lastminute.mum

My son had a full music scholarship at Kingsdale (he was also offered one at Haberdashers but had already set his heart on Kingsdale because his friends wanted to go there too). I feel rather cynical about the whole thing - yes, they will take on vocalists with no formal training but a great ear, but then they don?t offer them the chance to learn any other instruments. You have to stick with what you know. My son was already a proficient guitar and piano player. He specialised in guitar while there and it felt like the school was keen to take credit for the hours of private tuition he?d already had and continued to have outside school. He was offered a 30 minute private lesson in school each week but it had to be guitar. At the time he was keen to learn the violin. He transferred to the BRIT as soon as he could in year 10 and has just completed Year 13, aiming for a career in the music industry (my view on the BRIT: fantastic vocationally but lousy academically)

We're now at 680 votes! Please pester your friends?!

Hi I've noticed over the last couple of weeks a lot of bees flying into a hole under the roof of our (1 storey) extension. Since we're about to knock it down I'd like to get them rehoused but as they're not in a hive I don't know how to go about this. Can anyone advise? Thanks. (We're now in Upper Sydenham SE26)

We were lucky enough to get a place at Kingsdale starting in September (which was our son's first choice), but we all really liked Forest Hill Boys' School too and would have been happy to have been offered a place there. We also prefer mixed gender schools, but Forest Hill is a performing arts specialist school; all the boys do dance and drama and don't give the impression they think it's uncool [at Kingsdale the girls do dance while the boys do rugby :-( ]. In fact the headmaster said it has improved their communication skills. Plus the sixth form is mixed (with Sydenham Girls school). I'd definitely recommend going to have a look.

Go for something BPA free - studies show Bisphenol A messes with your hormones

I had my first at 41 and my second at 45 - both were natural conceptions and normal deliveries. In between I had a couple of miscarriages so went to the Zita West clinic for nutritional/health advice (for both of us) - we still follow a lot of the advice they gave us and look pretty good on it (although I say so myself!). I had most of my ante-natal care at Kings, which was brilliant.

We recently moved from East Dulwich to Upper Sydenham but decided to see out the academic year at Heber and find a place for our daughter to start Year 4 in September. I rang Dulwich Wood and spoke to one of the deputies, Helen Jary, who could not have been more helpful/enthusiastic. She offered to show me round; I went to visit it and was very impressed. Unlike Heber (490 kids crammed into an outgrown space, 2 class intake - except the current Year 3, which has an extra bulge class, up to 30 children per class), there are just 180 children there. Reception and Year 1 are two class intake, but the other years have just one class. My daughter will be joining a class of just 24 children. There's plenty of outdoor space for playing (including a fenced area for ball games) and they have chickens (which the children look after). The school is right next door to Kingsdale and they use their music hall performances (and have students that come in to teach drumming etc). The head Mr Lovall joined in 2013 and has introduced a zero-tolerance policy on bad behaviour along with a house system (complete with Hogwarts-style sorting hat). His aim is to improve the current (2012) Ofsted report which is Good and get an Outstanding at the next inspection. It certainly feels like a school on the up with lots of energy and a good vibe. I visited classes of each age group (except years 5 and 6 who were on school trips). The children were well behaved and fully engaged. And there was a good proportion of adults (teachers, TAs, SEN support) with each group. All in all, I think my daughter will love it, enjoy it there and do very well. I was invited to take her in for a visit...and yes, she loves it and can't wait to start. Roll on September.

Hi We're taking our equity and moving from East Dulwich to Upper Sydenham. Can anyone recommend a babysitter? And is there an equivalent to eastdulwichforum? Cheers