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What a kind and thoughtful auntie. I really hope he makes a full recovery very soon. If you do fancy going out for the day and the weather is ok, the Romney/Hythe steam railway in south kent is supposed to be very good and stops at Romney Sands for a winters day running around the beach (maybe bring a portable bbq and cook some sausages for hot dogs!). I have three boys (5, 3 and 2) who are all train mad and I know (wrapped up) they would love that. If staying in, train set/games are a great idea - if you can get some battery operated ones (TOMY for example) you could do races. also you can get thomas balloons on amazon to decorate the room or from party sites like partyrama. How about a Thomas pinata as well? (http://www.partystuffonline.co.uk/Description.asp?ProductID=14102) This one is perfect as you pull the strings to release the sweets/goodies (rather than hit it) and with four of you it will still work well. Sainsburys DKH also has a Thomas birthday cake as I have bought many times for my boys ;) Hope he has a lovely day!

Hi Many thanks for the information. It sounds like I need planning for the kitchen (and a neighbour who is having similiar work done has just confirmed this as well) so I guess my next stop will be Southwark - good to hear they are amenable. Fingers crossed it goes smoothly!

We are looking to do some conversion work on our mid terrace house and I am a little confused about what is permitted development in Southwark. I was wondering if there were any knowlegeable forumites who could provide advice on this. Essentially we want to do a single storey side return extension to open up our kitchen and also a dormer loft conversion. Our kitchen is approx 18-20 ft in length and so the extension would have to match this in length. I have read somewhere that Southwark have a 3m depth limit for new a extension under permitted development (i.e. no planning permission required but party/boundary wall agreement required) but cant actually find this information anywhere on the Southwark planning portal and that this policy is therefore stricter than national planning regulations. Is this still correct? If this 3m depth limit exists, I assume this would also apply to a dormer loft conversion too? This is less of an issue than the kitchen but good to clarify. Many thanks

Hi I was wondering the same as my husband has been ill for the past two and half weeks and I am getting a little concerned as I can now safely say its not manflu. His symptoms are more gastroenteritis/stomach flu though - he has had stomach cramps and very upset stomach and can barely eat since the begining of December (which is very unlike him!). Sorry - forgot to include - I hope you feel better soon. It sounds like a really nasty bug :((

Visited this today with two of my children (4.5 yrs and 18 mths) and thoroughly, thoroughly recommend the museum, inc the pirate exhibition. We went by train and river bus (via London Bridge to canary wharf) to make it even more of an experience and took just over an hour from ED. Came back via tube and train (less than an hour). The museum was fantastic - spent 4 hours there and loads to do for children of all ages, even under 2s. You pay to get into the pirate exhibition (?7 for adults) but under 5s go free but entry to the rest of the museum including an excellent children's interactive/activity room (with soft play corner for toddlers) are all free (you need to book in for this though when you arrive). There are also daily activities/workshops throughout the summer with a pirate theme and today the lady who does the Horniman storytime was there telling pirate tales. I have to say I think it is a real bargain for what you get and really interesting from a grown up point of view too. Dont miss the main museum exhibitions. Great little cafe with books and crayons.

I doubt very much St Anthony's is taking many if any, non-southwark children. We live in ED/South Camberwell area and our son has only just a got a place at the school after the wait list shakedown in May (and then only because St Anthony's is having a bulge class this year). I should also point out, the local community state school application process "failed" for us. In addition to St Anthony's we also applied to the two nearest local community schools to our house (i.e. non-faith schools), one of which is under 300 metres away but failed to get places at either of these and in fact, fell further down the wait lists after the shake down. St Anthonys is serving Southwark children and rightly deserves to receive the funding required to make these necessary improvements.

I have a cricket mad 4.5 year old who is desperate to start learning how to play the game. I have been searching for cricket clubs/coaching in the East Dulwich area but there doesnt seem to be anything available for under 7s. Does anyone know if there is such a thing available in the local area?

In answer to your question Chantelle, quite conveniently for Southwark LA (and no doubt their legal team), only they will be able to tell you the actual distance measurement (down to the last metre) that they will then use to calculate your home's distance to your chosen schools. This is because while they use a commercially available GIS software system called Hometrack SMART, Southwark themselves decide where to plot the point in each school from which each distance measurement to applicants' houses are made. I have found all this out after our child missed out on a Sept '11 reception place by a mere 3 metres (which was by far our closest community school). We did extensive research into how Southwark undertakes its distance calculations and contacted the GIS company (Hometrack) directly. While the GIS software uses underlying large-scale Ordnance Map Data and the GIS software itself is incredibly accurate (partic in calculating crows flies distances), Southwark are able to select the measurement point in each school. I have found that in the case of our school, this point is different from the point used by publically available school locator websites - including Southwark's own public school finder site! If you use Google Earth to calculate crows flies distance, then the results will also probably be different (even if you know what point Southwark are actually using) as Ordnance Survery data automatically discounts building heights and also has a margin of error of at least -/+ 1m. Finally (and quite crucially), the point at which the SMART GIS software uses within houses to calculate distances to the school is arbitrarily placed within houses. This means that in some houses, the point could be at the front door and in others it could be in the middle of the house or even the back door. We live in a long, thin house - so the 3 metre difference between us and the furthest successful applicant to our child's school could have been easily absorbed by our living/dining room! We used all of this information in our appeal to Southwark (which we have yet to hear back from Southwark on) - however we have now secured a place at a faith school for our son so will not proceed with the appeal. I am still very annoyed at the system however and do think the use of crow flies measurements as unfair and quite ridiculous.

