Buses from Chalkwell or Southend East Stations

[Cas]

I was wondering if there are any bus services from the nearby train stations to Westcliff or Southend School for Girls please?
I'm trying to look at all options for travelling for my DD - I will appreciate any travel info you may have, from a very concerned parent of a year six DD who will be travelling from Havering

[ToadMum]

I was wondering if there are any bus services from the nearby train stations to Westcliff or Southend School for Girls please?
I'm trying to look at all options for travelling for my DD - I will appreciate any travel info you may have, from a very concerned parent of a year six DD who will be travelling from Havering

I assume you have actually submitted your CAF and therefore have either WHSG or SHSG as first preference / probability? I must admit that I am slightly curious as to why you haven't tried the station to school trip before submitting

However...

WHSG from Chalkwell: no buses, about 20 minute walk, first bit uphill. Lots f DC from WHSG / WHSB / St Thomas More, no need to walk alone if that would bother your DD. You can do a train / bus combo by getting out at Leigh on Sea and getting the First Bus 21 (or by carrying on to Southend East then getting the First Bus 21 or the Arriva 29 from the Travel Centre, but I doubt many if any Westcliff DC do that, travelling from the west).

SHSG from Southend East: there are buses (Arriva 1 / Arriva 4) but I don't think anyone uses them if they arrive by train. Again, hordes of DC walking the route - including our DS1 and DD . You want the train which arrives at about 0754, or the 0809 arrival at the latest. This walk is 10 - 15 minutes and on the flat, apart from a very gentle uphill slope up from the station to Southchurch Road.

If you are worried about your DD travelling (but really there is no need for you to ), have you also applied for schools like Coopers, which are presumably a bit nearer home?

[Cas]

Hmmmmm.... . your first paragraph came off as llittle patronising as applications and forms would have had to be submitted by 31st October for these schools to be an option and yes, Coopers and other closer schools have also been selected.
Just wondered if there were local buses from stations (more Westcliff) as the walk is a long one and trying to get my head around my DD travelling on her own. Good to hear there are many DC doing the same journey, which will make it more bearable and hopefully will make some friends on the way.

Thanks for the detailed info

[ToadMum]

Sorry, not intending to patronise, just assumed you would have a first choice, so to speak, but I thought the question sounded a bit as if you were trying to decide between WHSG and SHSG. I am now assuming that you have put Westcliff first?

Chalkwell station is actually served by a bus service, Stephenson's route 17, but not going anywhere near the Westcliff schools (in fact, the route runs more or less along the line of the c2c service into Southend, but obviously stopping in between the stations as well). As I said, though, loads of children walk from Chalkwell - mostly stopping off at the Co-Op at the top of Woodfield Road either on the way to school, on the way back, or possibly both, as far as I can see

I never use the 21 between Leigh on Sea station and Kenilworth Gardens at that time of day, so I don't know how many choose that option. I have been told that the bus gets very full, but whether that is with kids changing from the train at Leigh or more local schoolchildren using it as their sole method of transport, I'm not sure.

Whichever route your DD will be using, the discounted season tickets available at http://www.greenrailtravel.co.uk are very useful