Dear friends, which school should I put as my first option, KEGS OR WESTCLIFF BOYS? I am based in Hornchurch. Are there any coaches GOING upto KEGS? Thank you

I’d say Campion, if your son qualifies for it!
Other than that, please look at ease of travelling to Chelmsford/Southend. 90-120min journey each way, every day is no joke for a young person.

I second Campion if you can.

I commute to work from Leigh to Hornchurch and I wouldn’t recommend it as a school run. That being said, Hornchurch to WHSB is probably the better than Hornchurch to KEGS- a c2c commute from Upminster.

My daughter is at WHSG and it astonishes me how far some parents make their children commute.

If your child commutes 90 mins a day that automatically excludes them from before/after school activities and makes it much harder to socialise with their school friends.

Is it really worth it when a child who excelled in the 11+ is likely to thrive at most schools?

Plus a nice bracing 25 minute walk from Chalkwell station .

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Hi there,

If you are going to KEGS than Gidea Park to Chelmsford by train is the way that the young people do it. I know a few that do the commute but the two I know well (one CCHS and one KEGS live within walking distance of Gidea Park station. It is decent commute but Crossrail has been causing more frequent disruptions lately. When on the train into London I see KEGS/CCHS uniforms travel all the way to Stratford so at least Hornchurch is Zone 6.

To go to Westcliff the people I know use http://www.crestcoaches.com/transport-t ... r-schools/

There are many people that travel from Hornchurch and if you are on the other side of Hornchurch near C2C in upminster then Chalkwell station is a bit of a walk, but again, lots of uniforms going to Central London from the schools.

We moved from Hornchurch to Westcliff so our children could walk to WHSG and WHSB. I still travel up the A127 to Gidea park when I am working off peak as you can't beat £3.10 to the Westend but if I work during the day I take C2C to avoid A127 carpark rush hour. The buses get there quickly as they are doing the reverse commute, If you are travelling into London on the A127 you see many different buses coming down off the A127 to the local roads to the schools around 8am.

I will check with my sons friend at the boys school to see if he takes a different bus than Crest when I get a chance.

* UPDATE Apparently Crest is full this year but Maymist also does a run.

It does seem a bit of a trek when Campion & Coopers are pretty much on your doorstep...

Hi there we are in Upminster.

When we visited the schools we pretty much ruled out KEGS for travel reasons as it's three trains for us - one to Romford, one to Shenfield, one to Chelmsford. From Hornchurch I guess you would bus to Romford then take the trains? However the travel time isn't that much longer than the Southend schools because of the walk at the other end. One of the other reasons we ruled out KEGS is for sports reasons - my son is very sporty and their opportunities were far more limited than either WHSB or SHSB.

BTW, both Campion and Coopers have religious criteria so if you don't fulfil them, you won't get in. i would say Coopers is very unlikely from Hornchurch as the catchment is now very small (initial allocation 0.9K). My eldest daughter has just started at Coopers (y7 this year) so we know my son will get in there as a sibling.

From Hornchurch I guess the option for Southend schools would be bus to Upminster, train to Chalkwell/Westcliffe and walk.

At the minute I am torn between sending him to Coopers on our doorstep or trekking up to SHSB/WHSB every day (his score won't get him into KEGS as it happens).

Good luck!
xx