Travel to Newstead Wood from East Greenwich

Eleven Plus (11+) in Bexley and Bromley

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Graham_S
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 1:54 pm

Travel to Newstead Wood from East Greenwich

Post by Graham_S »

I'm delighted that my first post on this forum gets to mention (boast?) that my DD got a Top 180 score for Bexley and a great score for Newstead Wood! This would have been a dream for us come true a year ago, to be able to choose between our favourite schools. My heartfelt congratulations and commiserations to everyone else enduring this process. It's not easy, is it?

But now it actually comes down to it, and we have the luxury of choice, I think Newstead is probably too far for us. We live in East Greenwich, near the very edge of the NW catchment area. To get the train to Orpington we'd have to get to Hither Green by car or get the Greenwich line in and change at London Bridge. Especially with all the upcoming works at London Bridge meaning that some services will go straight to Cannon Street, I'm concerned that that would all be a bit much for a small child, especially on top of the homework demands.

It seems there are possibilities for a coach service. Lewis Travel has been mentioned on here and I've also been in touch by email with travel2school. That would be great, but don't seem like a sure thing yet, and we'd need to be able rely on it for the next few years.

Are there any Newstead parents on here who live around Greenwich or Blackheath? Does anyone have anything to add to help guide our decision?
tansou
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 11:33 am

Re: Travel to Newstead Wood from East Greenwich

Post by tansou »

We are in welling and in the same situation as you....top 180 in Bexley and a very good chance in Newstead. She also scored 422 in Kent. But we are putting Newstead as our first preference although slightly worried about the travel.
Will prefer a coach/taxi pool for the first year at least. Travel2School need a minimum of 15 children to be able to start a minibus. I hope you have registered your interest with them? Lets hope we can arrange something by next year....

The last option will be Bus #51 from Welling which takes about 45 mins each way. If you find another better way, please let us know.
Graham_S
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 1:54 pm

Re: Travel to Newstead Wood from East Greenwich

Post by Graham_S »

Thanks. I will.
Graham_S
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 1:54 pm

Re: Travel to Newstead Wood from East Greenwich

Post by Graham_S »

Incidentally, we've definitely decided on Newstead now. We'll make the travel work somehow. Apparently there are some existing minibus services and I'm tracking down the info. I'm told the Year 7s often start out getting the buses and slowly migrate to public transport as they get older.

If there are any other new parents coming from our general direction, feel free to PM me and we can pool any info!

We're all very excited here!
parent2013
Posts: 452
Joined: Mon Aug 12, 2013 10:13 am

Re: Travel to Newstead Wood from East Greenwich

Post by parent2013 »

Graham

First of all a big congratulations that your dd has got into Newstead. It is a wonderful school and I've got absolutely 5 star feedback on that. So, please don't fall into any dilemma and miss this opportunity.

Yes, it can be quite tricky to get from Greenwich to Orpington. I have seen tons of girls who travel every day via train into Orpington. I think first year could be a bit tricky and then the child can manage with group of friends to travel everyday. I suggest you team up with any other parent who can collect/drop. Not sure how much it is a hassle but you can also consider moving near to the school.
Graham_S
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 1:54 pm

Re: Travel to Newstead Wood from East Greenwich

Post by Graham_S »

Lovely to hear. Thank you.

We may move in time if it becomes unmanageable. Ideally we'd be able to delay that a few years until I'm back on here stressing about schools for DD2!
Graham_S
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2013 1:54 pm

Re: Travel to Newstead Wood from East Greenwich

Post by Graham_S »

update!

(for the benefit of anyone else in our position. If you are from around Blackheath / Greenwich and going to NW, please feel free to PM me.)

So a bit of digging has revealed the following.

There is a minibus run by Bromley Minicoaches (bromleyminicoaches@hotmail.co.uk) that picks up and drops off from Blackheath Standard at 7:30 and 16:30. Price is roughly £5-£6 per day depending on numbers.

Travel2School (enquiries@travel2school.co.uk) 's minibus from the Greenwich area is not running this year due to numbers. They hope to run it next year. A likely time of 7:10 pickup from Greenwich depending on route has been suggested.

Lots of kids get the 7:53 train from Hither Green. Trains would get back to Hither Green at 16:06 or 16:18. The latter train also stops at Lewisham, from where you can get buses back to Greenwich etc if no-one is available for pickup.

It's a long day, but doable and the commute seems fairly pleasant. I think the minibus option is great while they're finding their feet, maybe migrating to public transport when they get older, or as a backup.
undecidedmum
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:59 am

Re: Travel to Newstead Wood from East Greenwich

Post by undecidedmum »

We were fortunate enough to have this choice also last year and went for Newstead. My dd frequently gets the train in and it has actually worked out very well. :D V happy with the school. Would definitely recommend it.
MerlinFromCamelot
Posts: 224
Joined: Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:21 am

Re: Travel to Newstead Wood from East Greenwich

Post by MerlinFromCamelot »

I appreciate that different things work for different DCs/families but is it really worth spending most of ones school life on public transport? I get tired just reading some of these travel schedules :lol:

If you are lucky enough to have a top 100 place in Bexley and live within reasonable distance it may be worth having a good think about this.

I know it is a lovely school, we looked at it when our DD1 took the test as a back up in case we did not pass Bexley and some children are very happy there but there are also an awful lot of girls that are not!

Good luck to all of you!
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