Another "tutor-proof" test..

[Peridot]

If a child has to get up at 5am to get ready to be in the right place to catch the minibus on its rounds that then takes a minimum of 2 hours to get to school and come home from school, does that constitute reasonable travel? This is what some parents inflict on Tiffin and TGS children, sadly.

[mystery]

Do you mean 2 hours in total or 4 hours in total per day?

[salsa]

Wow! That would not be reasonable, in my opinion!

[mystery]

Are there really girls at tonbridge grammar school who spend 4 hours per day on a bus? Where do they live? That is amazing.

[Peridot]

There are girls at Tiffin Girls' who spend four hours a day in a minibus or private car (two hours each way). I'm sure traffic levels in rural areas (how rural is Tonbridge?) might mean that it is acceptable to live further from a school, but in the London/Surrey area traffic is dreadful and the journeys some girls make are unacceptable to my mind.

[mystery]

Oh wow. I shouldn't think anyone would spend 4 hours a day going back and forth to tgs. There wouldn't be anyone to share the private minibus with.

[Peridot]

Sorry mystery - I've realised I may have caused confusion with my use of "TGS" which I now know stands for Tonbridge Grammar School as well as Tiffin Girls' School.

Whichever school it is though, I'm glad people other than myself think two hours each way for seven years is ridiculous!

I have a friend who went to a grammar school in Manchester many years ago and lived a long way away, and she says her main memory of school, still, is the long grind of travelling and how tired she was all the time. It eclipses any good memories of her time actually in school.

[mystery]

People used to travel a long way in to my school. But two hours each way is something else. I don't think that one should "legislate" against it though, so to speak. I had friends who did a lot of their homework on a bus (goodness knows how their handwriting was so neat) and were academic high flyers. And there are plenty of children who spend the same amount of time on their bottoms on facebook or computer games. At least on the bus you build up your immunity at the same time.

[tiffinboys]

People used to travel a long way in to my school. But two hours each way is something else. I don't think that one should "legislate" against it though, so to speak. I had friends who did a lot of their homework on a bus (goodness knows how their handwriting was so neat) and were academic high flyers. And there are plenty of children who spend the same amount of time on their bottoms on facebook or computer games. At least on the bus you build up your immunity at the same time.

Wonderful idea, mystery, all grammar school should then be open selective. Disband all catchments and distance policies. It would help children a) developing immunity .. helpful to cash strapped NHS, b) will be off social media, c) can do the home work on bus, d) house prices will fall in Kent, Bucks and other catchment areas, e) tired children will go to sleep early and f) will be healthy as they would have to rise very early ... early to bed, early to rise, keeps you healthy and fit.

[mystery]

With some open topped buses they could get fresh air and sunshine too. I am just not sure there would be enough children travelling two hours from every direction to merit a direct bus. They would have to change about 15 times.