Bumpkin

I'd try to borrow as much in the way of clothes as possible if it's your first time and buy stuff once you know that you all enjoy it! Decathalon does good cheap thermals and ski jackets / trousers. Not sure when they start selling, but we got all our stuff at the Canada water one LY. Definitely Hire ski's, boots, poles once you are there (personally I'd hire helmets too as not much storage in our flat). My 7 yr old wore his school coat as it was a decent waterproof one and he was a beginner and we got him Decathalon trousers that have extending legs so they should last longer. As WoD says, layers are sensible, you don't want a mega warm ski jacket if it's going to be warm and sunny (can get quite hot with the sun in the Alps if you're lucky). Better with a thinner jacket with fleece + thermal vest. You will want long johns and decent socks although if you wear a thin pair of normal socks underneath, you don't need a pair per day of ski socks. Have fun!

Hi James Out of interest, do you know how big the Harris Boys ED site is for comparison? Is there anything that prospective parents can do at this stage to lobby for more land being released for the new school? thanks for all your help on this, I'm very excited that this could be opening so soon.

You know what, we all had cake and custard for pudding at school everyday in the 70's and I don't think it's a problem at all. they are young and run around and we can definitely over fuss (from someone who only cooked organic non sugar stuff for her baby / toddler). It's a nice treat for the kids which makes them like school meals and probably significantly cheaper to knock out a cake and custard than give out individual yoghurts, the cheap ones of which will be loaded with sugar anyway. I doubt the pudding cakes are that sweet anyway, sugar's expensive. the meals look to me to be far healthier in general than my ones back in the day and much nicer than a packed lunch.

I found Bells really helpful, Tony was immensely patient whilst we ummed and ahhed over choices and swapped things over when we changed our mind at the last minute for no charge. We've just had our bathroom completed by them this week and would definitely recommend he can source pretty much everything you want.

Resham, you raise the issue of our council tax being higher than Wandsworth as being a major issue. I'm presuming you want to reduce Southwark's tax? If so, what do you propose to cut in order to fund this? Are you suggesting that your priority is to win in a race to the bottom in terms of council tax paid and public services provided or do you have a really good way of reducing tax without any job losses or service reductions?

seconded thumbs up for Jack, it's not easy dealing with numerous children / adults clamouring for your attention at the beginning and end of the day in the office and Jack has always been calm, friendly and very helpful over the 2 and a bit years my son has been going there. Everyone can have an off day, unfortunate to have it put on the forum. We're extremely happy with G Green overall, last week my son said it was his favourite place to be and this comes from a boy who hated nursery and group activities with a passion prior to school.

As a private landlord of one flat... I ask for 1 month rent up front and 6 weeks deposit which goes in the Government run tennancy deposit scheme, this seems pretty standard and gives some buffer to cover potential non payment of rent and damage to property. The other actual costs involved in setting up a new tenancy are credit checks which I can get done for around ?35 per tennant, an inventory check in which cost me around ?120 for a 2 bed flat and a deep clean of the flat paying a cleaner around ?10 per hour, maybe 5 hrs. Also the cost of advertising the flat which is either free on gumtree or around ?50 to get on rightmove etc. The rest is just my time in printing out a standard tenancy agreement and changing names / addresses (10 minute job) and showing people round the flat. Anything else is just estate agent padding and they will be taking a hefty fee off the landlord too, so as SLad says, I'd be tempted to negotiate hard, however it depends on how many other potential tenants are prepared to pay those fees.. Or try to find a flat through a nice private landlord who doesn't charge the earth.

We've got secondary glazing but it was specifically to cut noise down as we're on a main road. I was told that it doesn't really impact on the heat that much as the gap is too big. Works a treat with the noise, isn't that noticeable (but it's a bedroom so don't look at it that much). If you're specifically only looking for reducing heat loss, I'd go double glazing or even a thick pair of curtains or ones with thermal lining, I had those in a room with drafty single glazing and they made a big difference.

