Curmudgeon

Nope ...we don't get attendance records until student is on roll And a child's attendance is a horrific concept as criteria for acceptance to any school. It is either not their fault through sickness or not their fault through parental decisions

minder Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Well yes. Especially as lots of other parents > might have been very lucky to get their child into > a school of their choice. If they choose to then > take their child out during a week of learning > then the school should be made aware of this for > future reference. > > Secondary schools do take account of attendance > levels too. Yes we do..but I can assure you a week off in year 1 will not raise any kind of blip if their general attendance falls regularly under 95% through to year 7 then there may be some discussions held with parents

minder Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Curmudgeon Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > It will probably go down as > unauthorised...affects > > the school not the child, unless the child's > > absence drops to below 85% > > > > Write to the headteacher to request, expect to > be > > refused. Do it anyway > > I'm sure it will affect the child too but each to > their own reason for taking the child out. As > long as it doesn't continue through to Year 2, 3, > 4, 5, 6! > > Schools are accountable for all absences as > curlykaren has pointed out. You think a week off school in year 1 is going to affect the child long term? ...ok then

Schools can publish whatever figures they want, within reason, immediately following GCSEs, knowing that once the official figures are published it's too late for the subsequent year's applicants and the following year will be looking at the published tables. I'm sure Charters original published figures are as you originally surmised and that's fair enough. And there will be far fewer students put in early for GCSEs as there is no benefit, now it should only happen if the student is ready to get top marks, so it's a temporary blip in the scheme of things

The fine is per residential parent per child ..but it won't happen unless a persistent absentee and they are making a stand

It will probably go down as unauthorised...affects the school not the child, unless the child's absence drops to below 85% Write to the headteacher to request, expect to be refused. Do it anyway

I'm proud of our local schools And having toured a few due to another child reaching year 6 I'd really like no hint of scandal attached to any of the schools for decent results in stupid league tables designed by pencil pushers. But that's too much to hope for I suppose They are all good schools, doing their best for our children ...I have a child at one, am sending another child to another and know lots of happy succesful adolescents at others.

I've been a member of JAGS, Dulwich College and Fusion My favourite, and the quietest pool was Dulwich College (up to about 3 years ago) Best classes were at JAGs (but this was about 10 years ago Best gym is Fusion ...but the pool is too busy for me

I always close the door saying "we don't do door to door, thank you" I object to door to door ..it's invasive

Ours is 2m, I'm 5'8 and my husband is 5'11, our second floor has 3 metre high ceilings but we didn't want the hassle of lowering ceilings The ceiling height is fine ...I can touch it if I stretch my hands up but I wouldn't go much lower than that Love the extra space (it's child free) ...we got a huge bedroom, separate dressing room and a separate fully fitted bathroom with walk in shower and large bath as well. The view across London is spectacular. We went with South London Lofts and didn't regret spending 10k less than other quotes as we have a fabulous, well constructed space. Remember to allow an extra 10% over the quotes

First world problems

That's why I have to drive to work - appalling service

Could be wax, try a few drops of warm olive oil morning and night for a few weeks or get otex from chemist But really you should see a doctor to rule out infection

The Coaches serving the private schools are an extreme hazard to safe motoring, cycling and walking. This is brought up year after year Nobody cares - least of all the schools they serve who, in my view, have a duty to ensure coaches park in the bays provided, not on both sides of the road ignoring the boxes and that they switch off their engines

I think we are fortunate with all the primary schools in East Dukwich. But you need to go and have a feel Coe the schools and aww which would suit your children and your family And the 2nd poster was right, unless you are planning on buying somewhere based on which school these is simply no way you could be in the catchment for both. The system says you have a choice, but really you don't have much of one.

Buy packs of 10 books from thebookpeople and give them one each ...works out about ?1 per child

newboots Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That's just statistics though isn't it Alice? I > thought I was in favour of co-ed education until > my daughter went to an all girls secondary. Now I > realise that there are great advantages to being > in an all female environment for her, and it would > be sexist of me to think that there might not be > similar advantages for boys in boys schools. For a > start they aren't constantly reminded that they > don't do as well as the girls! From http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/shared/get-file.ashx?id=493&itemtype=document which is based on cohorts born in 1958 and 1970 conclusions can be summarised as follows: ? Girls at single-sex schools were substantially more likely than their co- educated peers to achieve a high level of examination success at age 16, but boys were neither significantly advantaged nor disadvantaged in terms of overall examination attainment by attending single-sex schools. ? There was no significant impact of single-sex schooling on the level of later educational attainments for either sex. ? Single-sex schools were associated with attainment in gender atypical subject areas for both boys and girls.

