rubberwheelz wrote:
We live nearer to HGS but there's no green bus west side of B'ham so he would have to get public transport. We asked DS and he would prefer to get green bus to QMGS even though it takes about 1 1/4 hours !!! He's quite shy though and I think some 'bus training' would take away his concerns about getting public transport.
We are going to QMGS open afternoon on Tues. We missed the HGS open day which was in September. We didnt want to get him too involved in choosing schools before because we really didnt expect him to get good enough results. He's really surprised us though as he got 208 and 341 which should give him a reasonable chance of both HGS and QMGS.
Rooroo - I'd be interested to know why you thought QMGS 'won hands down'. What was it for you that made the difference?
Just a word(s) of warning about the green bus after our experience last year. Our ds isn’t shy but he doesn’t love really busy/noisy environments and he found the green bus quite stressful at times. It got very rowdy and the boys could be quite rough at times.
I’d also bear in mind that it’s very restrictive. This year ds is doing public transport and it’s so much better as he’s able to stay behind after school for clubs/table tennis on the playground/homework in the library with friends. Or alternatively he can run for the early tram and get home extra early!
His journey on the green bus was officially just under an hour and he did moan sometimes - especially when it got stuck in traffic! As I’ve said on other threads if we’d had a choice I’d have gone for a nearer grammar but HGS was our only option.
We’re really happy with HGS though. I’ve never been round QM so I’ve no knowledge there. If I had a choice between any two schools though, knowing what I know now is go for the nearer one as long as it was accessible by public transport. I wouldn’t want to be tied to the green bus if I could avoid it. It’s also really expensive!
On the other hand, it is safe and it can be a good way to make friends.