Skegness

Thanks, BB100. My post was a bit rubbish/misleading. I know the 2012 results are there now (or were there until v recently) but it was only after the DfE released the national figures in about January 2013 that they entered the public domain, I believe, whereas most schools announced their results right away in August. The school said that this was because they were appealing some results and also wanted to include resits, as I recall. I know there were some specific and difficult issues last year but I did find the delay in accessing exam result information difficult and worrying. If the website is being updated at the moment maybe there will be some news on 2013 results soon, though. That would be great. As a parent I know that there are some great things happening at Kingsdale and that there are many children doing very well there. I will remain supportive of the school no matter whether the results are good, as I hope, or not so good. But I want to know! And soon, please, Kingsdale.:)

I think I'd just tell her, with all the positive vibes you can muster, that she is going to one of two fantastic schools and you are not quite sure which one yet. Personally I would be hugely reluctant to move a reception age child weeks or months into term, unless they were unhappy or the school was miles away and we were then offered the one next door or something quite major like that. I think at reception the important thing is that they feel settled and happy and most schools in Southwark are very good, so the chances are that she will be fine. Do you feel able to say which school you have been allocated? Someone might be able to reassure you that their child has loved it. For example, my daughter is going to Hollydale, which some parents try and avoid, but my older children went there and thrived and my friend's daughter has just finished reception there and her parents are utterly thrilled by what a wonderful year she has had with a very talented and dedicated teacher. The school you have been given may surprise you.:)

Superb news re Southwark doing well and all schools over the magic 40% mark.:)

We've got a couple of hemnes chests of drawers and they look(ed) very nice but haven't worn well. 2 drawers broken on my boys' one and the bottom one on mine. Having said that we are v hard on furniture and they have certainly been overstuffed and badly treated!

I hope you're right, Curmudgeon. They did not release the results at all last year so I'm a bit nervous of a repeat but you are right that it's very early days.

I'm hoping against hope that Kingsdale has done well as my kids are there. But last year no news was not good news and can't help worrying about ominous silence from them. One of my children is moving from Kingsdale to Brit this year and they have done really well- 95% A* - C, 68% A* -C incl. English and Maths.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/destinations-of-key-stage-4-and-key-stage-5-pupils-academic-year-2009-to-2010 Looks like 1% of Southwark state school children went to Oxbridge in 2009-10. That's the national average so not too bad, really, especially considering that none of the maintained state schools are selective. Not enough going to Russell Group universities though. I think Southwark had a record A level year in 2012 though so could be better by now.

One of the gastro-pub type places like The Herne or The Rye Hotel would fit the bill, perhaps? Not too frowny about kids and have the space for bigger parties.

Been there, done that, got the t shirt and the foolish but chagrined teenager! Agree that it's worth warning them over and over and over again that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Thank you very much. Really appreciated.

Agree, westof. Very relieved and pleased at this report. Was beginning to fear the worst on a no news is bad news pessimistic basis! It's nice to read a realistic but positive endorsement.:)

The Nunhead Surgery is excellent.

Damn. Missed it too. I was wanting to go with my critical friend hat on though so maybe it's for the best...

Hollydale: Cute building housing smaller than average school. Some good teachers, a few average ones. Very experienced, likeable headteacher approaching retirement (probably due to leave fairly soon? That will change the place a lot, potentially). Does very well by most of its pupils, despite attracting a more deprived than average pupil population. Gets good SATs. Outside space fairly limited with not that much equipment. Friendly and there's stuff going on for parents but it's refreshingly free of overbearing PTA types. Go for it, it's a nice, successful school. My elder children attended and did well and it will be my 1st or 2nd choice for my youngest who's due to start primary next year. John Donne- No personal experience but have friends whose little boys are having a v good time there. I would certainly have a look if I lived a little nearer.

Thanks very much, njc97. Really appreciate you posting to let me know. I've booked onto the 26th November evening. We must live v close as those are the 4 schools we're visiting too! Maybe see you there. I know children at all 3 of the "existing" primaries and they are all thriving and happy, btw.

