Medusa

Actually, I did enter the birthdate correctly, as I said in my email to you, so I think there is a glitch on the system but it doesn't matter now that the birthdate isn't mandatory. Anyway, let's hope the festival will be well-attended and successful! I've found out what the problem was. The online form will not accept a birthdate that includes the year as 00. Tested my theory out and it's definitely what upsets it. Just so you know...

I'm having problems with your website, actually. Every time I try to submit an application, it asks me to enter a valid birthdate, which I already have. I can't seem to find a contact no to call..?

Is he constipated? It sounds as thought he could have what's termed 'constipation with overflow'. Have a look on google. If that's the problem, increasing dietary fibre should help, as well as making sure he drinks enough water. One of my children had this...

My boy with AS has a huge haircut aversion. I have a hairdresser friend who works freelance and will come to our home. She's been very patient with him and her rates are fantastic. PM me if you want her contact no.

I had mine at 29 weeks. They were straightforwardly prem with no major (ie life-and-death) difficulties, but even then, the doctors were extremely cagey about whether they would survive. They did, and although it took three months before all three were discharged from hospital and one was oxygen-dependent for 15 weeks, they then thrived. From the age of about one, they have been amongst the most healthy, physically robust children I've ever known. Heading towards thirteen now, I can't even remember the last time any of them had so much as a cold. 28/29 weeks isn't considered extremely premature these days and the vast majority survive. There is now known to be a 200-300% increase in the incidence of autistic spectrum disorders in children whose birthweight was very low, however. It is a very stressful experience having a baby that prematurely, though. Your friend is likely to need a lot of support. It's a day-to-day thing because prem babies can go from being apparently fine to extremely ill very, very quickly so you can't relax at all and even when they come home, you tend to worry about every bug they are exposed to. It took me about two years to breathe out really.

------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks for your post Medusa,I do take it as a very > bad sign, but in the present climate of results > and league driven teaching what is the > alternative? Jump ship and trek miles for a more > 'creative' school, stay and fight to have these > options on the agenda? You'd be wasting your time and energy at that particular school. The Head is intractable. If it's really important to you that your children get a creative, rounded education, I'd strongly suggest considering a different school. Many, many parents felt the same way as I do about this and the Year 6 children ran a petition to persuade the Head to keep their end of school show, but he wasn't remotely interested. Lots of staff members are disheartened and I'd expect the best of them to leave as the next few years go by. And yes, I'm fully expecting to be called alarmist for this, but what I'm saying is based on 8 years of involvement with the school and numerous conversations with parents as well as with staff; it's not just speculation.

The thing is, I don't think it's really just about whether a school puts on such performances. I think the extent to which a school engages in any activities that are beyond the boundaries of Ofstedland speaks volumes about the attitudes of the senior management team to education and learning. The school the OP refers to hasn't simply scrapped the major performances; it has also sidelined other activities on which children won't be inspected/tested. At the end of 2012's Year 6, pupils in their last year were put on a 'revision programme' for some three or four months before their SATs. During this period in some classes, if not all, there were no music lessons, no history, no PE. Yes, that year's cohort achieved very good SATs, but all the children I know left the school bored and disengaged. For those of us who are old enough to remember the pre-Ofsted, pre-National Curriculum days, this testing and results-driven era is one in which the emphasis is on league tables ranking to the exclusion of a more broad-based approach to learning in which children are taught to think, to enquire, to be curious...not to be drilled into the art of regurgitating the correct responses to attain maximum marks in tests. So yes, if I had children in the early years of primary and they were at a school like X, I would take it as a Very Bad Sign and move them. I wish I had recognized the bad omens and done so with my own. Children only have one shot at primary school and in comparison with secondary school, there is still some potential for creativity, if it's a school that values that as much, if not more, than league tables ratings.

I have a stage 2 car seat and a booster seat that you're welcome to borrow.

^ Also, there is a risk of less well-known long-term consequences of some viral infections. The last time measles swept through SE London there was also a case of scarlet fever at my children's school. I caught it and although I recovered from the initial illness after ten days or so (and it was really, really awful), I never bounced back completely. I was left with an auto-immune connective tissue disease and according to my rheumatologist, it is not uncommon for diseases such as this to be triggered by serious viral illness. I used to be quite anti-vaccination. I believed all the anti-vaccination lobby's arguments about well-nourished, healthy children not being likely to be seriously affected by childhood illnesses. Even if that were the case (and it would still be cold comfort to the parents of the rare child who is unlucky enough to end up with major complications), that fails to take into account all the other factors involved.

If there is any flexibility about the recipient, my mother has advanced heart failure and would really benefit from this, esp if it can be put in the boot of a car. I can't push her in a wheelchair (bad back) and she can't walk far at all. But I quite understand if this is a cancer-specific thing.

Most bursaries only cover 40% of the fees so that's not really true. I realise that the OP works for a private school but nevertheless, I don't suppose you'd start a thread asking 'Would you..?' type questions unless you were open to a range of responses.

