Muttley

kilmore Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > In any case, the sixth form is > only in the building half the time because of the > sharing with the girls and the way teaching is > done these days. Are you sure about this? As I understand it (from what was said at the meeting last night), while boys will do some stuff at the girls' site, girls will also be doing stuff on the boys site, so at any time there will be 950 based on the site, but not all of them boys. 5 forms is indeed small by modern standards, but then again, so is the size of the site (outside the inner city, it would be hard to find a school site with less outside space). The Harris people seem convinced that their model will work, and let's hope they really know what they're talking about. But it does seem that this whole thing is quite a gamble.

AllforNun Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes............ maths. In an attempt to clear up any confusion on this, last night it was made clear that there WILL be 950 pupils on the site. 750 will be years 7-11, 200 will be sixth form. There will be a further 200 sixth formers at the Waverley Girls site. Some girls/boys will switch sites for certain subjects, so this is the equivalent of 950 fulltime students on the boys' site.

I was at the meeting. At times it got quite heated and emotional (at least, among the members of the public). The whole case seems to be founded on the fact that, in order to be viable, there has to be a five class intake, i.e. 150 per year group. This seems to be the conventional wisdom for schools these days. Personally I find it hard to believe that a school can't offer a great curriculum with just a four class intake, which would have brought the numbers down to under 800. I'd happily trade a more limited curriculum for more space. If you look at the building plan, there is almost NO outdoor space for the boys to play during breaks. The second fundamental driver for the 950 total was that the school needs a sixth form to provide mentors for younger pupils. I can see the argument for this, though where Year 7s will get to see these sixth formers (other than along crammed corridors) is unclear. It was reported that Tessa Jowell's own survey had revealed a majority of locals in favour of the school. I'm extremely cynical about this. The only fair way to assess local opinion would have been to hold a representative survey, asking specifically if people were in favour of a school for 950 (with pictures so that they could see what it will be like). I'm not aware of such a survey. Of course East Dulwich parents are in favour of a new school, but I suspect most people will be shocked when they discover the details. Final point of note: it was clear from the meeting that there will be NO use of Peckham Rye for sport by the school (except perhaps for the odd special case). Boys will be mini-bused to other sports venues, including South Bank University (is that Burbage Road?) and the velodrome. The latter will offer 'exciting' opportunities for bike activities, apparently. I don't think we've heard the end of this. Edited to answer Phillyboy's question: This Academy will be linked to the Girls Academy on the other side of Peckham Rye. The sixth form will be joint, so some girls will occasionally go to the boys' site for certain subjects and vice versa.

> > and it's 750 fulltime students not 950 According to Harris' website: "We will start with 150 Year 7 boys in September 2009 only reaching 950 students by 2015." So Harris seem to think it will be 950, but Allfornun you appear to know something that Harris don't.

Allfornun, you're trying your best to pick an argument, but my only point is that 950 is in my belief too many for that size of site. If you can name any state school with an emphasis on sport that has successfully operated on this model, I'd be pleased to know about it. End of story.

Allfornun, clearly you don't see any incompatibility between a sports academy for 950 and a postage stamp school site. If the school were to have access to Peckham Rye Park as a sports field that would clearly change things, but it's a public park, so I'd be surprised if they're going to allow part of it to be taken over for school use. Rather than compare Harris with Alleyns, it might be more enlightening to compare Harris with Kingsdale in Dulwich (with its new sports hall and outdoor playing fields.)

AllforNun Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Er ..what is a mixed community school ? Mixed means there are boys and girls. Community means the local population getting involved. And a school is where young people go to learn things. If there's anything else I can help with, do let me know.

AllforNun Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What school would you like to see, something like > the little primary in Dulwich Village, conkers in > autumn, ivy growing up the walls and house prices > spiralling out of control. I mean the amount of > buses rolling up to Alleyns and Jags is a sight to > behold but everyone there seems ok about it ? Er, I think you'll find that Alleyns have several acres of sports fields, including an all-year hockey pitch. More to the point, the boys (and girls) at Alleyns can all play casual games of football and cricket in the yard/on the fields during break, while still within the safe confines of their own school. If the Harris Academy were to go even a quarter of the way to having the outdoor recreation space that Alleyn's has, I suspect most parents would be delighted. I really want this new school to work, but I'm afraid the 'sardine can' image that's become associated with it is likely to stick. 500 on that amount of land might be reasonable. But 950 boys is just ludicrous.

