Allegras wrote:
A teaching assistant in a tutoring centre, a Nonsuch graduate, once told me, she commuted 3 hours everyday for 7 years: 1,5 hours each way. Her sister was in Tiffin and her cousin was in Wallington Girls, both of them also had similar commute times. These parents do not think like us. It does not matter how many times we say it is not feasible, our warnings don’t mean anything to them. They maybe had longer commute times back home, wherever they are from, so, to them 3 hours seems normal and doable. They do not care about after school clubs or the social life of their children. When that girl told me she had spent 3 hours in traffic for 7 years every school day, I was shocked. She resented her parents’ choice a little, but only a little. Different social dynamics are in force in these families.
As long as schools do not strictly limit their intake to shorter commute areas, these children will continue suffering silently for the choice of their parents. The schools fail them. The system may be designed for giving every bright child a fair chance of grammar school entry, however, the same exam boards are aware of the grammar tourists or the long commute these children had to endure for years. And they do NOTHING.
It is a complicated issue but I can’t see anyone taking any steps to resolve it in the near future.
I think your summary of the situation is spot on. The school clubs are an important of part of a childs all round education. My DD goes to Nonsuch as she has been involved in competitive sport fixtures which sometimes mean coming back a bit later than normal. She gets a lot out of doing sport and I feel it provides her with some much needed balance in a very academic school.
Something needs to be done to bring in the catchment area as I don't think it's sustainable to have such a long commute. The covid-19 situation has made this situation even harder.