East dulwich fusion is ?48 a month and has a great gym, swimming pool and free exercise classes that are bookable online if you don't want off peak

Well, we aren't central London and nor do we have the underground. And school staff start earlier than most office staff, generally before 8. At my school we have staff driving in from everywhere, including Kent - the small car park starts to fill up from 6.15, by 7.30 its difficult to park. we have 130 directly employed and about 20 catering staff - we promote public transport use; have underground, 3 train stations and bus routes about a 10-15 minute walk away and we consistently have 50 cars parked (all figures are approximate) and no visitor parking. My best guess is that you'd probably have around 10 staff cars parked on local streets, despite best intentions of "use public transport"; there will be issues with parental drop-off and pick up; deliveries and coach trip pick-ups and drop-offs will be challenging; I didn't see cycle/scooter storage (maybe I missed it) which will cut into outdoor space and I'd be interested in whether the 2 bus-stops are being moved. There will definitely be parking issues on surrounding streets. But as with all planning applications the "use public transport" will no doubt be accepted as the solution and there will be increased pressure.

BrandNewGuy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Curmudgeon Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > School staff do not tend to live within walking > > distance of where they work, although a > minority > > do. There is always a demand for parking. So > a > > school of 400 with what? 30 or so staff, plus > > catering staff and grounds staff? And no > parking? > > That is simply going to cause a strain on the > > local roads. > > I work in a school with insufficient staff > parking > > and no visitor parking ...it is extremely > > difficult to manage. And I've seen this happen > > with numerous flat developments too > > Is it too much to expect staff to use public > transport? There might be problems from parents > dropping off and picking up, but that doesn't > impact parking ? those pressures can be relieved > by a strong commitment from schools to encourage > public transport use by their staff. When the > 'research' came out for the proposed CPZ near the > station a few years ago, it became clear just how > many local school staff were parking in nearby > roads. I work for a company of about 40 where not > one employee uses a car to drive to work. Why > should schools be so different? Yes it is, it's one of those PC statements we allow to pass because public transport is so easy (yeah right) although some will of course, and others will cycle. A number will still drive I personally drive to work - I have to be able to get there and back in time for my own children ...it takes me 10 minutes ...in order to take public transport I would have to allow an hour which my other commitments don't allow for. That said ... People drive in London...just because you don't or have different political ideals it does not mean that you can dictate to teachers and school staff. Young teachers are hard enough to attract to the area, can they afford to live in walking distance? Would they want to live and work in the same area? Is our public transport really that good or reliable?

I thought I would prefer to send my children to co-ed but when I looked around Harris boys for my son 3 years ago I was impressed and happy to put it on my list. He ended up going to Kingsdale and we have been extremely happy. So now it's my daughter's turn and whilst we have been delighted with our son's co-ed education we believe Sydenham Girls will be a much better fit for our daughter. What I am trying to say is you can't dictate what kind of school your child should go to until they are actually in year 6 and you are looking around the options...the school has to suit the child, no school suits all children. So don't decide now on co-ed or single sex; look around on your own when they're year 5 and then look with them in year 6 and decide then, as much as you can. (I am still impressed with Harris Boys and think its a great option in the area)

I've just had a look at the plans ...seems a sensible use of the space. As a parent I would be concerned at the lack of outdoor play space but the site doesn't allow for more does it. They will have to stagger play times. What about deliveries of foods and supplies? Also interesting that the bus stop appears to have disappeared on the drawings. I assume it isn't really going to be moved though is it?

singalto Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I did go to the exhibition about this school as I > had questions for them. I don't think some aspects > have really been thought through. > There is no parking provision at all for the staff > as they are 'going to be encouraged to use public > transport or cycle.' I mentioned the chaos from > parents dropping off and collecting as I am a > teacher and see how it works at those schools: > parents park in drive ways, double park etc. The > project manager told me that the parents have been > encouraged to walk, use the bus etc and I was told > that the parents of the children currently on the > temporary site are happy with these plans. As the > current site is by the Harris Girls East Dulwich, > I don't see how the catchment area can be the same > as for the Lordship Lane site. > > The building is going to be 4 floors tall with 400 > children once it is fully functioning. I am very > uneasy about the whole project. I simply do not understand how planning permission without adequate parking is consistently allowed to pass. As though all of a sudden there is no need for car parking space because they say they'll use public transport. School staff do not tend to live within walking distance of where they work, although a minority do. There is always a demand for parking. So a school of 400 with what? 30 or so staff, plus catering staff and grounds staff? And no parking? That is simply going to cause a strain on the local roads. I work in a school with insufficient staff parking and no visitor parking ...it is extremely difficult to manage. And I've seen this happen with numerous flat developments too Cloud-cuckoo land by planning committees

I don't know for Charter specifically but would be surprised if it wasn't compulsory throughout KS3 It's fine for him not to enjoy everything ...he just needs to try his best

Do you? I think it's an odd place for a primary school...but needs must I suppose Are they knocking the whole building down and starting again?