Streetlife

Keiley H

Thetford Academy time changes

Is everyone happy about the proposed school time changes for when the kids move to Thetford Academy North Side? Please email and complain if you are not happy, it means anyone from my estate (Pine Close) would have to leave 7:30 in the morning, pitch black in the winter! I've just emailed, but everyone needs to if they don't want the changes to go ahead.The email address is info@thetfordacademy.com

Comments

Showing 25 of 25
Marie Levaux
My daughter is 8 months pregnant, has a 4 year old and a 1 year old and they walk from the Abbey estate to Raleigh School on Admirals way leaving at 7:30 each morning and my granddaughter is only at school for 3 hours a day. The reason she goes to Raleigh is because there were no places available at local schools. They do this daily without complaint. I don't understand people complaining about having to get up early and walk in the dark when most children that age are quite happy hanging around in the dark in their evenings and walking miles then. It also prepares them for when they eventually get a job.
Keiley H
well my daughter does not walk in the dark and I am not happy which is why I am complaning! until your grand children reach an age where they are walking themselves to school I really can't see how you understand the danger.
Caroline J
What about newspaper boys and girls - don't they have to go out in the dark to deliver our papers - before they go to school? I certainly did as did many of my peer group at 13 years of age.
Also when Charles Burrell (then Thetford Secondary Modern School) opened it was on the edge of town and many of the children attending walked or cycled long distances to get there!
Keiley H
what about them? sorry I don't understand your point. A newspaper round is a choice, it is up to the parents if they are happy with their kids going out delivering when it is dark (tho i'm pretty sure there are laws now that says they can't go out until after a certain time in the morning.) This is to parents of thetford Academy students. If you have a child who is changing schools from Thetford Academy South Side (Charles Burrell) to South Side (Musker) and you do not agree with the proposed changes please email them.
Trevor B
We all walked to school years ago. I know there is more traffic, but children are streetwise these days, it should not be a problem. Far better for them than parents taking them to school in a car.
Caroline J
The point is that if children get used to walking/cycling to school - and yes in the dark, they learn to be streetwise/sensible. As Trevor B points out we all walked to school years ago, some with parents, some with older siblings, and eventually on our own in all weathers and on dark mornings.
Newspaper girls/boys are not allowed out on their rounds before 06.45 - this was the same when I was 13. Yes I chose to do the round with parental approval. I enjoyed doing it and even more so the small amount of money I earned!
Keiley H
s a matter of opinion, i don't want my daughter  walk that far at that hour of the morning so i have emailed the school explaining my concerns. i am hoping the many other parents who have complained to me will also complain to the school too and the reason i put this post on here was to tell parents that they  need to voice their opinions to the school instead of just each other. what everyone else did when they were young is irellivent. when i was a kid i used to play out in just my knickers, i doubt any of you would allow your kids or grandkids do that nowadays. i was hoping to hear from other parents on here who are actually affected by the changes the school is proposing. no one elses opinion is really needed as we all think we know best how to  raise kids!
Marie Levaux
Keiley H, just to clarify the point of you not seeing how I can understand the danger until my grandchildren reach an age where they are walking themselves to school, my children also walked themselves to school. We did not skip a generation and go straight to grandchildren. My children were raised to understand road safety and safety in numbers, as we were when we were children. If you feel your child is not responsible enough to look after their own safety then perhaps you should still be walking them to school or send them on the bus. If you voice your opinion then other people have a right to voice their opinion also, that means that sometimes you will hear things you don't want to hear.
Keiley H
Lol I do trust my daughter, she is a hell of a lot more mature then most kids her age, walking her is pretty impossible unfortunately because of my job, and buses cost money, I am still waiting to hear if she is entitled to a free bus pass but I think as I do not receive any benefits and we live just under the allocated distance, I shall probably be turned down. I don't mind her walking when it's not dark, but I finish work at 7 in the morning and the short walk home is freaky for me. I really don't like it as its black some mornings. At the moment she goes to the nearby high school and she has always walked to school. The proposed changes are really going to screw not only me but a lot if other parents up!
Marie Levaux
For the record I do actually understand your concerns and think that kids should be able to have a free bus pass for school, I do not think this should be means tested if it means children getting to school safely. I do believe though that children are very adaptable, resilient and resourceful than we sometimes give them credit for and many children enjoy the walk to school and see it as time to mix with their friends and peers, it is also good exercise which keeps them healthy. I am always amazed how many Thetford children are dropped off at school by car when most of the first and middle schools are within walking distance for most people.
Keiley H
i would her her walk if I'm honest, it used to really annoy me when i saw people who live nearby drive to school, but i don't want her walking when it's dark. also  it's hard enough getting her up some mornings as it is and she would need to get up even earlier! it just seems unfair that the kids are being made to leave a school which they know and like, to have to walk further away, and now they are thinking of changing the times too. so much upheavel! i can see my daughter changing from a bright punctual girl to someone who is lazy and tired.
David C
I used to go to musker with kids that walked from Barnham cross estate and abbey estate,they didn't seem to have a problem with it, this was only about 10 year ago. I have no problem with my son walking up there when the time comes as long as he is with a group of friends as for walking in the rain that is what umbrellas and waterproof clothing is made for.

