This is my first post here. We live in Grays, our daughter is currently in year 5 and seems to be a high achiever (although, perhaps all parents think that......). She is having tutoring for 11+ and we are considering WHSG & SHSG (possibly Dartford/Wilmington) for entry in 2021.

I have some concerns about the length of her day if using the coach/public transport, which will obviously be compounded by the academic demands of attending a grammar. I was just looking for advice/your experiences about how your children had adapted to: the commute, life at grammar & the impact on their activities/interests outside of school.

I can’t talk from first hand but by DD has recently started WHSG and has a friend who lives this way. By the time I’m home from work at 5 they always seem to be FaceTiming so that should give you some comfort!

WHSG don’t have many afterschool activities- it’s mostly lunchtime clubs- probably because such a majority of girls, particularly in the current years 9-11, are from OOC.

That’s good to know - especially the info about clubs, felt that was something she might miss out on!

Although some girls might prefer more time to be able to eat their lunch and keep a bit of separation between 'school' and 'extracurricular'?

Also, if e.g. chosen to play a sport for the school, staying after school is something to be factored in, whichever school is chosen.

If you are near Grays railway station, getting to and from either school is done by train. More of a walk and definitely more up and down hill, Chalkwell to WHSG than Southend East to SHSG, though .

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We're in Thurrock and have been agonising about this too, but have bitten the bullet and put SHSB and WHSB as our top two schools, as even though the commute is longer than Dartford Grammar, there's at least an organised coach service. Seems to be zero concrete info regarding transport to Dartford.

How did you get on?