Carbonara

"you could have pretty much set the children according to their parents class & race & they would have ended up in the same sets. (Middle class white children dominating the upper sets, in case anyone needs it spelling out). " This is absolutely not the case in my childrens' South London comp. There may well be the statistical representation of economic disadvantage correlating with an lower average attainment, but that is not the same as the top sets not being diverse. The top sets are very diverse, across both race and socio-economic groupings, and there are plenty of white middle class children in the middle and lower sets as far as I can tell from knowing many families, involvement in the school etc. Whether it is the same in the Grammars / super-selectives, which seem to use expensive tutoring to achieve ever-spiralling scores in a competitive race for the place, I don't know as I have no involvement with those schools.

Home visits aren't compulsory, if you don't fancy it just decline. Lots of people are too busy, anyway, if they are at work during the day. We found it rather lovely, teacher was very friendly and it gave her chance to have a one-to-one chat and for the kids to get to know her on their home patch. Also a chance for me to ask the questions I felt too silly to ask at the public open evening for new parents.

"Just been hearing about a lot of people renting houses for a few months and then moving out once they're in. SO ANNOYING. I know people do it, but it shouldn't be allowed." It isn't allowed! Not if they have another house which they own in the general area, and have taken on a short term rental as well as that house. If renters happen to rent v close to a school as their only home, that is a different matter.

"Is it possible that children who were offered none of their 6 are being offered places first? " No. Waiting lists operate on exactly the same admissions criteria as the initial application rounds. Little Carmine - There are some complicated aspects to the admissions process, but it isn't really a mystery. You can go down the waiting list as well as up because once the waiting lists are opened to late applicants anyone can put themselves on any waiting list, and those who most meet the criteria will enter it higher up. Lots of people move house in the summer, or will have moved house since the application date. Families who moved into S London may have gained an in-year place for an older child as a family moves away, and then shoot straight up the waiting list for a younger sibling. Remember that probably everyone on the waiting list is on several other lists, too, so each time one person gains a place they may come of 4 or 5 waiting lists!

The Peter Pan Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens. Fantastic. Free. The zoo in Battersea Park is good.

What did you decide, VjB? Win / win choice, really, and I hope you child will be very happy.

I bought Mosi-Guard in the chemisty-natural foods shop on Lordship Lane on the Left as you walk from the G Green end. The Roll-On version is very easy to apply on babies and toddlers. It is v effective and all natural ingredients.

number2 - a whole circle all the way round the school 87m wide and with a radius of 604m covers quite a lot of land, though. Fingers crossed.

Can people who are pleased with their steam mops, or steam cleaners that work on floors, please tell us what model?

Having school friends in the same catchment, i.e on your doorstep, becomes ever more valuable as they get older. The DVI results are arguably a result of intake, not actually the education on offer, and given the doubt about transfer, and sibling entrance, no way would I turn down Heber, and excellent school, for a school a 20 min walk away! The Hamlet may well have a bigger catchment - but not that big. How many children from your street do you see going to the Hamlet? And catchments tend to shrink every year as housing becomes more dense and the population rises in this ever more popular area for families.

Otta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Steam mops are crap. Bought one a little while > ago, it was nowhere near as good as the steam > cleaner, and after about 2 uses, it stopped > working. What's the difference between a steam mop and a steam cleaner? I want one for a laminate floor. What make was yours that stopped working?

I get no EE (T Mobile / Orange) service across great swathes of S London, including E Dulwich and Streatham. It's crap and it's been like it since I switched providers just before Christmas. I'm really regretting changing. And my iPhone keeps losing the 3G signal. Is Vodaphone the network with the best coverage, overall?

Try Welsummer Campsite near Leeds Castle. Small, friendly, attracts families with young children.

I love 24 Hours in A&E. The staff are simply marvellous. All credit to them - I am grateful to know that they are there, doing what they do. But why is the Daily Mail padding itself out making a whole feature which parrots the content of the programme? Did a feature writer or jounalist get paid for relating the TV programme verbatim? No additional research, nothing. Shockingly lazy and useless rag!

