mrs.lotte

Dear family roomers. Can anyone recommend family friendly accommodation in Goa (2 children aged 9 and 6? We have been lots of times before children but this is a different ball game! Usual requirements - pool and near beach and amenities, preferably a villa rather than hotel with 2 or 3 bedrooms. In an ideal world it would be a traditional rather than new build but with some mod cons and the possibility of a cook. Thanks

Is this a general teacher's strike or specific schools? nb re the Ofsted report - I read it and to my untrained eye the grade of 3 for management was largely due to insufficiently rigorous tracking, and (on the face of it) that seems borne out by the stats of progress between KS1 and KS2. Tracking should be documented so if Ofsted have got it wrong doubtless that would be easy to establish. It seems to be to be the sort of thing that is pretty invisible to parents (unlike, nice atmosphere, good behaviour etc which was praised in the report) but it is the bread and butter of Ofsted. Consequently if the findings had a legitimate basis then it must be better that it is identified and tackled, which it sounds like the school are doing.

Bloomers is the shop by the fabric place, the owner Sharon, is brilliant and there is a great range.

Try the white room in se4 They are run by Nicky who posts on forum as nc23

Thank you so much for the tips. Husband has already ordered a waterproof sling but thanks for the offer. I found a comfy day to day one in The chemist by Just Williams and he has coped perfectly well with eating a full English, putting on his boots, writing a short story, doing a jigsaw and charging and using the iPhone. Inspired by your responses I am resisting any learned helplessness,

My 8 year old has broken his (mercifully, non dominant) arm and is in an L shaped wrist to shoulder cast. The implications are just starting to filter down; no tennis, swimming, cycling, basketball etc Getting dressed, bathing etc suddenly needs assistance Does anyone have any tips for one handed living? Also anyone know where I can buy a sling locally (or have one I can borrow/have)

There are a lot of factors that can affect the catchment; the Goose Green figures are a good example; 2010 - coming out of special measures 2011 - took a bulge class (as did St John's and Bessemer) so very wide catchment The leap from 2012 to 2013 reflects the increasing popularity of the school I would have thought but at the same time that end of ED is still good bet for 4 popular schools; GG, DKH, Bessemer and St John's with a sniff at DVI and Lyndhurst.

I was expecting hunger and tiredness but neither of my kids were particularly ravenous or tired after school, ever. I would agree that it makes sense to have an afternoon snack ready at pick up (reception children often have their lunch first so it might be a while since they ate, but they certainly used to be given a carton of milk as they left for the day I would also agree not to book in loads of clubs and classes, just spend some time together. If they want to go to park or adventure playground with you and their new chums after school, great, if not go home and chill a bit. Also (hard as it is) leave them be; children and teachers. Your little one will share what details they want when they want IME (my boy tells me almost nothing I have to ask the mum's of girls for info). At my children's school, you take your child into reception and stay with them for a few mins so you can get a pretty good handle on what is going on if you are alert! Remember also the teachers day doesn't end when you pick up, they go back into the classroom assess each child's progress that day and plan the next, they arrive at 8 and leave at 6, if there is a problem they will let you know, a cheery wave to them when you collect your child will doubtless be appreciated! I hovered for info for the first few days, there was no need. It's a really exciting time and it will be fine, enjoy!

Look in the search box for Pam50, a regular poster, fantastic tutor, lovely lady and an Aussie!

Slightly out of ED so not sure I can post in the business section ...... I got a sewing machine recently only to be rather overwhelmed by the instructions. Saw an ad in Se22 magazine for a how to use your sewing machine course (2 hours ?29) at the White Room in SE4.Nearest station Crofton Park but it took me 5 mins to drive from near Goose Green. It's a real find and I'd like to give Nicky a plug. She makes clothes, does alterations, sells patterns can get sewing machines serviced and runs courses for the novice to the skilled, all very informal and informative. Highly recommend.

Thanks for the bump amd the tips! We have a hire car so any advice on best beaches/trips/attractions very welcome

Going to Crete with 6 and 8 year old. Staying in Agios Nikolaos. Never been before. Top tips welcome. Thanks!

Went on the walking tour today. Really interesting, highly recommend.

No probs BTW it's goosegreenpta@yahoo.co.uk not .com - apologies

Seem to recall a similar post recently - useless at doing links to posts sorry - try searching goose green reception it should come up. Pretty sure there is a new starters picnic planned by the PTA before term starts. If you email the PTA they will let you know - goosegreenpta@yahoo.com. If you ask to join the mailing list they will keep you posted generally. You're so lucky, mine are going into Y4 and Y2 - I miss those days!

It matters not whether a state school consults with the parents, the council can force a school to take a bulge but will only do so if there is sufficient space and resources, extra funding will be allocated. My daughter is in a bulge year at Goose Green and whilst the mechanisms of rotating playtimes, lunchtimes, adapting classroms etc has doubtless been a headache for the school the impact on the children has been zero, they do all the trips, activities, learning, assemblies to parents, school productions etc they would have done anyway. In fact they are something of a flagship year and have probably had a surplus of attention. If the school was expanding to a permenant 4 fe then I can see that might change its character but for one year I suspect it will make little difference to the children or families in the 3 original forms but a great deal to those in the bulge.

Sounds like they may have added a bulge class?

FYI there is also a new reception class meet up on Goose Green on 21st July at 12.

Goose Green carnival and fair begins with a parade of the whole school all dressed up, singing and led by the samba drummers down Ondine and along Adys to the Green at 1130, it's fun to watch and for children from outside the school to parade alongside. The fair then starts on the Green at 12 and runs until 4pm It's going to be a beautiful day and lots of fun, we are very excited.

Very sad that we can't make the memorial service. A very shocking sudden death of a much loved local man who was always polite and pleasant and thoughtful towards me and my family, we miss him a great deal. His family and the staff of the shop are clearly terribly upset and I abhor the (in my opinion, unjustified) criticism of him. I agree wholeheartedly with the comments of RoLo1.

That may well be the idea but it's pie in the sky. The new Harris didn't free up places in Charter or Kingsdale or any other popular local school as far as I can tell, what conceivable effect can a modest sized school in Rotherhithe really have?

Oh I don't think it's just at Goodrich, I heard that there were lots of late entries to Goose green wait lists. It will be the same people on all the wait lists, they can only go to one school in the end. Hang on in there and good luck

In 2008/2009 the local authority was totally taken by surprise by the lack of primary school places there was no advance planning. Harris was already underway so was not a reaction and I'm sure that you didn't mean to suggest that it was. Harris is already over subscribed, it has a banding system which means that many children come from far away whilst children living closer cannot find a local place. My question was what secondary provision has been considered to meet the looming crisis which has been apparent for 4 years. Time is ticking away - what is the plan?

Sorry, is the school in Rotherhithe? Forgive me if I don't rejoice and declare our problems are over. Not exactly local is it? Please let us know what is being done to address an imminent mass shortfall or is it just proposed to wait until it's happened - again? It has been obvious now for 4 years (since the primary places problem exploded) has ANYTHING been done?

James, Could you please tell us more? Where will this new 4 form entry school be and what is the time scale? When you say once we have created sufficient primary places we'll be turning to secondary what does that actually mean? When do you envisage "turning" to this? For my part I cannot see the point in creating swathes of primary places when there is no where for them to go on to, it's naive and poor planning at best to do one thing then start on the other as secondary places are a ticking timebomb. The current year 3 was the first year that there was a massive shortfall of places that took the local authority unawares, the attitude of the education department at the time was aggressively uncaring as I recall. I hope lessons have been learned. There are limited places now and that is going to get much worse and needs addressing now.