You know, before it was a school, that building used to be a local office for Thames Water, or some such. Anyone got anything interesting to say about the history of that building, or whether they know anyone who's ever had contact with the now defunct 'Seventh Day Adventist' school on the site, or about what the people of Matham Grove think about having an odd school on their doorstep? Macroban, any pictures you can insert here? Am I the only EDF reader who gets bored when East Dulwich threads get hijacked to become rather tedious soapboxes.

It's good to see they've got their priorities right. In 'about the school', Eating comes first, ahead of Curriculum. *Mark, you're right, East Dulwich Grove have just edited my first post*

And it's opening in September 2008, I kid you not. Like Alleyns, it will cater for 4-18 year olds, it's a short walk from East Dulwich station and Lordship Lane, and in a beautiful, imposing building. With secondary fees of ?7,000 per year it's not cheap, but it's a lot cheaper than Alleyns. Unlike the Harris Academy, it won't be crammed with 900 boys. And its meals will be organic, too! Is there a catch? I fear there might be. It's called the New Hope Christian school, opening in the building on the corner of Matham Grove and East Dulwich Grove, and taking over from the Seventh Day Adventist school that used to operate there. I know this because there's an A4 sheet about it stuck crudely over the old Adventist signs. Quite how such a small building will accommodate the full age range from 4-18 is not clear. Pupils will leave school with the 'International Certificate of Christian Education'. And the website doesn't make clear how their biology lessons will tackle evolution. But hey, it adds to the mix I suppose. Did anyone ever have any contact with its predecessor? I can't remember ever seeing any children in that building, but I suppose I don't tend to go past during school hours.

You can also get to Blackfriars from Denmark Hill, and it's only a ten minute walk to DH from roads around East Dulwich station.

Macroban, you tantalise us with this drip feed of pics from what seems to be a bottomless photo treasure chest. Any chance of you publishing your archive somewhere so we can wallow in the nostalgia of East Dulwich before the age of traffic jams and ugly post-war flats?

Am I right that the dog area is the triangle which sides onto the houses, while the non-dog zone is the triangle that runs along the main road. If so, this seems the wrong way round, surely if you want to kick a ball etc, or just read the paper, you want to be in the zone furthest from all the traffic. If they restore the fence after this experiment, the dogs should go on the main road triangle (and they are the ones who should be 'fenced in'.

What's the title of the painting, is it called 'Dog kennel hill'. That cottage looks familiar, isn't there a cottage/gatehouse like that on the left as you head down Grove Hill Road (with DKH school on your right). This is a really tantalising image, I look forward to somebody nailing it.

Me. Also Eric the painter of Landells Road.

Mabel, you have my sympathy. We've waged a three year war against the mogs around here, we've tried everything from lion dung to ultrasonic whistles, and at best these are a minor deterrent. Most effective of all has been putting plastic spike strips along the tops of those fences that are the regular cat routes. This has certainly caused most of them to divert, but of course it probably means they are now merely somebody else's problem.

Yes, definitely not a rumour any more as I see the shop sign's gone up, Davina Boutique. Does that mean it's more than just shoes? I guess all will be revealed in the next day or two.

Moos Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > is Davina shoes at 82 LL confirmed or a rumour? I've seen no evidence that this is anything more than a provocative rumour, started by this thread. If it makes it into SE22 magazine then you'll KNOW it's just a rumour.

Lol.

annaj Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Students of food hygiene and karma Should that be korma?

Thoroughly recommend Jack's, one of East Dulwich's hidden gems. Child friendly (room at the back).

macroban Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Iceland sells fresh meat. True. All their fresh food and their veg is sealed in plastic. I'm sure that's more hygienic. What happens to it when it's being processed before it gets to Iceland I've no idea. All round which fresh meat do I have more faith in? William Rose.

So now we are presented with these figures, what are we supposed to do with them? William Rose scores lower than Iceland, but looking at the scoring system this might simply be because WR deals with riskier food, i.e. fresh meat, versus processed frozen. Bellamy's newsagent gets 5 stars, maybe I should buy my meat there. Note also that many of the reports are over a year old. Take this whole thing with a pinch of salt (but try to keep the salt to less than 6g per day or the diet police will be on to you.)

Tandoori Nights....oh no, say it is not so. I finally got to eat there last week, first time in years, and loved it. Best Indian on Lordship, whatever I've said in the past. Interesting that the Curry Cabin is the only Indian in that four star list (if it's complete).