Belle

Presumably some go private?

I think possibly by the end of the Jan before admissions, but I bet many will take late applications (in my experience, having received offers for 3 different nurseries, they often have extra spaces to fill - though this may change with the switchover to 2.5 days which Heber did this year and Goose Green is doing next). I know they announce places in May.

Well said KatsuQueen, that's a v good point, and one that people maybe don't always consider.

Lloyds chemist is selling Avene now I think (northcross rd).

My son (just turned 6) has these, he also used to sleep walk a lot, and in both cases he had no memory the next day (though as Saffron says we would gently bring it up from time to time to check). He had one recently but that made us realise it's been ages. I'd say they started around 3/3.5 and seem to have tailed off around 5, 5.5. They weren't that frequent, maybe once a week. It's very upsetting because it goes against every fibre of a parent's being to not comfort a child in distress, but we found it had no effect, or actually exacerbated things, and in a way you have to either let it play out, or as others suggest, bring into the light to try to 'reset' things. Definitely different from nightmares, which he also suffers from and is able to remember and talk about, and be consoled about/waken from during an episode. My son has asthma and I do sometimes wonder if the two are linked, I've been in his room sometimes when he is going through a disturbed night, and I notice that when his breathing slows down and pauses (the way you do when you're sleeping), he will suddenly take a gulp of air and then a night terror kicks in. Oh, also to say in my experience (touch wood) my son has never hurt himself during an episode, despite wandering around etc (and he's on a top bunk!). We once found him crouching and gasping in 'terror' at the bottom of his brother's cot (brother slept on, oblivious), but my son was definitely not awake, and had no memory the next day - in fact we dropped the subject quickly as it clearly upset him hearing about something he had no recollection of.

I had a really scary incident like this at the Barry rd pelican crossing (opposite Barry's) recently, with my son on the way to school. Green man, couple of parked lorries on the road obscuring the view of the traffic on the opposite side (presumably) so some tosser thought he'd chance it. By this point we were half away across the road and just inches from him - was very glad my son wasn't on his scooter and therefore wasn't ahead of me.

This is really quite horrible, and scary, I'm very sorry to hear it - but t hank you to both posters for coming on and sharing that, it's making me think twice about running around here in the evenings, which I normally do feeling quite safe. That area is pretty well lit/populated and busy, which makes it seem even more shocking somehow. I always assume if I'm out running before say 9pm I'm pretty safe but as I say, I don't feel so sure now. It does sound like a serial offender though, hope the police catch him soon.

Over the Pond, there's another great book called Sensational Kids, worth a read - not sure if SPD is something that's affecting my son or not yet but it's something we are looking into and I've found the book helpful. In terms of referral, you could try talking to your child's teacher first - even though you say she's not affected at school - we did in similar circumstances and were then referred on to the school SENCO.

there is also (as far as I know) a montessori nursery on Barry Rd, not far away from Landells Rd, called Little Fingers. Might be worth doing a search for it to see if it's still going and if anyone on here can give feedback.

We are 8 weeks or so in and truly at a loss to why we haven't given up yet. Blind optimism I guess! My son is 3 1/4 - we started when he was a month past 3. Oddly after the first week we thought he had nailed it but it's since been downhill. Not unusual to have 4 accidents (pee and poo) in a day and literally have had one accident free day in two months. I'm loathe to give up because I worry it'll just confuse him. But we are attempting the no fuss technique re accidents etc and def avoiding the big boy/baby language.

There's a copy somewhere on the thread of the letter Harris sent to the parent steering group for the Haberdashers' bid, it clarifies their position on this - I'll see if I can find it.

I went to that pub quiz at the Magdala - it was Stephen Frost I think but didn't Art Malik do it once?! Now in Homeland.

Really sorry to hear this, it's very hard to watch someone you love go through this. I would add to the excellent advice above 1) you can certainly push for an urgent appointment with your GP in those circumstances, i.e. don't feel you have to wait for a routine appt to come up, which may take a while. 2) It's great things seem brighter, and they often do the morning after, but I think you're right to still seek an appointment, because these things come in waves. It's worth tackling straight away.

Is it worth also considering Fairlawn/Horniman schools ? I know the latter is bulging next year.

