heber jumble queen

I find this thread troubling personally. As someone with two boys at the school I am genuinely at the end of my tether with such queries. I can't tell you how many times I have to hear "oh they're at Harris Boys? Is it ok?" *with a pained expression* Yes it is. As EDmummy has said you can't underestimate the effect for kids hearing that they're at the school no one else wants to go to. My kids are acutely aware of it. Some of their friends moved house or paid for expensive private education to avoid it. They can read forums like this, and they just hear what people say. It is openly expressed. I can give you plenty of positive feedback. I am just sick of having to do so.

Another big thumbs up for Glen, who came out late afternoon on New Year's Eve to sort out my broken fridge freezer. He was realy helpful over the phone, and charged exactly what he quoted in advance for call out plus labour, which was very reasonable, so was really pleased. Would highly recommend.

You should definitely not need to pay for basic (non cosmetic) dental treatment for a child. Others here have suggested good alternatives so you can get the right care ASAP , but I would complain to the dentist as this is unacceptable. If you aren't happy with their response you can complain to NHS England, as dentists most certainly shouldn't be advising parents that their child can't be treated by the NHS!

It is still very unlikely that having Aspergers would qualify a child for an EHC plan without other needs - Aspergers being a high functioning form of autism (my job means I am involved with the SEN reforms, and essentially having an EHC plan has replaced statements). My son has Aspergers and is at Harris Boys, as is his brother who doesn't, so I imagine I know rather more than MsMaz and her overheard negative experiences. Thanks for sharing those by the way, as such rumours are always really helpful. I am very happy to answer any questions if you want to PM me hpsaucey.

This is odd. I've never even considered this and have travelled abroad with my sons several times who have a different surname to mine. It's never been an issue for me - are you talking about very young children?

Well it very much sounded like a comparison and it does raise my hackles because this is such an emotive area, and people are very quick and keen to make judgements about schools that they know virtually nothing about - in my experience the reputation of schools so easily rise and fall on the basis of a few Chinese whispers... Ok so my experience was there is no choice, as Curmudgeon has said - the whole process was pointless, and our only offer was HBAED. I didn't want a single sex school, but when there is no other option you have to get on with it. However I have been pretty impressed. One of my sons has Aspergers, and the support he has received has worked very well for him - certainly much better than primary school, and in particular they have been very responsive to some of his anxieties / obsessions. You generally don't know much about what goes on at secondary school, but both of my sons seem motivated, and while I wouldn't say they love school, I don't hear them complaining and they get up and out every morning without seeming unhappy or anxious, which is as much as you can hope for with 13 yr old boys! And yes, they also do dance and drama. While I feel sad they do not mix regularly with girls, certainly one of my boys is not at all bothered and says he prefers a boys school.

As someone with 2 sons at Harris Boys, I have to say I'm not at all comfortable with the phrase 'FH boys suitable for Gentler boys' ... Meaning?? All the rough ones end up at HBAED?

It depends who it's for. I found 'Can I talk to you about Aspergers' great for my son (who's on the spectrum) in preparing for telling him I thought he had Aspergers and explaining why he was being asked to answer lots of questions and do tests... And he gave it to quite a few of his friends to read (good for kids over 7 I'd say, I can hand it on if useful to you). Would also echo recommendation for 'The reason i jump' but that was for me, in understanding why my son does things that I simply can't relate to. There are plenty of positive, helpful books out there - that aren't too clinical or mis lit - for people with ASD and those who love them - happy to give more suggestions if you pm me.

Can anyone recommend a hairdresser who could cope with cutting my son's hair? A few attempts visiting barber so far have been disastrous as he really struggles with it and I have managed to cut it myself so far, but now he's at secondary school I've really got to let him learn to deal with the trauma of haircuts! Any recommendations appreciated. Thanks.

A few months back a man 'offering to take your trolley back' in same car park actually tried to run off with mine before I'd finished unpacking - at first tried to claim he was working there and hadn't noticed there was still shopping in my trolley, then when I tried to get my trolley back was rude and threatening (he'd been drinking and was quite aggressive) before running off when I called for help. It wasn't helpful and he turned nasty quite quickly - so be aware. Reported to Sainsburys who were pretty nonchalant and said they were aware of the problem but didn't seem to do much about it.

As Penguin68 has already explained - ALL gps are privately managed. They have contracts with the NHS, but they are not NHS employees - all GP practices operate as private businesses.

Burbage isn't entirely correct. All PCTs need to commission one 'GP led health centre' which needs to be open 7 days a week, 8am to 8pm, and it is the Lister Hurley Practice that runs that service in Southwark. The 'walk -in' service they offer should be completely separate to the services they offer as a GP practice - and they haven't just decided to do it to 'monetarize nurses' - not even sure what that means, they would have won the tender to run that service. As with all other services - if it's not good enough, then personally I would always make my complaints known. There isn't a NHS walk-in centre in Southwark, and indeed there aren't in many London boroughs.

