Reasonable journey to Grammar

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Bells
Posts: 70
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2018 5:54 pm

Reasonable journey to Grammar

Post by Bells »

What would you say is a reasonable journey to Grammar school? I am not trying to open can of worms, but genuinely interested to hear ideally from parents whose children are travelling to school (and I don't mean walking distance). Am I wrong thinking that for anyone who isn't actually in Gloucester that's at least half an hour on the bus? How do 11 year olds cope with that?
Brackenboo
Posts: 441
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2018 11:21 am

Re: Reasonable journey to Grammar

Post by Brackenboo »

Something I would consider is, would you do the journey for work each day?
hermanmunster
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Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Reasonable journey to Grammar

Post by hermanmunster »

when I was at senior school it was two buses or car and bus - the main bus was the school special and took 45 mins, most of the time it was a laugh as friends were on it and it was very sociable but it still got very wearing over the years and when my kids went to senior school I was very glad that we could see the schools from the kitchen window
RedVelvet
Posts: 546
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:06 pm

Re: Reasonable journey to Grammar

Post by RedVelvet »

It amazes me that people don’t consider this before putting their child in for the test.
Griff1
Posts: 14
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2019 10:02 pm

Re: Reasonable journey to Grammar

Post by Griff1 »

I used to go on the school coach leaving home around 7:30 & getting home around 5:30. I would’ve struggled with any longer day & missed out on after-school activities for the first couple of years. This was a dropped off to the coach & picked up from it easy situation with lots of laughs on the coach. I’m not sure how I feel about several pieces of public transport as my DD is young in her year. These are my considerations when planning on school options.
cheltdad
Posts: 90
Joined: Sat Oct 12, 2019 7:53 pm

Re: Reasonable journey to Grammar

Post by cheltdad »

I suspect this is a "how long is a piece of string" question - what is acceptable to some would be regarded as out of the question for others.

Also what seems OK in the spring and summer with extended daylight becomes a far bigger issue in the winter - especially when trains etc get disrupted.

When we did the Pates tour one of the DDs showing us round was commuting from Cardiff, and we know of others that come from Bristol and Swindon. I've also been told of DDs and DSs being seen on the train from at least Slough heading for the Stroud schools in a morning (and quite what all the time table changes that are coming in Dec are going to do to them is a good question as I know some in Swindon have been complaining about it).

At the level of the schools it's known that Crypt has been having concerns about how far some are travelling - partly as it ends up with folks having no local friends, and also affects the ability to get folks to come to sports stuff at the weekends etc or stay for after school activities
cazien
Posts: 533
Joined: Sat Mar 03, 2012 12:20 pm

Re: Reasonable journey to Grammar

Post by cazien »

The Head at Crypt has been very vocal for a few years now regarding the distance some children are having to travel to school. He has highlighted concerns not only for the disruption it causes when pupils arrive late, lack of commitment to school activities but also their well-being. With a certain TV channel now highlighting mental health issues because people are not communicating and being isolated for large periods of time during the day, this will no doubt add ammunition to his concerns.

In the past, Crypt have also requested parents find alternative education for their DS's as they rarely arrived to school on time, because of public transport issues.

My DS recently took a tube journey with a friend and they actually had the "audacity" to have a conversation - he said they felt like aliens as they were being stared at by other passengers!

Please think about the well-being of your children - it is more important than a Grammar School education.
authormum
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 7:55 am

Re: Reasonable journey to Grammar

Post by authormum »

My y7 DD travels in to Gloucester from Stroud on the bus. It's around 45 mins for her because of the side of Stroud we are on. Although Ribston was her preferred school we did ask ourselves if this would be too much either side of a busy school day. In practice, however, she has several friends also taking the bus and she enjoys that time. She's no more tired than her older sister who walks to SHS.
jearund
Posts: 254
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: Reasonable journey to Grammar

Post by jearund »

I wonder what the Head of Crypt considers too far? On the bus it's a similar time from Cheltenham to Crypt/Ribston but I'm not aware there are any problems with children being late - this is one of the school bus services (Bennetts). I can see if you are using multiple public buses it could be more difficult.....
Deb70
Posts: 340
Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2018 5:00 pm

Re: Reasonable journey to Grammar

Post by Deb70 »

My children travel 20 miles to GS, on a school bus so straight there. With traffic, it's an hour each way. I think it's too much and am applying for jobs close to their school, hoping to move house as well. I end up picking them up a lot as I don't want them to miss out on school activities. I think if it was any further/longer it would be too much. They do get tired and it does affect free time/homework.
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