Norfolkvillas

Hiya, it is very very early days - we're only in the third full school week, but so far I've been delighted. My son's transition into school life has been 100% positive and stress-free. The head is enthusiastic and motivated, the teachers and teaching assistants all seem lovely and very capable, and the temporary classrooms seem spacious and well-appointed. Not to mention a particularly friendly, sociable and motivated set of parents :-) With only three weeks of experience to go on, it's thumbs up all round from this household. Couldn't be happier with our choice so far. Feel free to PM me with further questions.

Completely different, as primary rather than secondary, but my son has just started reception in temp classrooms and actually I think it's been a wonderful way for him to transition into the school environment - small, manageable, easy to navigate, impossible to get lost in, purpose-built to modern specs, brand spanking new. I confess we're lucky that the temp site and the future permanent site are pretty much equidistant from us - I can understand that if the temp site or the perm site was much, much out of your particular way, it would be a pain in the bum one way or another.

I think M&S do 100% cotton school trousers (and shirts) in a range called Skinkind or similar....

If you wanted a Dubai stop that didn't feel like Dubai, there are options - The new Anantara on The Palm is great for families (as is One & Only but very very expensive) and you don't ever need to venture into the city - just enjoy the beach and the sunshine and the pools and pretend you're elsewhere. Desert Palm is 20 mins from the airport but not in central Dubai - they have pool villas which are great for families. Could you stop more than once? Say 3 or 4 nights in Dubai then 2 nights in Singapore (the Sentosa recommendation above sounds good)? Ease gradually into the time differences to minimise jetlag, and keep your flight legs to more palatable lengths?

Am finding this thread extremely helpful - big thanks for all of these excellent tips!

Well remembered Bellenden Belle! Yes I have just started mentoring with an organisation called XLP, but their focus is on supporting young people who are facing emotional or behavioural challenges. I think Southwark probably have less challenging volunteering in mind though - what about childrens centres or local play centres? Or libraries? Good luck!!

Brilliant suggestions all - and lots of things I never would have thought of myself! Our sessions are going to be short and regular which is why I'm specifically looking for stuff local-ish to her. I'm sure we will have the opportunity to go further afield on occasion in the future though. Thanks for the well wishes too - it's the first time I've done anything like this (or had much to do with any age group other than grown-ups or very young children) so I confess I'm feeling a little apprehensive...

Not quite ED, but only down the road, so I was wondering if some family-roomers might be able to make some suggestions. I'm about to start mentoring a young person (female, 14yrs) in the Kennington / Oval area, and our meetings will be activity-based to a certain extent. I'm going to do my own research about what's on offer in the area, but if anyone here has any insider tips on nice cafes, cultural spaces, or other things to do and see within that immediate vicinity, I'd be very grateful for them. Thanks!

We have a full time nanny for our two (1.5 and 4.5), and my eldest goes to pre-school for his 15 hours which along with play dates etc seems to be more than enough socialising. Our pre-school is term-time only so I don't pay anything over and above his 15 free hours. I feel lucky to get the free hours, as it does seem like the perfect balance, and I'm not having to pay two sets of childcare costs - ie nanny salary plus nursery fees.

Hi chelseadrake, welcome to the gang. As Maria said, the FB page is a good place to keep up with what's happening over summer, and we've also got an email list going to facilitate organising future meet-ups - I'll PM you about this now. See you at the next picnic!

My son, 4.5yo, had an eye test recently at Roger Pope in Dulwich Village, and the optician (as well as all of the other staff) was absolutely lovely - a dad himself and just really put my son at ease which I felt was no easy feat with all the high tech equipment that can feel (even to me as a grown-up) very invasive. My son turned out not to have any problem with his sight, so it was only an eye test, but my husband has been happy with his (complicated prescription) glasses from them. Hope this helps!

Yes. I think from about 16 weeks if I remember correctly....

The place in Honor Oak is called the Malham Christian Centre. Also, I have heard of (but not attended) children's parties at Harris Girls Academy East Dulwich.

With bar: The Herne? Without bar (but you can bring your own booze): The Allbrighton Centre? The scout hut behind Jags? St Hildas in Crofton Park? There's a community hall in Honor Oak that I could find out the name of if you needed me to. Hope these suggestions help!

Prob not helpful, but heavy duty black bin liners and blutak do the same job...