Thanks - have found out more now school open but had panic stricken children on a Sunday evening thinking they couldn't pay for their lunch with coins and I wasn't minded to rush out in my pyjamas to buy packed lunch fodder (of course sunday evening is when you think to tell your Mum these things...) Thanks C'mudge, they seem to be getting on ok... lets discuss over a vino soon.

Thanks Fuschia - the forms I filled in at the open evening in May this year were definately for a Nat West Smart account which were supposed to arrive in the post before term began, but I didn't receive any further details. The one card they have just has their name and the Harris logo - no clue how it is linked to any kind of account. I'll just need to take a detour on my way to work to find out.

So what is the deal with lunch money?? I filled out some forms in the summer for some 'smart money' cards - and one of my sons has been given some kind of ID card that he says is to pay for lunch - but no idea what to do with it! How do you load it with money? Do they take money in to load up card - doesn't that defeat object of not carrying cash? I'll probably need to try and get into the school early tomorrow to sort it out (only received card Friday and when I got in from work it was too late to call school and ask what you do with it) - now kids are worried they'll do yet another thing wrong as they seem to think they won't accept cash tomorrow. If anyone can help would be grateful - PMs welcome. Thanks. HJQ

Yes there is a Southwark scheme run by www.cyclinginstructor.com. They offer free bike lessons for adults and kids (either through schools or in school holidays). Infact they were promoting some courses over easter on EDF that ran in Dulwich Park.

Must admit never been to the group despite being on the mailing list and intending to. The group now meets at the Albrighton Centre - if you contact the Southwark branch of the National Autistic Society and sign up to the mailing list you'll get all the info (and they also circulate some quite useful stuff).

and just to put in context how small the catchment is for Harris Boys, one of my twins didn't get in this year (twins in different 'bands' - yes I'm still livid) and we live 0.5 miles (or 800 m) from the school. Yes, really. The catchment for Charter definately hasn't crossed Lordship Lane this year - and Heber kids living just over in roads like Melbourne Grove, Colwell Rd etc didn't get in either.

If you don't agree with the proposed school there's really no way of expressing this in your survey - which actually reads more like a petition of support. If this is the survey that you are using to demonstrate local support then I'm afraid it's flawed.

Just to answer Cora's question - children who have a statement of special needs are given priority through a different system. Statemented children have issues that markedly affect their educational development. SEN issues such as Aspergers / high functioning autism usually have huge impact on children and their social / emotional / educational abilities - but as long as they're progressing along a relatively normal trajectory (in terms of results) then they're not statemented and get no additional support or consideration in the school applications procedure. I submitted pages of paediatric / ed psych reports from the ASD Clinic at Sunshine House and that apparently was entirely a waste of time.

hello Emily (you must secretly reveal yourself to me, as I haven't guessed who you are!) - both my boys were in a terrible state last night, couldn't eat their tea they were so upset - they're so worried they won't be able to go to school together. "This is the worst birthday present ever" (it's their birthday tomorrow) I haven't in any way got my head round what I need to do, and how to appeal, and what's the best outcome to aim for (as it looks like our best option to go for Harris Boys - which is obviously an outstanding school but certainly not the best environment for my ASD son and neither of my boys like the idea of being at an all boys school). All this when all I'm looking for is a local, co-ed, non-faith school. It's a disgrace. If anyone dares to mention an application for a free school today....

Harris Boys was, in any case, our last choice - so battling to get into there is not what I had in mind. But thanks for the offer of help Renata.

Well let me be the first to register as a parent unhappy with the outcome. My twins have been offered separate schools - one at Harris Boys and the other Peckham Academy (which wasn't an option on either list)- I dare not even tell my Aspergers son he's been offered a school that he's never even seen as it will send him into a complete panic - I'm going to need to tell him there's been a mistake with his application.

As my moniker would suggest, this is something of a specialist subject.. I always check the South London Press on a Friday for jumble notices locally, and people do advertise them in the SE22 magazine. I'm not aware of any dates coming up but I'd have thought Goodrich School would be having a jumble sometime soon (I'm strictly jumble so can't tell you about car boots) - and the church on Rosendale Rd in Dulwich has had some great jumbles over the years. There's also a twins club sale coming up at St Faiths within the next few weeks I believe - that's usually awash with baby stuff too.

"Why so negative?" Well because I utterly disagree with the policy of free schools, I'm not a fan of the Steiner philosophy - and yes there is a finite monetary resource for schools (it's not the magic porridge pot, and council budgets are being cut day by day) so the education budget should be spent fairly and wisely on decent co-ed, non-faith schools for all families in my opinion. 'Negative' is pretty much the only option for me here. In the same way I'm not 'upbeat' about the Health and Social Care Bill either- if I oppose something fundamentally then negative is how I get. Plus what Carbonara said.