There is a lot of movement after the initial offers of places. People move in and out of area, change their mind, choose a private school instead etc etc. Most people eventually end up with a place at a school where they are more or less satisfied to send their child. Some start off quite unhappy with the allocated school but are pleasantly surprised. Re being offered a faith school, yes, it can happen and yes, you can turn it down. BUT BUT BUT and BUT again, before you turn down whatever school you're offered, you need to ask yourself "is this really better than NO school at all?" and be able to answer honestly "yes", just in case that is your only and final offer. The usual advice is to accept the place for the moment and join the waiting lists for the schools you like more. If you really are not prepared to send your child to the offered school and you don't get any further offers you need to have some other education plan in place such as home education or private schooling. I sympathise on the faith school thing- I would not want to send my child to a faith school either, as an atheist. Also faith schools that are not oversubscribed are usually shite. But I seriously doubt being offered a place at a faith school would reach the legal threshold of breaching your human rights, tbh. Do you think it would be cruel and degrading or something?! Or were you thinking of article 8? That's a qualified right, I think, and the threshold is quite high- v unlikely to apply in this situation. But you never know! Being a parent in London (and particularly Southwark where there is a shortage of school places, a plethora of academies and free schools and where the local authority's role in education becomes weaker by the hour) requires quite a bit of compromise on education, I fear, if like most people you need or want to use state schools. It's rubbish but that's the reality. Atheists end up at church schools, people who are desperate for a proper local comp end up sending their kids miles away to academies run by meglomaniacs and carpet salesmen, parents who would prefer mixed settings end up with children in in single sex schools etc. There are some good primary schools that few middle class people will touch with a bargepole and a few middle class ghetto type schools situated in pockets of privilege with tiny catchments. You just have to find the least worst option, if none of the available options fit in with your world view. The only good thing (and it is a very, very good thing) is that the vast majority of children I know attending state schools in the local area seem settled and happy and to be making good academic progess.

Thanks, njc97. I am a bit confused because HA have so many bits to their school now and practically all of them are operating out of the Pepys Road site at the moment! There is the upper half of the secondary school, the lower half of the existing Temple Grove primary phase (temporarily because their usual site in Camplin Road has burned down), and now the proposed new Free primary school as well. The Free school is the only one we'd stand some chance of getting into based on distance door to door to Pepys Road- we're definitely too far away from Camplin Road. I'm not sure if the advertised open days are for the primary that will be moving back to Camplin Road or for the Free school, iyswim. Or maybe they are combining both? Anyway, I will definitely be looking at other schools too. Even if the Free school is opening there isn't any guarantee we'd get a place or even that we'd want it as a first choice- HA is rather untested on primary education, after all. My elder children went to Hollydale (our nearest) and on the whole we were very pleased with it and it will most probably be our first choice for our youngest too. Edmund Waller and John Stainer both sound nice as well and I'm planning to visit both, though the catchment for JS is microscopic! Ivydale is also very popular with parents round here but likely to be massively oversubscribed due to a recent bulge class meaning that siblings will fill many of the available places, so I might give that one a miss as it's not quite as close to us. I feel a bit guilty even considering a free school, to be honest, but the stress of secondary school applications is very fresh in my mind and I just cannot deny how tempting it is to choose a school that would allow us to bypass potential secondary transfer trauma in the future! Where is everyone else thinking of visiting/applying?

The seach facility on the ofsted site not a bad starting point, kamath. Gives a rough idea, anyway. http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/schools/for-parents-and-carers/find-school-inspection-report

Stepping Stones Montessori on Kitto Road is good too if you are near Nunhead/Telegraph Hill.

Don't do it! Year 1 is the terrible year of doom where they stop playing and start having to sit bdown and work- horrors! My boys were in shock for months. Reception is fab- lots of learning through play while you get used to the school routines.

Thank you very much for getting back to me, Renata. I also phoned the school today and asked about looking round/how to apply and they didn't seem to be very sure about what was happening yet, though they took my name and details. They mentioned their Temple Grove (old Monson school) primary but that is too far away from me. It's quite interesting having all these 3-18 schools starting in the state sector- I think I read somewhere that Dunraven in Lambeth is thinking of opening a primary school too. And I met a nice woman in my GP surgery whose wee boy was just starting at the new Harris Primary at Peckham Academy.

Renata, do you know if the primary school at the Pepys Road Haberdashers Askes site is opening this year?

Yes, Kingsdale must have done quite badly, I suspect.

I think Stillness is a bit of an odd name for a school. I always imagine lots of children being still and that doesn't seem quite right somehow. However, more helpfully, I know people whose kids are there and love it. Does anyone know if the primary school at the main Haberdashers Askes site is opening for 2013 reception children? I'm not sure what I think about it politically but the idea of my daughter safely settled till she leaves secondary is SOOOOO tempting! [horrible memories of secondary transfer with older children!] Hollydale is a nice but undersubscribed school, for those in Nunhead and the surrounds.