@Trevor B  there would probably be less cars on the road if more kids walked to school croxton road is at a standstill some mornings with parents and just 1 child in the car.
Keiley H
The weather isn't the problem, it's how dark it us that time of the morning, I finish work at 7 and really hate the half hour walk home in the dark, some strange characters about. about I change my route every so often but I doubt the kids will. No amount of streetwise will help if someone wants to grab you. It's a long walk, so if my daughter leaves at 7:30 (slim chance as I'm usually still shouting to her to get out if bed! Lol) if she doesn't make it to school it'd be more than an hour later before I know. Not all kids have friends they can walk with too. I just don't understand why they are closing the nearby school so we have to go further and therefore get ready earlier, and then suggest they bring the starting time even earlier! Not fair at all for us pine close lot.
Ray C
well if the kids are walking from pine close end of town they be fitter ?
Keiley H
Of course they would be! Most kids are pretty fit anyway. More cycle routes would be a good idea but the point I'm trying to out across is how dark it is at that time in the morning in the winter. It's a shame the school couldn't change the times according to the seasons :)
Alan R
I don`t wish to add fuel to this fire but I can`t quite see what the problem is about being dark.

Is it the worry of getting run over or something more sinister?
Keiley H
Lol both I guess, I don't like the fact that if my girl leaves at 7:30 and if anything happened and she didn't get to school it would be gone 8:30 before I found out. In that time anything could happen. It's not that I'm over protective, I really do think if the changes go ahead there's a bad thing just waiting to happen. Ive been scared many times walking home from work. It doesn't seem fair that first they plan to close the school the kids were happy enough to go to and will have to travel further to get to the new school, it's a bit insulting to propose an even earlier start, I have no idea how I'm going to work around it as I finish work at 7 in the morning :( lots of mad morning rushes coming up I think followed by walking her to school and back when I should be sleeping! :(
Marie Levaux
As they say, "you can't fight city hall". Sometimes you have to sit back and see how things pan out.
Keiley H
Nooo never sit back and see how things pan out, things will never change if we all did that!! That's the worse lesson to pass on to our kids!
Marie Levaux
That is a very mixed message you are sending as you yourself are opposing change, whereas I am prepared to accept change and try new ideas. We cannot be so happy staying where we are instead of moving forward with the times. Again, children must learn that in life changes happen and we won't always like the changes. I am sure that the pros and cons were weighed up before the changes were implicated as the school board will have a Duty of Care that they are bound by. There was a time that people thought the world was flat until Columbus was given the chance to prove otherwise. Embrace change.
Keiley H
Not sure where the mixed messages are, but each to their own. If you do have a child affected and wish to give your opinion please message the school, if you don't and therefor aren't affected, i'm really not interested!
Anne F
I walked to school at various hours of the day, in the light and dark. I walked home from nights out as a teenager, at all hours. No mobile phones or the like. I would love for my children to do the same........trouble is...its not the same. I feel our kids are more than capable of doing what we did, and, it would do them good. If we were laying down these rules 20/30 years ago I'd agree. But we are not, and it is different now. Internet, cars, transient populations and media growing our kids quicker than we cared......we would love to live as we did,  but we do have to be far more cautious than our parents x
Laura M
I've read a lot of comments about the proposed new school times for the Thetford Acadamy but what are the new times?
Keiley H
the school is proposed to start at 8:30, its fine if you live closer but its a long walk for those on the other estates.
Bryony H
Is that a change of 20 minutes?

Comments are closed. Why not start a new conversation?