prickle

It was discussed on Woman's Hour this am.

There are pretty stones at Just William. Recently they had egg sized anthracites (?) that you can crack with hammer and a proportion has pretty crystals in the middle. Don't think they were expensive.

Saffron Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > prickle Wrote: > ------------------------------------------------------- > > Vaccination is a public health issue and perhaps > > we need to sacrifice some of our personal freedom > > to choose for the sake of the benefit of society > > as a whole? > > Indeed there is a precedent for it in the UK. > Queen Victoria (Act of Parliament 1853) made > compulsory the smallpox immunisation. Thank you Saffron, I rest my case. And Pickle I was getting confused too! :)

TE44, I agree that the medical profession makes mistakes sometimes. But in the case of MMR, a huge amount of research has gone into investigating the safety of the vaccine, particularly thanks the Wakefield debacle. Perhaps when your children were growing up, the safety of vaccines were not so clear. Pls note that your children are still not in the clear now that they are grown up. They can still catch the illness in adulthood. The risk of death with measles is age-related. It is highest in children under 1 year, falls in children aged 1 to 9 years and rises again in teenagers and adults. Read more: http://www.medicinechest.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=436&catid=13#ixzz1wXIoWdQt My main point though is that we need to do our utmost to maintain herd immunity and stamp out these painful and dangerous diseases.

> > Prickle, I think it's grossly unfair to suggest > that parents like TE44 are 'gambling' with their > children's health 'just for the sake' of > exercising their right to choose, rather than > because they feel they are doing the best for > their child, whether we have come to the same > decision or not. You surely can't really think > that their motivation is such as you suggest? Of course they think they are doing the best for their child, I am not disputing their good intentions. HOWEVER, the issue of vaccination is bigger than that. If every parent decided to exercise their right to do the best for their child then the herd immunity that we more or less enjoy at the moment in this country will be lost. The consequence will be that those children whose parents have 'done the best for their child' will run a greater risk of catching the disease. Vaccination is a public health issue and perhaps we need to sacrifice some of our personal freedom to choose for the sake of the benefit of society as a whole?

Ruth_Baldock Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > In my unprofessional opinion: > The MMR/ Autism link is utter, utter bollocks. :)) Not sure if any of you are qualified not internet experts, but we are talking from a position of relative ignorance. It is arrogant to go against the prevailing professional advice for something that not only affects the health of your child but also others. You are gambling with your child health for the sake of what you see as your right to choose. Also being under-vaccinated puts your child in danger when you go abroad as you may not know if herd immunity exists in that country. That is what brought us to our senses several years ago, post-Wakefied.

I think there is little wrong with the occasional swear word if the occasion warrants it eg when you drop a dish on the floor, but I loathe the casual lazy swearing when f and s words are dropped in between every other word. Also the effect of swearing depends on the age of the children.

More posts about the ES article removed from here.

traveller1 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What - now the Evening Standard is a > co-conspirator in an ever expanding coverup? > Suggest you come back down to planet earth, it's a > secondary school not Watergate. Hard to believe isn't it? But seeing (or in this case not seeing) is believing - the comments were definitely taken down.

One of the comments on the Evening Standard piece mentioned that over 40 teachers are going to leave KD this year. Can anyone verify this info? I also note that this and other comments on the article have since been removed from the ES site.

We loved My Naughtly Little sister

Just to give an idea of how quickly schools turn round and improve, we put Harris Girls as the 6th and unwanted school 3 years ago. I didn't even bother visiting as its reputation was poor, but thought safest to fill all slots with local schools. 3 years later, Harris Girls gained an ofsted outstanding.

Congratulations, Harris Boys is a school with a great reputation (and outstanding ofsted). You must be relieved. Not sure what info you want regarding secondary admission. Would advise you to accept asap.

tiddles Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am afraid I have found the mobile invaluable in > tracking down my eldest!! they often do things on > the spur of the moment and that call or text to > explain where they are is really reassuring. Also > try to get a cheap phone, however I have found > that that they phone companies are giving away > pretty flash phones on minimal tariffs (?10 a > month)so that is why there is so many of them > around = I couldn't believe it when all these > visiting children had blackberries!! We stuck with > PAYG for several years, but switched a a contract > as it ended up being seriously more economical. Yes, we switched to a tariff from PAYG too. You can get one now where the tariff is fixed per month so that there is no danger of the kids overspending. Cheaper and less hassle than PAYG.

Mrs TP, secondary school will be a HUGE change from primary, both for your child and you. The children will become independent and you need to prepare them and yourself to adapt. Dealing with mobile phones will be a part of that. Your daughter will want a phone, no, will demand a phone as soon as she starts. I am waiting for my Year 9 daughter as I type and I have had no contact from her except a phone call that I missed which may have been from her since she left school. She has gone to her friends birthday thing (defo not a party as in the primary sense). As her school discourages phones, she and her friends generally don't carry one. As summer approaches and it gets lighter, its more and more a problem. I am not worried (yet) but I wish I could ring her. Edited to add, we are living in the 21st century, dangerous to compare to your childhood. Also my daughter and her friends are not delinquents, all lovely and enjoying their teenage years! ? She eventually came back at 8pm having had a lovely time. If she had the phone with her, I could have had a more relaxing evening!

My kid is at Dog Kennel Hill school. The year 5 and 6's are being offered cycle proficiency lesson this term for free by Southwark.

Reading was the festival of choice for our nieces in their teens. I suppose it's the largest one local to London. Even my niece who does not do camping went several times so it couldn't have been too bad!

We camp rather than Eurocamp but find it less stressful to be with French and other non Brit people as our close neighbours. We can't understand them and they can't understand us! Can be very distracting when you can understand every little bit of your neighbours conversation. Too much information! Agree that kids will find each other around the campsite and preschoolers in particular don't really need a common language to start a friendship.

What is NYCGB? And why is it safer than a school trip?

So this is the question, if organised school trips are not safe enough, when do you allow your children to go away without you for the first time?

Most of August is peak season in France. Top prices and very busy (best places could be booked out by now). Last week or so (after the grand rentr?e when the kids are back at school) is much quieter and cheaper. Quiberon penninsula is nice. Sandy beaches galore.

Really interesting to hear about people's take on yr 6 trips. I thought they were more or less compulsory. Having said that I would not dream of telling my kids not to go. Its a really important bonding experience and a rites of passage. 10 or 11 is not such a young age, time for them to become a little more independent, ready for secondary school. A little different if the child doesn't want to go, but I would take this a signal that all isn't right with him/her and the school. Would then try to do my utmost to ensure that all is sorted so that they can go and have a great time! As to catastrophic things happening on trips, may be we should take what we hear on the media with a little sense of proportion. ETA A trip to China is quite another matter. Not in terms of safety or interest, but simply the cost of it! Edited to correct spelling :-$

Yarmouth is rather sweet though low key. Good ice cream I remember. The beaches round there are quite good. Enjoyed going on a chairlift over the Needles. Ferry helps you to pretend you are going 'abroad'!

Sorry, I've no experience of SEN, but good luck!

? Can you clarify? Are you talking about appeals or just dealing with allocation that's not to your liking? Secondary or primary?