In answer to the OP, no, I wouldn't. My own children have just started secondary school after two terms at home because I turned down the school Southwark offered me and chose to home-educate until we had an option I was happy with. The two terms they were home-educated were extremely difficult for complex reasons not relevant to this thread, and by February or so I was reconsidering the situation and wondering whether I should consider a private school. One of my children would have had a good chance of getting a music scholarship so it seemed like a real prospect. I had never considered private education before, not only because I can't possibly afford it so would be reliant on scholarships/bursaries which, almost without exception, only partially cover the fees, but also because I am not in favour of private education anyway. I send my children to school not only for a broad academic education but also for an enduring experience of being part of a diverse community of their peers. In my opinion, sending my children to private school would have undermined a lot of the values that are fundamental to me as a parent (and as a person generally). I have experience of both, since one of my brothers went to an elite private school while the other three of us went to local state schools; I have four children of my own, all of whom have gone to state schools. My eldest went to a secondary school in an extremely poor area and its results reflected the underprivileged background of a large section of the school community. Despite this - or rather because of the dedication of the staff and their encouragement of all students to strive to attain their potential - my daughter came out at 16 with something likw 5 A*s, 5 As and a B. My father was also a head teacher for over forty years. Private schools have resources that state schools can only dream of. Given this, it is unsurprising that they produce good results. What they seem to achieve is two things: first, getting decent academic results in children who aren't especially bright and who benefit from the smaller class sizes and extraordinary resources available and second, creating in their students a sense of self-confidence and aspiration (or, depending on your perspective on it, a classic public school sense of airy arrogance and entitlement). A friend of mine who works at a very senior level in politics and conducts lots of interviews has described the way that public school graduates are trained to give the impression of being more clever than they really are. This *can* be seen as a good thing, of course... I tend to think that I can't just see the choices I make as being about me and my children. Unless we all want to be Thatcherites and regard ourselves as purely individuals and not as a part of a broader society, then the choices we all make have a wide impact. Education in this country is in a complete mess, with the curriculum being blown about in the political wind. Most of the excellent teachers I have known have either left teaching or are at breaking point because of the untenable situation they find themselves in. Meanwhile the 'brain drain' that is private education continues. As long as the most powerful and privileged people continue to hold the trump card that is public schools, it takes the pressure off the government to ensure that all children have access to excellent education in the state sector.I can't see any point in having principles if you jettison them at the point where they have personal consequences. And yes, I know the costs; I was in the same situation that Diane Abbott found herself in, where I knew that one of my children in particular would possibly fare better in a private school for various reasons. Unlike Ms Abbott, though, the decision I arrived at was to dig my heels in and fight to get the system to change/improve enough to accommodate my (and, by implication, every) child.It's a position that is personal, political and utterly bloody-minded :)

I've been a patient at DMC for years. Most of the doctors are great, but the administrative side of things is appalling. The other day I spent 20mins redialling to make an appt, was then 8th in line on hold and finally all the apps were taken. I've had referrals sent to the wrong place more than once, including a request for an urgent brain scan a year ago( which was faxed to an incorrect number three times). They can't even manage to send my son's script electronically to the pharmacy each month. Once I've found somewhere better, I'm off.

Ooh, I have Grade 3 and Grade 5 children who'd probably like this but could only do a weekday because Flute Boy no 1 has music classes on Sat mornings. Just re-read OP. I'll email her. Thanks for posting!

@ Fuschia- yes, those are the ones!

My three all loved it, too. I think they were in the same workshop as yours, Fuschia!

Actually, my children only left last summer so I am well aware of the current Head and the changes he has implemented. But every parent has to make their own mind up, obviously. I have responded to a request for opinions about the school - that's all.

My children were there for 8 years. I am quite sure that if you ask the same question about any school, you will find dissenting opinions; that is inevitable to an extent, given that different people look for particular things in any school so depending on the criteria on which they are judging it, they will find it more or less satisfactory. Let's just say that if my energies weren't now consumed by other things, I feel strongly enough about this that I would be going to Ofsted and the education ombudsman. The battle has exhausted me.

The school is great at the Foundation Stage, but I would have major reservations beyond that. The Head has a management style that is, at best, dismissive of the views of staff members when they disagree. There is a gulf, IME, between the senior management team and the rest of the staff matched only by the chasm between the support staff/section and the rest of the school. My children were at Goodrich for 8 years and I would never have recognised the school from its recent Ofsted report which glossed over some major problems at the school. Some of the things my children experienced at the school were utterly disgraceful and they are not isolated incidents. I won't say more just in case there are libel threats. I attempted to make formal complaints twice, but the Board of Governors somehow never appeared to receive, let alone respond to, my complaints. There are some exceptionally good individual teachers at Goodrich and the school has some strengths but I personally wouldn't recommend it to my (hypothetical) worst enemy unless the current Head left and there was a thorough shake-up.Feel free to dismiss me as a disgruntled parent, but I am really not simply that.

I beguiled my one-time reluctant bum-wiper with bottom wipes that came in a novelty plastic hippo case. Sainsbury's.

Two of my sons have been learning for a while. I can recommend a lovely local teacher, Naomi Chant. Otherwise you can contact JASSPA where individual lessons are held, as well as theory lessons and the Big Band/orchestra. One of my children has been going there for a term, loves it and is doing v.well.

I am definitely interested, depending on the cost. I have 3 Year 7 children.

Thanks for the heads-up about this group, intexasatthemoment. Sarah, what are your rates, both daytime and eve?

^ That. I recently supplied my elves with phones for Christmas and after a bit of research, found giff gaff to offer numerous really good deals. Reception seems fine, too.

No, but I'm watching this thread with interest, as I've been with Virgin since April and I find their internet service pretty erratic and slow. I've already been through a bitter divorce from TalkTalk who failed to win my love.