Hi gemmamala, welcome to the gang! There'll be lots of us going on the 10th and we're also organising some summer picnics for the kids to meet. We pop updates on our Facebook page, so feel free to like it if you're on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hpaeastdulwich I'll PM you now to ask if you'd like to join the email list for updates, meet-ups and organising things like which parents would like an after-school club provision etc.

I second Buds, and I know that Amott Road is also half-days only.

After some not great experiences with the meet and greet services that store your car offsite, we always use the official gatwick valet parking which is completely frictionless. With two kids, I just don't want to risk being left to wait to pick up the car even if it's only 10 - 15 mins, and that, to me, is worth an extra ?20 or whatever. Especially as I always end up optimistically underdressed and so am left shivering in flimsy holiday clothes in the drizzle at Gatwick. http://www.gatwickairport.com/parking/valet/ Have a lovely hols! X

Hi hannah.alton I sent you a PM a while back about meet ups, but perhaps you didn't see it. I'll send you another now, but if for any reason it doesn't come through, please do PM me with your email address and I'll add you to the distribution list we have up and running for organising meet ups through the summer.

Perhaps try Buds at Goose Green - they are term time only, so don't charge anything over and above the grant.

Not sure if this helps, but I requested that my daughter, who initially responded OK to Nutramigen after being diagnosed with CMPI, get switched to Nutramigen AA - the even-more-broken-down-proteins (not the scientific term!) version of Nutramigen - and she was happy on that til circa 18m (when we switched to soya and coconut milk combo). My understanding is that it's lesser-known Neocate equivalent, so might be worth a try in case your LO prefers the taste. I found Nutramigen AA less offensive-smelling than the standard Nutramigen (which was properly hideous). Good luck!

Hi poppy, yes please do PM me your details, as I'm going to send an email round in the next day or so to try and organise a first parents' meet-up. I know the official induction event is going to be sometime in June, so I was thinking it would be nice to arrange to meet ahead of that, so we'll know some names and faces when it comes around.

In response to Mako and TomK: This is crazy. I asked about how accessible the head is to those already at the school because I CANNOT know, because I don't already have a child at the school. Yes I am, by definition, ignorant of whether or not he's at the school gates morning and night - and, to point out the bleedin' obvious, that's why I asked in the first place! I don't see how is this calling into question his reputation? Or mud-slinging? Or inflammatory. Having had cause to reflect on the subject of how accessible a head is over the course of the last few days, this thread having taken the surreal and unexpected course that it has, I think it's probably that as a full-time working mum, it's important to me that I feel I can reach out to management at my kids' school via email or phone or face-to-face appointments, because I won't have the medium of 'at the school gates' interactions. This is just my own personal set of circumstances and priorities, and I was simply trying to weigh up how one school might fit with them, and asking opinions of those who might know more than me via this forum, of which I am (usually) a huge fan. And yes, the thread title was tongue-in-cheek and meant to be light-hearted - I clearly failed on that count; I had NO idea what a Pandora's box it would open! Thanks Belle and ClareC for the support.

They would have easily guessed my username because they would have matched the actions I described in my original post (requesting a meeting before I was offered a place, and requesting a meeting after I was offered a place) with the email correspondence between the school and I. And to be honest, that's fine. I don't post anything using my forum username that I wouldn't be happy to stand by in person. It was the post from rubix72 that I thought was a bit weird, but again, nothing I'm that perturbed about. I feel like this thread had turned into a bit of a mud-slinging match, and that really wasn't my intention - I'm not calling into question how great a school Goodrich is, I'm just trying to make the best decision for my children (from the lucky position to have had a choice at all), as I'm sure we all are.

Hi Rubix72, I will of course be letting Southwark know to release my place asap (as soon as I've had confirmation that my acceptance of the other place has been received - hopefully tomorrow) and am really pleased that someone on the waiting list will gladly take it up. It wouldn't be 90 parents all wanting a meeting though would it, as a good percentage of those places went to current parents at the school. And if the head was part of the tour, then he'd manage to meet multiple prospective parents at the same time. I've had enough posts and PMs in response to my initial question to think I wasn't being unrealistic to expect to meet the head of the school at which I've been offered a place. But I'm flattered that you joined the forum just now and made your first post in response to my question. It's funny, because only 5 minutes ago, this evening, I received an email from the office at Goodrich saying they'd guessed my forum username. It makes me think the two messages might be related, and that just makes me feel even more strongly that I've made the right decision.