newtoedf

Thanks for the suggestion, we love southwark gymnastics but their dates aren't out yet and I was hoping we'd be able to do a few days of gymnastics mixed with a few days of something else like Nimble Arts etc but nothing seems to be on that week!

I am trying to sort out childcare over the summer and have run into a problem. I am looking for a club for my kids(4 and 7) to attend during the last week of august and everything we've used before seems to be finishing before the bank holiday! Any suggestions? Thanks

this thread is in the general section but might be of interest to people who only read the family room stuff! http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?5,1527993

it might also depend how long you are expecting to be off work with baby no.2. I moved my daughter to school nursery from private nursery when she was three because it coincided with my mat leave with no.2 and I wanted to be able to help her settle and make friends. I figured that if she moved when I was on mat leave then we'd be able to have playdates with new friends etc which we'd find much harder in reception when I'd be back at work.

I logged on ok to Eadmissions but nothing showing yet

Done but they need a few more - currently at 511 and one other school has 651...

I agree completely - unless all schools admit on a lottery basis this will simply disadvantage local students. It says that the consultation closes on 31st January so best to comment soon if you have a view one way or the other! I also wonder how this consultation process is supposed to work - we live very close to the school with children who would be affected by this but have only seen information about the consultation here and from a friend on Facebook. Which doesn't seem to reflect the current admissions policy: "II: ANNUAL PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINING ADMISSION ARRANGEMENTS Consultation 18 Harris Girls? Academy East Dulwich shall consult on any changes to its proposed admission arrangements. Otherwise the arrangements will be consulted on at least every 7 years. 19 In such circumstances the Academy will consult by 1 March: a). parents of children between the ages of two and eighteen; b) other persons in the relevant area who in the opinion of the admission authority have an interest in the proposed admissions; c) all other admission authorities within the relevant area (except that primary schools need not consult secondary schools); d) whichever of the governing body and the local authority who are not the admission authority; e) any adjoining neighbouring local authorities where the admission authority is the local authority;" There didn't seem to be an equivalent consultation for Harris Boys but I may have missed it.

The dump isn't a landfill but a recycling centre - so if it won't fit in the small electrical appliances box you can just hand it in there for recycling. They do cartridge recycling too although you might be able to sell used cartridges on eBay or donate them to charity instead. I went for the first time just before christmas and thought it all seemed very well organised with very helpful staff.

We normally take the kids to see santa at Harrods but couldn't make it this year and went to whippersnappers instead. We really enjoyed it. No authors tried to sell us books (the story was referred to and the book was in the shop). Our kids (6 and 4) enjoyed it all and although you don't spend long in any area, they found it quite exciting the way there was always something else to do. It wasn't too busy and Santa was great. Our photo with santa is not very flattering and I'd have preferred not to have had the shop at the end but apart from that it was really good. Would definitely recommend it.

Thanks! Just wanted to add that it is worth looking at the percentages of pupils making expected progress as well as the overall levels. The % achieving L4+ doesn't take into account the levels children started at - you can get a better idea of the impact the school has had by looking at the percentages making expected progress or the value added score. (A VA score of 100 means pupils are performing as expected based on KS1 scores while above 100 implies the school is adding value). there is more info here: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/primary_14/index.html and the following extract explains it quite well "To get a rounded view of school/college performance, it is important to look at more than one performance measure when comparing schools. For example, while attainment figures tell you about the performance at the end of a key stage for a certain group of pupils, it doesn?t tell you how far they have progressed from their starting point. Expected progress and value added measures give you further context about how effective a school is for pupils, taking their level of attainment at the previous key stage into account. For example, you may find that a school?s pupils achieve low results if you consider only their overall attainment at the end of the key stage. However, if you look at their pupil progress or value added results, their pupils may actually be achieving higher results than would be expected given their starting points. " Heber's VA score is higher than DHJS for example although one is above and one below the LA average.

Thank you for all the replies. Although he loves the babies at the childminder's and he's been with her so long I think the contrast with mixing with his peers at nursery is causing an issue. It doesn't help that he's one of the oldest in the year and is a 2nd child! I can't really decide what to do, the longer we leave it the harder it will be to make a change but having 2 different settings is always going to be tricky for him so there's a chance that different won't actually be better! Maybe the nanny share idea would avoid that though?

