to be confident their child can travel to both sites in case they don't get their preference or so that if they're at the Sevenoaks site they know their daughter can get to or from the Tonbridge site on at at last one day per fortnight.

Oh dear. I might need to go to my third open morning there and make sure I keep properly hold of all the bits of paper this time to sort out these various queries about transport.