Son doing 1 week of summer school and transport there

onlyroz

Is he mature enough to make his own way there? E.g. on a bus? Presumably he's going to have to learn to travel by himself once he starts secondary school...

Spendless

onlyroz wrote: »

Is he mature enough to make his own way there? E.g. on a bus? Presumably he's going to have to learn to travel by himself once he starts secondary school...

He is, but his Secondary is only in the next village, either walking distance or school bus away. Public service bus is a PITA between the 2 villages. As such he's never done it (he turned 11 last week) and I am concerned a 25 mile trip there is too much for a first step travelling alone. It'd mean I reckon bus from our village to town centre. bus from town centre of another town's centre and a 3rd bus from town centre to college.

balletshoes

Spendless wrote: »

My yr 6 son has been offerred a 1 week place at summer school at a 6th form college due to being on the G & T register in a particular subject. It's a fantastic opportunity for him and he really wants to go.

I had been told that a mini bus would pick him up from his Primary school and drop him off each day. I've now been told that's not the case, there is not transport, you have to get them there and back yourself. It starts at 9am and finishes at 3.30pm but it's in a different county from where we live and totally in the opposite direction of where I work 9-3 4 days a week.

Hubby works f-time. I don't really want to take this week off work as DS is already 'occupied'. I'd rather me and hubby took different weeks off for the kids (we also have an 8yo).


I have got some vague ideas of what we can do, but am open to suggestions just in case someone has an idea I haven't considered.

my first suggestion would be, are there any other children from your son's school going to the same summer school week? Could you ask them to take you son to college each morning, and you'll pick up your child and theirs up and bring them home (if you can manage this with your work finish time).

ETA I see you've thought about this already - to be honest it wouldn't even cross my mind that parents who have managed perfectly well to get their child here and there by car wouldn't be safe enough to drive my child or anyone else's to college with their own children.

As to your friends not being able to help as they'd have their own children in the holidays to look after - they're not looking after your son, they are only driving him from your house in the morning to the college, aren't they? I would happily do that for a friend or neighbours child in my holidays, if it helped them.

Spendless

balletshoes wrote: »

my first suggestion would be, are there any other children from your son's school going to the same summer school week? Could you ask them to take you son to college each morning, and you'll pick up your child and theirs up and bring them home (if you can manage this with your work finish time).

ETA I see you've thought about this already - to be honest it wouldn't even cross my mind that parents who have managed perfectly well to get their child here and there by car wouldn't be safe enough to drive my child or anyone else's to college with their own children.

As to your friends not being able to help as they'd have their own children in the holidays to look after - they're not looking after your son, they are only driving him from your house in the morning to the college, aren't they? I would happily do that for a friend or neighbours child in my holidays, if it helped them.

well since my last post, we have had offer from a friend, who'll maybe do 1 pick up. I have also discovered that there is a train from my village to the area where this college is, the webiste says there is then a 20 minute walk. DH disagrees that it's 20 mins, he thinks it more as he says he roughly knows the area. I still think he's too young to do this alone, when he's never been out of our village by himself, but if there are older children from the secondary school going too, this is a possibility. Friends I am not keen on asking them to do a 50 mile round trip with their own kids in tow, but solutions are opening up.

Savvy_Sue

And he might be OK to do this with the other child going from his school.

You may not know them yet, but it's worth getting to know them!

Emmzi

if it was for a G&T programme tbh I'd take the week off to make sure it could happen and take extra shifts other weeks to make up the cash.

Spendless

Ok- well, I asked the other child's mum, but they intend going as a family and there may not be room in the car. The other family members are going to have a day out whilst child is there, so I asked does she mean they will be doing this for just 1 day or for the whole week, but she didn't know and said she'd get back to me.

There is no transport via the college, it's mentioned in the booklet I've been given.

I mentioned the no transport at work, more of a 'I've just found this out'than a 'can I do different hours' but I worked out if I ask to come in and leave 1/2 hours difference I could do the pick ups 3 afternoons, a friend has offerred for one and I don't work fridays. That leaves me with 4 mornings to sort out.


I don't really want to take the week off work (other than last resort scenario). I'll only get 1 week off to cover summer hols, so if I use it to run child about, it means he's in childcare for another week of the hols. Whereas if I can sort it, he's at summer school for this week and he can be home with me for a different week. Same applies to Mr S's annual leave.

floss2

Spendless wrote: »

...I mentioned the no transport at work, more of a 'I've just found this out'than a 'can I do different hours' but I worked out if I ask to come in and leave 1/2 hours difference I could do the pick ups 3 afternoons, a friend has offerred for one and I don't work fridays. That leaves me with 4 mornings to sort out.....

I think you're on the way to having worked out a solution

Spendless

Ok - so the other child isn't able to help out at all. But we have a possible solution. If me and hubby take 1 days AL each, re-jigging a family w'end break we hoped to take to a BH weekend instead thus saving us a days holiday entitlement each to use on this instead. Plus my weekday off that's 3 days sorted. If friend 1 who offerred can do us 2 pick-ups, another friend has offerred to do 1 morning run. Then we will speak to a grandparent about doing the other remaining run.

There is also a **possibility** that friend's foster brother who is 17 and a student at this college so knows his way round might do the train trip with him, if I paid him a babysitting fee (my suggestion). hubby isn't keen on this idea as we don't know him/never met him, but I've known my friend over 30 years and trust what she says.

Savvy_Sue

Spendless wrote: »

There is also a **possibility** that friend's foster brother who is 17 and a student at this college so knows his way round might do the train trip with him, if I paid him a babysitting fee (my suggestion). hubby isn't keen on this idea as we don't know him/never met him, but I've known my friend over 30 years and trust what she says.

Well, you've got time to meet him, haven't you? And then you can see what you think, and see what DS thinks. I think mine really enjoyed the first few times they were thought sufficiently grown up enough to do things like this, without a 'proper' adult in tow.