Hello Folks

i was just wondering if there is someone out there who's son will be travelling (i.e. entry Sep 2019) or has been travelling from Moseley to QMGS? I (dad) am enamoured by the school; however my wife is very anxious about the journey. The plan: drop off to New Street and then catch the 7.42 to Walsall (19 minutes) and then a 15 minute walk to school. However, my wife is a bit concerned about the walk; its along main(ish) roads which worries her. Any advice/recommendations/words of wisdom which i could use to put her mind at rest?

The alternative is Aston, which while very good, doesn't appeal as much for all sorts of reasons: lack of green space, more limited enrichment activities etc..

Thoughts and advice welcome.

is this for Sep 2019 - have you got an offer from / on waiting list?

Hello hermanmunster

Yes this is for September 19 - we have an offer from QMGS (score 352).

How would he get to Aston? If green bus is the only option I'd be wary, as the route to Moseley will be stopped at some point, once the catchment changes have kicked in. However, if he can get there by public transport I would think hard about opting for QM.

Walsall is a long way to go from Moseley, especially when you have to drive it. I guess how often you need to go will depend on your boy. If he's very involved say in Music or Sport you might find yourself having to go quite often. We're about half an hour away from our son's school in Handsworth, but it's not been too much of an issue - we've only had to go there for parent's evening and a concert each year, plus dropping off for a trip. We've been to my daughter's school a lot more.

The public transport route doesn't sound too bad, but Moseley to New Street is a trek in rush hour. Remember you'll be tied to this for 5 years at least. However, if one of you is commuting into town anyway, so it's on your way, that makes a big difference. What about the other end of the day? Will someone need to drive to New St to pick him up at around 4.30? That would be approaching rush hour. I'm not sure I'd fancy doing that every day.

I used to live in Walsall and I thought the boys school was a fair way from the station. Are you sure it's a 15 minute walk? I've done the route on 'walkit.com' and it says it's 1.1 miles, 18 mins walking fast. It's not the nicest route, although reasonably safe I should think. Think about what a chore it will be for your son, especially if he's walking alone - maybe find out if many boys walk to the station from the school? Have you walked the route yourselves to check it out? I made sure I tried all the routes to the schools myself so I knew what it would be like!

Our ds goes quite a long way to school - Northfield to Handsworth - although it's not as many miles as Moseley to Walsall. I've said before that if we'd had the option of a closer grammar school we'd have taken it, although we're very happy with the school. It is tiring, especially using two buses/bus and train etc. In the winter it's particularly gruelling. It also means they're back from school later, although Handsworth finish at 3, which offsets the disadvantage.

Personally, I don't think it sounds like a great idea. When all's said and done, a school is a school and I'm not sure your son will enjoy QM so much more to make the long journey and early starts worth it if there's a more convenient option. Will he really mind the lack of green space at Aston? There's none at Handsworth either and my ds has never mentioned it! There's table tennis tables and an astro turf for playing football so he's happy!

There are some boys I know who do the journey in reverse and travel from around the area we live in Walsall to KECHB.Its not something I recommend purely because of the travel but they seem to be thriving.The new catchments for the KE grammars will stop this in the future.I would recommend going to KE Aston the closer school.There is the option of the green bus from its stops on the routes but there are early starts.

https://www.thegreenbus.co.uk/pdf/19-20 ... -20_v1.pdf

I suspect this route may vanish if catchments come in for the Walsall grammars in the future.The route you are considering from Walsall train station is perfectly safe and taken by a number of boys.Its not really a long walk.The alternative will be to catch the X51 public bus from Birmingham centre and get off at the five ways roundabout on the Birmingham Road in Walsall with a 5 minute walk.The X51 is the fast service and lots of children travel on this route to both Walsall Grammars.

You have two excellent schools to choose from and as much as I like the local boys grammar either choice for you will not be wrong.

_________________
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Abraham Lincoln

Yes, I was also going to suggest the X51 for the shorter walk and greater likelihood of friends travelling that way.

My ds has the choice of tram and train, or bus and bus after school. The bus option takes much longer but he prefers it because a) loads of his friends take that bus and b) it's a much shorter walk to the bus stop than to the tram stop!

My main concern really would be the stretch from Moseley to the city centre - particularly at the end of the day. But I hate driving in rush hour! I guess he could take the bus into town if you needed him to?

Good luck with your decision anyway! I'd do the journey yourself a couple of times on a school day in rush hour just so you know what it's going to be like. Likewise with the journey to Aston - which of course may not turn out to be much better anyway! Bus travel through Birmingham is so slow...

Thanks crazycrofter and quasimodo - useful council from both of you and much appreciated. We have pretty much looked into the suggestions you have made. I guess we are just going to have to make a decision!