Fuschia Yes I have thanks. However, we have such a tiny difference between us and the furthest successful applicant we are appealing on these grounds. While we now have a place at another local school, I am so angry about what has happened over the last week and in particular, the publication of these stats which as far as I can see, Southwark are using to cover up a less than adequate school application process. I dont see why parents have to put up with it. Why should we have to accept allocations that are frankly unacceptable while we wait for the system to sort its self out.

I am sorry but I dont think I have ever been as upset and distressed as I was last week when I received notification that: a) Peckham Park Primary had been erroneously put on my chosen preference list b) It had been allocated to my son as we had failed to get into our 3 selected schools meaning all other local schools had been automatically discounted when looking for alternative local school for my son As I was able to respond quickly to the situation, I have now managed to secure a place at a local school in the interim while I wait to appeal my preferred schools (one of which we believe we have a strong case based on questionable distance measurements). However, before this we were evaluating private schools, leaving London and homeschooling. But I am still waiting for an explanation (and apology) from Southwark as to why Peckham Park was included in the first place and given my upset and distress last week, I am getting increasingly annoyed by the continued use of these stats. I certainly hope no ones bonus is tied to them. Its all very easy to say accept what you are given and then wait to see what happens in the shakedown, but when its your child that has been given a school miles away and that doesnt have a very good reputation, then it becomes hugely stressful.

Hi Coach Beth I think that is wise advice indeed and only wished I had done this three months ago. However, my main point here is that the stats of "94% got one of their preferred places" is inaccurate if it is including me/my son's application as my application mysteriously included Peckham Park Primary which I didnt even know existed until yesterday. I wonder how many more people have experienced this error. On the point of crows flies distance, one of the schools my son has missed a place out of from is our local community school - we are 3 metres further than the furthest successful applicant using this measurement method and less than 300 metres from the school. However, at least two successful applicants who have succeeded on distance and not on older siblings being at the school have to physically walk past my house to get the school in question due to the geography of the roads/paths.

Hi Renata In response to the following posted by you: "Mrs Lotte, I don't yet have the ward breakdowns, but here are the overal stats: 79 % 1st choice 93 % one of their top 4 choices 94% one of their choices 6 % were allocated a school" I have just received my letter from Southwark stating "congratulations on being given one of my preferred schools "Peckham Park Primary"", with a table on the next page showing this with my three other choices. I only put three schools down (all of which my son failed to get into) and until yesterday when I emailed Southwark to find out the results, had never heard of Peckham Park Primary which is 1.5miles away. So besides my complete horror at this and the fact that its inclusion has potentially jepordised the allocation of a place at much closer (and better) schools, I would seriously question these stats. I really would like a clear explanation as to why this has happened. I am incredibly upset and frustrated by the whole process. the stat that 94% had received one of their

Have joined thread there now - thank you!

Hi Renata I had St Anthonys, Dog Kennel Hill School and Lyndhurst on my list. My son is already at DKH nursery and our house is 237 yards from the new entrance. It takes me three minutes to walk there. However, we got the "no offer possible" response yesterday, which I am absolutely stunned by. St Anthony's I can understand, but we are under 300 metres to DKH school. That means the catchment must be miniscule. Can you shed any light on this? Also, I did not receive the letter explaining the situation further today and as such, as it stands, we have no idea where he has been allocated. Please can you help clarify. Many thanks

Hi Does anyone know anything about this year's catchment area for DKH school? My son is at nursery there but has not got a reception place from Sept despite the fact we live 3 minutes away. I have calculated from the school's new entrance on Grove Hill Road to our house and it comes in at 237 yards (217 metres distance) so I am absolutely stunned we havent got a place. Very, very upset about it too. In fact, we didnt get any of our preferences and we are now in a bit of a blackhole as we have not been allocated anywhere else as of yet. I spoke to the school this morning and they informed me that Southwark had been anticipating an oversubscription problem this year (sounds a bit like groundhog day reading through previous year's threads though) due to an exceptionally high birthrate in my son's year so they have set up some forum's over the next few weeks to discuss the issue with parents. Not one to be cynical, but I would have thought more forward planning would have been more useful. We are appealing, so if anyone has info on the current DKH catchment area - I would be eternally grateful. I would also appreciate any views from our local councillor (James?) on this issue of oversubcribed schools this year. I have contacted Southwark, and the response was that they or may not get back to me within 3 days :((((( Many thanks, A very stressed mum!