Bet01

I wouldn't completely rule out being more central in East Dulwich due to smaller houses - you can definitely get a house the size you need on Crystal Palace Road, for example, (and potentially Fellbrigg or Ulverscroft). CPR has a lot of semi-detached houses that would be roughly 1800 square foot if you include a loft conversion. And the gardens are decent sizes. The top end (IE the end nearer Dulwich Library) is very near Dulwich Park, and the 185, 40 and 197 buses on Lordship Lane go straight to Denmark Hill which gets you into Blackfriars in 12 minutes. It's a lovely walk to St Paul's in the morning, I do it every day. It's very near Dulwich College, Alleyns or JAGs, depending on which school you're referring to! Our son is at DC and he either walks through the park or gets the P13 bus. So that's what I'd do if I was you.

No water on Landells Road again this morning. Have reported to Thames Water via the website, might be a good idea if others did the same as they may be more likely to notice!

Thanks Beaky!

Son is in Year 1 now so would be taking the entry test next Jan. Seems like a long way away but I know I should be helping him way more than I am! He's a bright boy, but I really have no idea how 'bright' you need to be to get in. They have sample papers on their website and I'm fairly sure he could get 100% correct in the English one now, but not the Maths. Can anyone with experience of entry to Year 3 let me know what the process was like? Did you hire a tutor? I wonder if a maths tutor might be a good idea. Thanks all!

Yep that sounds more like it. Tempted to go and wake them all up at 6am tomorrow when my son wakes up. That'll teach 'em...

Hmm don't think it's rugby related...they all sound really young. Seriously though if I was living next door to that I'd be hammering on their door. It's super loud. I can't go out and see where it is because my son's asleep. Let's hope he stays that way. No sleep for me for the next few hours!

Humph! Is it Barry Road? I can't really tell.

Can't actually hear my telly thanks to the ear-splittingly loud music. (Old fart...)

Hi, My son is at Heber nursery and he loves it. It's small and friendly and the kids are all sweet too. Downsides are fairly quick rotation of staff since we've been there (son's key worker left, then another teacher left, and sometimes new teaching assistants randomly appear with no warning!)and, following on from that, communication overall isn't a strong point. We've missed letters about various things, but now signed up to Parentmail which is probably what I should have done in the first place! This sounds really negative I know, but overall I would recommend it; the level of teaching is good, my son is happy and I can tell he's learning because he's holding his pen differently, counting on his fingers, sounding out his letters, etc. All things I know they're meant to be teaching him, so they obviously are and it seems to be working!

Son is (fingers crossed) starting Heber reception in Sept. I know it's quite a way off, but thinking about childcare, do childminders do pre- and after school care in term time and then full time in school holidays? Our shared nanny won't be able to cope with the logistics of school run and other younger children, so we'll have to part ways. I know Heber do breakfast and after school clubs but obviously term time only, so what do people do for the 14 weeks per year that need covering! Help appreciated...

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Yep I think on balance moving is a bit drastic! I'm pretty sure he'll get into Goodrich even if he's on the waiting list to start with. And I'm actually more in favour of Harris the more I read about it. So let's see what happens...

thanks Kat, that's a good point. And September is really the time to find out exactly what happened post-waiting list, etc. I'm not going to panic. I've been reassured by all you lovely folks. And I think Harris is a great option for us and will only be about 400m away from us so that's a definite maybe...

thanks everyone. I really don't want to move and have to spend ?20k-odd on stamp duty as well as estate agent's fees, just for going down the road a little bit! I'm not that bothered if he doesn't get into Heber, I've basically ruled that out. Goodrich, Goose Green or St Johns and St Clements would all be great options - plus of course Harris. My biggest fear is that he doesn't get into any of them, and then it really would be a problem trying to get him to school in the morning if it's further away. We don't drive and his nanny is very local and wouldn't be able to travel as she has another child to look after too. I'm reassured to hear that he has a chance with some of the others. My next-door neighbour has two girls but they go to JAGS - so not much help there! will attempt to find other kids on our road and investigate..

Thanks Belle, yes I think we'll be about the same distance as to Heber. You'd hope that with the 60 extra places in the Harris school it'd free things up a bit more (less over subscription to the other schools).