My almost 4yo has been at the same childminder since he was 8 months. Since September he's had 2.5 days a week at school nursery and 2 days at the childminder and I was planning on that arrangement lasting until he starts reception in September. Unfortunately, I think he's outgrowing the childminder now - really complaining about going every morning (but fine when I pick him up). Has anyone else had the same problem and what did you do?

try coolibar http://www.coolibar.com/product/Girls/ChildYouth-4-16/Swimwear/Girls-Neck-to-Knee-Surf-Suit/pc/2220/c/2253/sc/2258/155945.uts They ship to the UK and have a much better range than you can get here. The prices look scary but are pretty reasonable once you convert to stirling and there are often really good discounts available.

Children's centres are a good place to start looking for childminders, they'll often run childminding groups and staff will be able to introduce you to childminders who are regulars. That's how I found our childminder: she has looked after my son for the past 3 years and we've been very happy. In my experience another advantage of a childminder is consistency, because they are caring for children in their own home they tend to be in it for the long haul whereas nursery staff and nannies seem to move on quite often.

Legally you don't need to use a child seat in a taxi or minicab. We use Rye cars and they have car seats which you can request (if you book in advance there's much more likelihood of them being available). I've always been happy with the cleanliness and state of repair of the seats. You aren't charged extra for them but (and this is the same with other cab firms I've used) you will need to fit them yourself. The seats are required by law to have fitting instructions on them though so it's not too difficult.

Our budget was high street and Anya was happy with the idea of a scheme that I'd work towards over time rather than a huge outlay in one go.

Some of you might be interested in taking part in some research that Dr Rachel Aldred is carrying out at University of Westminster. It is called the near miss project and they are asking people who cycle to fill in an online diary during one day between 20th October and 2nd November, recording all their cycle trips on that day and any near misses or similar that they experience. They hope to use this (alongside other methods) to find out how often these incidents happen, what causes them, and the impacts they have. You can sign up here: https://nearmiss.typeform.com/to/fvylyd and there's more information about the project here: http://nearmiss.bike/

I came across this school website recently (was interested in their school building initially not the website) but was completely blown away by the level of communication... http://www.montgomery.devon.sch.uk/category/learn-here/ Clearly it takes a lot of time and you could quibble about typos but the amount of information about what is going on in the school and the number of resources for parents explaining what the children are learning are just amazing. Sadly it's not a standard of communication that I've ever experienced personally!

definitely - I found it saved masses of time too, I knew what I wanted and it was great to talk it through with someone who offered comments and and suggestions but most importantly did all the leg work and said "here are the 3 sofas I suggest you look at" rather than me visiting hundreds of showrooms. I didn't have a scheme done but just got general advice and saved more than the cost of the advice. I used Anya Louize: http://www.anyalouizeinteriors.com and would really recommend her.

Sounds like a pretty bad experience for you EDAus. Our experiences have been very different though and almost all positive, we've certainly never had a dirty or damaged vehicle although the one which is in our street did get written off a while back and it was a pain while we were waiting to get a new one. I spoke to someone at the Council about it at the time to try to get the replacement speeded up and he said that one in particular was more heavily used. I have found that I don't use it as much as I thought I might, it usually works out cheaper to take the bus to B&Q and get a taxi back for example. For more than a 2 day trip it usually works out better to hire from avis etc. I checked recently and you are allowed to put a bike rack on it which sounds promising for a few cycling trips!

Ivydale has open mornings for prospective parents on 13 Nov and 9 Dec

I think the JAGS climbing parties are for 7 and over. Does anyone know how strict they are about the age? Wondering if I could do it for a 7th birthday which would mean quite a few kids would be not quite 7...

Uncleglen that sounds horrific. My 3.5 yo was terrified of dogs until recently. It was quite difficult just going for a walk at times. Although I had a dog as a child it seems to me quite sensible to be scared of something as big as you (if not bigger) with huge teeth which is trying to get close to you! He is fine now with his grandma's new dog despite being terrified at first and interestingly it was the same thing that Lenster and MammaB mentioned that seemed to do the trick. We took the dog for a walk around the house on the lead, at first with me controlling the lead and him just holding the handle but like Lenster, it did seem to be the sense of control that made all the difference.

Mine are similar ages and seem to go through phases, it seems like every time the younger one has a developmental spurt, the power balance shifts which causes a lot of tension but then things settle down again after a while. So no advice really but it probably will pass... I read this: http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Nurtureshock.html?id=RuudSO90hqoC&redir_esc=y recently which was really interesting and it said that in most families kids will fight many times an hour! So at least you are not alone!

my two have ikea extendable beds which seem a good compromise. They are as wide as a standard single and have two extra bits of mattress which you can add in over time. They have the width but are low to the ground like a toddler bed and it means you can have a smaller bed for longer which helps with space but extend them quickly for guests if necessary. I got ours second hand but bought new mattresses online.