edanna

This morning I came out my house to find a traffic warden giving tickets to cars parked across dropped kerbs leading to old gates behind shops. There is no yellow line across the dropped kerb. In the 14 years I have lived here, no-one has ever taken a vehicle in or out and it would be impossible to do so because there is so much junk behind the gates. In those 14 years I have never known anyone to get a ticket for parking across them and so people park there all the time, causing no disruption for anyone. Being just off Northcross Rd there is already massive parking pressure. The traffic warden said she was doing what Southwark told her - to ticket vehicles parking across driveways - and that she can't tell if they are in use or not, which I suppose is fair enough. But this appears to be an overnight change in policy with no warning. And it's adding to the considerable parking stress, benefiting no-one apart from Southwark's finances. I will contact Southwark but I'm not sure what kind of response I'll get. James Barber, if you're reading this, I'd be interested in your view.

Brockwell Park was working today too - though the kids lasted in the water about 60 seconds.

185 is easiest.

Hi, can anyone tell me whether the water play in local parks is operational - such as Myatts Fields, Brockwell Park, Sydenham Wells, or any others you would recommend? Thank you.

I take my kids to Little Clipper on Northcross Rd. The sitting in a car and watching a DVD is a good distraction/treat for the small ones.

Fiona C are the plans available online for those who can't make it to the event?

I've done glow sticks before (better in winter when going home in the dark), curly straws, mini windmills. There are also sites where you can make your own word search with words of your choice and print them off. I did magnifying glasses and disguises for a detective party. Tiger do amazing portable disco balls - they are really not cheap esp if buying a lot, but both my kids - 8.5 and 6 - love them. If you have something cool like that and some sweets then that can be better than lots of little things that last 2 mins.

Good point Monkey - my nursery only took children from 18m so that was never an issue.

In my experience nurseries always ask if a child's vaccinations are up to date. If your child is immunised then other people's children not being immunised wouldn't be a problem?

sarahsouthlondon - if you don't mind giving a bit of detail about your situation it might be easier for people to advise you, maybe even parents who have had the same issues.

There's a Salvation Army baby bank. http://www.johndonne.southwark.sch.uk/attachments/download.asp?file=401&type=pdf

My 6 year old daughter is a bit like Jekyll and Hyde - I haven't got much wisdom to impart unfortunately, just that I really try to anticipate things that might set off a major meltdown, eg before going to the cinema stating that she is allowed X and Y but definitely not one of those rubbish ?1 toys out of the machine, etc. Of course it's impossible to anticipate every trigger and so I still end up swearing to never go shopping/to the cinema etc with her for the next decade!

I was just looking for the old thread about this! I've heard that White Oak Leisure Centre in Swanley is good - has anyone been?

I'd really recommend Dainty Sue - she could do brilliant magic and a disco etc to suit the whole age group. She really manages to captivate children. http://daintysue.com

You could try Emmaus: http://www.emmaus.org.uk/lambeth/shops_and_services/our_shops/365_88_knights_hill_shop_-_emmaus_lambeth They have a shop in West Norwood and collect.

I'm reviving this ancient (2011) thread to say Dainty Sue is still brilliant. My daughter, who was only a toddler when we first booked Sue, had a fabulous Dainty Sue party for her 6th birthday at the weekend. We've been booking Dainty Sue twice a year for our kids' birthday parties for several years and every party has been great. I've also been to lots of kids' parties in the past few years and Dainty Sue is still the best entertainer I've seen. As before, I have no personal or commercial relationship with Sue - this is just a heartfelt recommendation for a fab entertainer.

I don't have any experience of it but you could try Deborah Whelan's classes. http://www.deborahwhelandance.com/#!classes/cuy0 You may get a better response in the Family Room.

I don't have any uniform but there may be a secondhand uniform sale at the summer fair. The only official bits you really need are the sweatshirt and the bookbag (only available from school). Plain white polo shirts and navy trousers from Sainsbury's etc are fine. You can order Sainsbury's uniform online and get it delivered to the DKH store.

It's a lovely school - my kids are in years 1 and 3, so I have 4 years' experience of it now and it really is terrific. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I know I was desperate to find out more before my son started reception.

Newton Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So, let's be clear, the DCC are still considering > proposals for dealing with the volume of traffic > in Melbourne Grove (south) whilst the council are > simultaneously proposing to make the problem > worse? If I lived on Melbourne Grove I'd be > feeling pretty aggrieved right now. > > I'm sure that encouraging parents to use public > transport will make a difference of up to one car > a day. Newton, I'm really sympathetic to people who experience lots of parking pressure/traffic on their road (I do too) but if this school is for local children, won't most of them walk? And if not won't they be old enough to travel on public transport without a parent? This is a genuine question - it would be interesting to know stats of how pupils of the current Charter get to school.

Dainty Sue is amazing - she has been doing my kids' parties for several years and they have all been v much enjoyed by the kids and the adults too. http://www.daintysue.com/parties.html

The Claude books are fun - Claude in the city is the first one.

I think auto restart is useful and one that can charge from a socket at home and in the lighter socket in the car. I haven't had a battery operated one. We have a Panasonic that has done some good service but has now stopped working. I'm looking to replace it with this one, which has good reviews: http://www.argos.co.uk/m/static/Product/partNumber/1475517.htm

I wonder if it could be the Health Survey for England http://www.hscic.gov.uk/healthsurveyengland which looks at child weight etc among other things. This is separate to the National Child Measurement programme that takes place in schools. We haven't had a visit for this but have been visited by Office for National Statistics before - in that case if you are one of their randomly selected households they are pretty persistent.

Hi Claudia, you may find that you won't get a place at any of the nurseries you like in time for when you need childcare. This happened to me with child number 1 and so we went for a childminder and he got a place at our chosen nursery when he was 2. I put my daughter down on the waiting list when I was about 5 months pregnant - she got a place at 20 months. They both went to First Steps on Upland Rd - I haven't got recent experience of it but it was lovely when my kids were there, so worth a look.