We had a fab time tonight (although was horrified to be picked to be part of the 'musical comedy' act), sorry to see it was only around half full, maybe as it was the last performance, would definitely go again (and avoid all eye contact with the clown..).

Goose Green year 2 has 18 boys vs 11 girls in my son's class and similar in the other one, was also wondering whether this was a trend or just more girls going to other nearby schools..

I seem to remember it happening once but I gave a very firm no and he didn't do it again. Just say no firmly and end that feed straight away and she'll get the message.

the water one.. can it go in the brown bin?! and what do I do with 2/3 of a waterbutt full of eau de squirrel?.. that will teach it to eat all my bulbs, dig up the pots and eat through the bird feeder. A harsh lesson tho.

I didn't get to talk to either of the stands at the fair, but second hand heard that if Charter won the bid, it would mean that the kids on both sites would have access to their playing fields (via a footbridge from the hospital site). Is that true? How would Haberdashers address this as the actual space for the new school isn't that large and from my uninformed guessing could end up rather like Harris boys with very little outdoor space.

About a week ago, I was told by one of the shop owners on L Lane that the deli was going to close shortly (not by the deli owners themselves though)..

Thanks James, I'm very grateful for all the effort that you and the steering committee have put into this, as a parent of a 6 yr old, this significantly reduces future stress and worry about secondary school places.

Are you doing this today too?

no idea, but you can definitely put shoes in the green bin by the Mind Shop at the G Green roundabout if you're not sure about the Plough one.

Slight negative to throw into the mix - I planned a home birth but ended up with an emergency c-section at Kings and was very much discouraged from going to any discussion groups (not that I was keen to go, but responded to a couple of requests and was dismissed as had not had positive home birth). I know that everyone wants to feel positive about birth, but if you're a first time mum over 30 and have any family history of pre-eclampsia, other pregnancy / birth complications I would think seriously about being directly in the hands of medical experts. There's a reason that we have significantly lower baby & mother mortality rates with vastly increased medical intervention compared to relatively recent history / countries overseas with less medical facilities.

I've been several times with NCT friends since our kids were around 18 months and it's been really easy each time. The kids seem to sleep better outdoors and you can hang out, drink and chat round the campfire whilst the kids run around or sleep. You don't really need anything special for the children in my experience, but my must haves are a comfy pillow and ear plugs (I don't sleep as well as little B!). Beware that even if the day time is really hot, it can still get v cold at night so don't let your other half buy a ?10 double sleeping bag from Sainsburys and think it will be warm enough for you at May Bank holiday unless you're really warm blooded! We've been mostly around Sussex as it's close but also had a lovely time in Norfolk and the Cotswolds - loads of books advising sites e.g. Cool Camping / Cool Camping for kids. We always look for a site that allows campfires and so far have managed not to burn a toddler. Have fun!

I second Peckhamplex, why bother driving miles when we've got a fab cinema on our doorstep that's so cheap. I've never found it busy for kids shows. Also a big fan of the Ritzy but am newly converted to Peckham as can walk there.

You can park on Ferndale Road if you go away from Brixton High St 100m or so and quite a lot of Streets leading off it.

Having said we had a great time, it definitely was much more limited than going as an adult. Our 2 yr old who would eat nearly anything at home really didn't like the food and was far too hot to do anything other than sleep / swim in shaded swimming pool in the heat of the day, have had easier holidays with him in the Algarve / Turkey. It was great and we were visiting a friend, but think it would be easier when they are a bit older as they get better at dealing with extreme heat. However Christmas should be a cooler period than when we went.

We went with our Son when he was 2 and had a great time. Went in May which on reflection was a bit hot for a 2 yr old, lots of long naps over lunchtime and in the swimming pool in the heat of the day. Mr B has a very good friend over there, a local woman who owns a taxi company in Bangkok, speaks excellent English and is an ex nurse. She organised our whole trip and I'd trust her to sort out any problem you could come across. Let me know if you'd like her details.

Have also completed, thanks

Article in the Guardian today pointed out that foxes eat a lot of rats and if they were culled there would be an increase in those instead.. Be careful what you meddle with.