KCS vs CLSB

[ToadMum]

On contrary, would you rather send the child to a grammer school? He has always been to a private

Believe it or not, there are some of us in send our DC to local state primary and secondary schools on principle, not because we are poor and / or ignorant . Most days of the week, ours can even remember how to hold a knife and fork and that 'Happy' starts with an H but 'H' doesn't . And to be honest, the 'roughest' accent I've heard in a long time emanated from a girl who had attended an independent school up to GCSEs.

Should he be offered a local grammar school place next week, why on earth would you want to inflict a three hour a day commute on him instead? And given the number of people even on the forum who seem ignorant of the fact that grammar schools, just like comprehensive schools, are part of the state system, you might find that some at least don't realise that your DS is no longer at a private school, should you decide to 'jump ship'.

[piggys]

the 'roughest' accent I've heard in a long time emanated from a girl who had attended an independent school up to GCSEs.quote]

You haven't met me yet Toadmum. Pure Norrf Laaahndanistan

Seriously though,

Please could experienced parents give me some prospective on what to look for in these schools when going with a decision making view.

The journey will be awful. That's my perspective.

[Hopefulgardener]

We were at CLSB this morning and can give you my honest opinion about commuting. It is a great school, but the train journey felt horribly long and boring. For us it is 55 min door to door. Imagine it on a day they need to carry their PE kit and in my son's case, his cello. Also worth considering activities you may need to be there, such as PTA events, parents's evenings, concerts, plays, etc. I think my son has realised it and moved our local school (also highly academic) to the top of his list.

[Daogroupie]

It is really good that you actually did the journey that he would have to do ten times a week for seven years and he has seen for himself what it would be like. DG

[Bazelle]

DS had 3 after school activities at CLSB this week, will have a game away this afternoon, he was not home before 6.30-7pm Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and he is utterly shattered, was in bed at 8.30 pm last night. I really do not recommend a long commute if you have a suitable alternative closer to home.

[Schoolrunmum]

DS had 3 after school activities at CLSB this week, will have a game away this afternoon, he was not home before 6.30-7pm Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and he is utterly shattered, was in bed at 8.30 pm last night. I really do not recommend a long commute if you have a suitable alternative closer to home.

Bazelle, what are the timings for CLSB, please? I believe it’s a 8.30start but what time do they finish? And how long are the after-school clubs? Hope your son has a nice relaxing weekend after the long week!
Thank you for sharing all this information.

[Bazelle]

I think it is a 8.45 start and 4pm finish. Clubs until 5 pm. They don't have fixtures on Saturdays so in the end it is not so bad, but still. And his friends are all over London, so they meet on virtual servers playing games in the evenings, I am in between with this, but as they are getting older they are starting to meet for real as well. At regular intervals I ask him if he'd rather go to a closer school and he always vehemently refuses, he likes the school and his friends and puts a brave face on the commute.

[Hopefulgardener]

We were told the school opens at 7.15 and many boys take advantage of it to avoid the rush hour. Also, some of the boys have water polo practice early in the morning and orchestra rehearsals after school. It seems a very long day by all means. That said, the boys seemed happy during our tour.

[Schoolrunmum]

I think it is a 8.45 start and 4pm finish. Clubs until 5 pm. They don't have fixtures on Saturdays so in the end it is not so bad, but still. And his friends are all over London, so they meet on virtual servers playing games in the evenings, I am in between with this, but as they are getting older they are starting to meet for real as well. At regular intervals I ask him if he'd rather go to a closer school and he always vehemently refuses, he likes the school and his friends and puts a brave face on the commute.

Thank you your reply. We are seriously considering this as our first choice so feedback like this is very helpful and very appreciated. We hope that maybe he’ll have a travel buddy for the commute.

[Schoolrunmum]

We were told the school opens at 7.15 and many boys take advantage of it to avoid the rush hour. Also, some of the boys have water polo practice early in the morning and orchestra rehearsals after school. It seems a very long day by all means. That said, the boys seemed happy during our tour.

Thank you for your reply. We’ll be on the tour on Monday.