Pls help needed! Commuting for school in East Dulwich, is it manageable?

[LittleRL]

My DD is 4 years old and going to start Jags reception in Sep. Currently we live in Greenwich and I?m planning to drive from my place twice a day to drop off and pick her up. I?m not really keen of moving to East Dulwich as we live close to the river and love Greenwich and have no other reason to leave except of DD getting accepted to JAGS.

However, we understand that DD will be quite far from her school friends and all activities (birthdays, playdates etc.) and the distance might disconnects DD from her new friends.

Therefore if we are still delusional and do not appreciate how taxing commuting will be and how badly it might affect our daughter and her chance to get friends and spend time with them we?ll move as it is important to us that DD get the most of her school and social life.

Has anyone tried to commute to pre-prep and prep school? Could you please share your experience.

Please advise if living remotely might affect DD school and social life.

[Cora]

I would think that is one hell of a commute....

[Padders]

Long time ago but I went to school a good 30 mins from home by car and it was absolutely fine.

[Pugwash]

if you are coming via the South Circular i would add another hour onto your journey. I used to have to travel to Greenwich University during rush hour and noted the traffic jams from Forest Hill, Catford and beyond. It may be less of a journey due to lockdown. Have you done a trial run?

A friend of mine moved from Croydon whilst her daughter was still at primary school, to Chatham area, did not want to up root her daughter in her final year at school. Used to leave at around 6.30 am to get to Croydon and then onto Sutton by 9 am where she worked. Daughter missed going out with her friends after school and felt that she lost out on outings etc.

[northernmonkey]

Will she be the only one - no, will it be very hard - yes! If you want playdates to be a part of her life and not the whole of your weekend then i'd say it will be an issue.

When she's 4 it will be fine - you will take her and pick her up / stay around. What about when she's 11 or at secondary school - are you going to let her travel on her own over to Dulwich and surrounds? Also once after school activities start it becomes a very long day.

[RoundTable]

Gosh, I?d try to find an equivalent private school in Greenwich or if JAGS is do high up there then move. I wouldn?t put a 4 year old through a daily 3-hour commute for no good reason, and in this day and age in a city like London I can?t imagine JAGS is the only option for a 4 year old.

[maniana]

My kids are at DUCKS and loads of their mates live in different parts of London. It's not a problem. There are quite highly sought after schools around here so kids come from all over.

I assume JAGS will be the same but at this age there aren't many after school playdates anyway as the kids are little and shattered at the end of the day. As for parties, I don't think the other parents will check your address before inviting your daughter :-)

You aren't asking about the length of the commute so I won't comment, except to say that many families do long commutes for school and I'm sure you have this in mind and can work it out.

[LittleRL]

northernmonkey, thanks a lot. Not really, I'll be driving. It takes 20 min. in the mornings, not so bad. Probably longer in the evenings.

[LittleRL]

thanks a lot all of you.

Probably I still can drive for 3 years but after move to East Dulwich when she became 7+ :)

[womanofdulwich]

I'd try and get a job in Dulwich during school hours if possible, or see if you can share lifts.

[alice]

We are all trying to reduce unnecessary driving.

[tomskip]

20 minutes drive from Greenwich to East Dulwich? I think that sounds unlikely, unfortunately. Have you factored in the additional congestion caused by closed roads through Dulwich and East Dulwich at school commute times?

There must be a lovely prep school closer to home?

[hpsaucey]

There's a LOT to be said for children going to a school near their home. A lot of socialising/making friends for both child and their adults etc is done on the walk to school; hanging out and getting to know the local/school community. That's before all the added stress of when a journey goes wrong and you're late / extra congestion and pollution?

On the whole London's schools are excellent. Are there any that suit your daughter near home?

HP

[tiddles]

Please take the new LTNs into account which are causing dreadful congestion on the main roads in this area - add on a good 45 mins to an hour to your expected journey

[Monkey]

We dropped off at Ducks from East Dulwich for a year. Husband could never get to work on time as the roads are so congested. We then moved her to the school opposite our house for reception and it changed our lives.