Hello, I started this thread, and found all the posts really helpful. Actually, my son is in Year 1 now and none of his teachers etc have ever felt he has a particular behavioural problem, though they recognise some of the challenges we describe - concentration issues etc. I have found school in general a very reassuring experience in that I've become more aware of the full spectrum of behaviour, and felt a bit less anxious about his. I'm not ruling out that this or other behavioural diagnoses may come up again in the future but just wanted to give you a bit of a 'two years later' perspective. Re your own little boy, he is SO little still! I wonder if there's something that's getting lost in translation - though he sounds v articulate for his age - I know my own 3 yr old would give me a garbled version of something like this, so you are best speaking directly to the staff. Have they given you much feedback? Being two years on from first posting this, and having a second, equally spirited son, I am now a lot more circumspect about this whole issue and tend to think that concern in this issue is less the child and more the way carers (I mean nursery, not you here!) are handling them. My oldest is nearly 6 and still has a major issue listening, about which his teacher is pretty unconcerned (although I am sure it is frustrating - it certainly is for us). I can't believe the staff at a nursery would expect a 2 year old to listen very much?? If they do, it's worth discussing this with them. I have recently moved my youngest out of his nursery, partly because they were raising concerns about concentration which I just felt were inappropriate at this young age. However, I was lucky in that the nursery wasn't our main childcare, and our childminder is very flexible, so this hasn't been disruptive. Do you fancy coffee next week to catch up??

Hmm that makes sense. We're very happy with our childminder and want to stay with her, just exploring whether we can use the free hours with her or not - hoping to get a school nursery place (in addition to CM), but it may be a long wait.

Does anyone know if GG Nursery does a Jan (or any other pre-Sept) intake? My son is v old for his year so next Sept feels like a l-o-o-n-g wait. I've applied for him, and I did ask about this at the time but there didn't seem to be a definitive answer.

Hello, does anyone know if the 15 free hours can be used towards childminders' fees? We are not currently using a nursery, solely childminder care. I've read conflicting things online. thanks!

This is really helpful - wasn't sure whether to involve teacher or not as I know it's not really about the school itself, but I'll definitely bring it up.

Thanks Otta - good to know we are not alone! Sounds v similar to our experience. Edanna, no - year 1 now - so don't think it's just a getting used to school thing. And thanks Minder, he is a good sleeper but nontheless I do sometimes think he's still tired - often doesn't drop off for a while at night (despite our best attempts) - and he seems fine once he goes in.

We got the PC minecraft game (less than ?20 I think) and that's been good although actually 3 yr old more into it, older one currently prefers watching Stampy videos and gathering tips that way. Did briefly consider the xbox but just couldn't stomach the cost and also like portability of playing on iPad... Minecraft has a pretty good reputation and I know that e.g. teachers are quite keen, it's very creative. The trouble is that like most screen stuff it's SOO addictive so we are having to be really structured about it with v fixed rules etc. We're doing minecraft lego sets as best of both worlds thing, have told family about the minecraft obsession as there are various toys etc they can get. Am also getting/asking for ninja costumes for both boys, and my son is really keen on this alarm clock (bought one for his cousin's birthday): http://www.johnlewis.com/the-lego-movie-emmet-clock/p955283 Am also thinking of a blue lightsaber, poss one that does the 'whooshy' stuff...(I hasten to add we are not giving them all this stuff, we put together a list because friends and family ask! Generally we are v low key about xmasd presents). Oh, also last year the youngest got given a soft toy Minion w hich was majorly popular, this year they've requested a purple one... more and more I am getting the boys the same things or 2 parts of a whole, to stop fights. It also encourages them to play together, which they do quite a lot.

Do anyone know much about this phenomenon? I'm just finding out about it and keen to learn more. Our child is very happy with his school, teacher and peers - but refuses to go a lot of mornings (we cajole/drag him there). Can't work out if this is just recalcitrant 5 y r old stuff or something more. Advice/experiences welcome!

We moved our son to St Johns from another school and second everything JDR said. We are really happy and he is thriving. I'm sure it's not perfect but so far we have had a good experience. People generally seem really happy with Heber too! I'd suggest going on a tour of both schools as that'll give you a real feel. I can see how you could be in the catchment for both as I know people at St J's who could conceivably have got into Heber, and vice versa, though of course very year will vary.

I think one bonus (for me anyway!) is that self employed people will be eligible. But yes v complex sounding!!!

Thanks all, got the last pack in Just Williams!