It's always a contravention, everywhere, to park half on the pavement - unless there are lines marked on the pavement to allow for it. I know it's hard sometimes but as drivers the onus is to find somewhere that is safe to park without obstructing access for emergency vehicles, and without obstructing the pavement for prams / wheelchair users etc. All parking services do you if you have a wheel on the pavement. Most give you a ticket if you have a wheel out of a dotted-line parking space, too, but Southwark are quite lenient ab out this, and don't seem to issue a ticket unless a certain percentage of the car is outside the box. But please do not park like this on my say so - it's not official! Sorry you got a ticket, anyway.

Gill, Ashbourne Grove, 07736 400658 She is very kind and has lots of fun ways to increase confidence, skills and different ways to think things out. Very experienced and effective. If you are sure he needs a tutor - he sounds completely normal, in a good way!

There are a few campsites where you can hire a whole section for yourself - maybe try the forum talk boards on UKCampsite? The scouts site at Dulwich is great, very inexpensive, you can hire one of the fields, have a big fire, and you don't have to be a scout.

oimissus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > a word of warning about Knole and it's beautiful > deer park. Deer like crisps. Especially cheese and > onion. The despair I felt when a deer nicked my > crisps is still fresh in my mind. I recall my > sister laughing at said despair. Then another deer > nabbed her bag. AAAAAHAHAHAHA!!! > > (This was at about 30 years ago. This things stay > with you.) The deer of Knole are very feisty. Our recent picnic was quickly abandoned as deer snatched sandwiches from small hands, bit one child, and generally created panic. Quite unpleasant. It's the fault of people feeding them, of course. Despite the big notices saying 'Do Not Feed the Deer'.

I see it has a gelateria, now. It needs somewhere to buy ordinary kids basics. Socks. A vest. Cheapply. Decent pizza.

Durand is a primary, in Lambeth. I have heard from local parents that the Head is very determined, but does well by the kind of children allowed to underachieve in the past or at other schools. Bound to be a bit Marmite. And all teachers these days suffer under Govian pressures, league tables, contracts undermined by Academiy employment, etc etc.

There is one at Brixton Recreation Centre, and Junior Climbing Club, I think. No idea how much it costs, but the Rec is usually affordable in the context of other places.

Abney - there is no disadvantage whatsoever in accepting the place you have been offered. They will not think you are happy, the admissions process continues exactly as in the stated admissions code. You will automatically be placed on the waiting lists for all schools that you preferred over the offered school - in your case that would be all 6 schools. And you can put yourself on the waiting list for any school you like, now, and as many lists as you like. Places will continue to be offered according to the admissions criteria for that school. There are some good schools on that list of schools with available places. Crawford is definitely a school that has turned a corner and will be shooting up the charts evry soon, for example. School places continue to be made available even through the first term.

TeriG, really sorry for your partner's horrible experience. I was on the cafe area of Brockwell Park - where there were clear signs about dogs needing to be on leads - and a dog (not on a lead) charged and jumped at a toddler, making it fall over and hurt itself. The 2 men with the dog said nothing at all. I said 'I would want an apology if that had happened to my child' and was met with horrible abuse and threats of violence. And while jogging in DP I was bitten (drew blood, caused huge bruise) by a large dog (Alsatian cross?) that was I think young and over-excited. I kicked at it to get it away from me and was met with a barrage of abuse and, again, threats of violence from the owner. Some dog owners seem to be incredibly aggressive if anyone 'disses' their dog.

Awful things, in my opinion! Too bulky and too hard to get things in and out of, a rucsack is much better. If the child rides on it through the airport it uses up one of your hands, and the child gets tripped over by other passsengers. 2 year olds will get tired of pulling it along, and yes, you will end up carrying it, along with everything else. And they are so expensive. One of those twee ideas that is awful in practical terms, in my experience travelling with a friend whose child had one.

Curly - why don't you set the timer so that it doesn't finish cooking until you know you will be ready to get up? Ours is always ready to but by the time we have had a cup of coffee and got dressed.