[alex_b]

We had our son in Oakfield for a year and then moved him to the local primary school. Even with a much shorter commute compared to what you?re proposing the drop off and pick up was only really manageable with a nanny to do it. However many parents did manage it and there were kids from all over South London at the school. That was the other reason we switched to the local primary, we really wanted him to have friends he would see in the park after school and at weekends.

[redjam]

Remember it's not just the start and end of the day that you'll need to go into school. When my kids were at primary I was forever going back and forth for parents meetings, concerts, sports day, or just because they'd forgotten their PE kit or were ill and needed picking up early. I was lucky; I lived five minutes' walk away and worked at home most days so it was easy for me to pop over to the school when needed. As a result I felt part of the school community and I know the kids appreciated having friends who lived locally. It also meant that on those days when I had a work/home crisis and needed someone to pick up my kids as an emergency, I had a ready pool of local friends who I could rely on.

Don't underestimate all that; having to spend hours in a car every day would get old very quickly - and that's before you even consider the pollution aspect (which would be enough alone to put me off). I'm going to stick my neck out and say there's absolutely no way you can get from Greenwich to East Dulwich in 20 minutes once traffic is back to its pre-Covid levels. I reckon it would be more like an hour each way. And then you'd have to find a parking space... Honestly, sounds like you are making life hard for yourself! Surely there must be other good schools that are local to you?

[womanofdulwich]

Redjam, I think you must be a very caring parent. However I can tell you now my husband never once did any of these things, and I only did a very occasional assembly once a year. I never took forgotten things in. Never had a sick child to collect etc. But part of that was working in town and not being available. I can't help but think that the more available you are the more you are called upon. Of course I know lots of parents that have also had to do all these additional journeys. You are not alone.

[Pugwash]

From a different perspective - we sent our daughter to Sydenham Girls school in Dartmouth Road - a short bus ride away or within walking distance if needed. Her primary school friends went to schools outside Dulwich/ Lewisham which required a bus ride to FH, then 20 minute train ride and further bus ride or a mile plus walk. Even though they were secondary age and traveled independently. their most overriding memory was having to get up early and be out of the house by 6.30 am to reach school by 8.45. Worse still in bad weather and transport strikes. Given the choice, in hindsight, stated they would have preferred to go to a local school as the constant travelling meant they were tired, found it difficult to fit in homework and early bedtimes.

OK the child is only 4 and can sleep in the car both ways, but the frustration of getting to school in ED during bad weather (snow) and missing out of any out of school activities, although I doubt that a 4 year old will have much in the way of homework. St Dunstan's school in Catford has a reception class and I imagine this would cut at least 20 - 30 mins off a rush hour journey from Greenwich.

An old colleague of mine who lived in the Crystal Palace area, used to drop his eldest daughter off at Oakfield on his way to work. Used to take him 30 mins to school and then another 20 - 30 mins to Camberwell where we were based.

[hellosailor]

Sent you a PM xx

[Poppy2017]

The traffic around Dulwich is horrendous at the moment. I live in Dulwich and teach in Bermondsey. It?s taking me between an hour and a half/2 hours to get home each night. I will have to leave the school (which I love) because the travelling time is unmanageable. It used to take 40 minutes tops! Maybe do a few practice trips so you can make a decision!

[DuncanW]

Bermondsey to Dulwich is walkable in an hour and a half

[hellosailor]

Jags, alleyns and Dulwich college run numerous coach routes from all over London to the schools. Pupils can get a space on a coach from year 3.

The Greenwich coach, for example, stops at various points in Greenwich between about 7:20 and 7:30 and takes about 25 mins to get to school. Then leaves at 4pm and takes the same amount of time on the return journey. It has been this way for decades with these schools, with more routes added year on year. About 40% of pupils from these schools live several miles away, it?s always been the case. X

[Jellybeanz]

I would move! East Dulwich is a fabulous area, despite not being close to the river it is very family friendly with 3 green spaces on your doorstep :)

[Ole]

I commuted using a school coach for private schools for all except 2 years. I commuted 1 hour each way from age of 3 starting with kindergarten. It is not good for such little ones. Practical for busy parents, but not great for the child. I didn?t grow up in London. Where I grew up during the 80s the estate options were grim and there were very few choices of private options. If there had been another choice my parents wouldn?t have put me in a school coach so young. I would move closer or find another school.