yas

everybody is entitled to their opinion! but it is not nice being called a liar, arrogant etc... it could be done in a nicer way especially by fellow parents, i felt! my situation is that i will be forced to pay for my child's nursery fee as 15 hours of child care doesn't translate into private nurseries very well. i may or may not be able to afford it as we are a one income family (my husband is a contractor, i should add). so i may even have to send my child to a catholic school nursery come September along with my other friends who are in the same situation as me. so if you were in my situation, would you like to highlight your local nursery closing due to cuts is not great thing?

ok maybe attacking is a stronger word, i just felt that some of the opionions expressed by growlybear is a little bit insensitive giving the situation!

This is a kind of person who is attacking a campaign which is not only good for his children's school but for wider community as well! Yes, i do hang out in cafes in Peckham, does that qualify me any less to undertake a campaign which i believe in?

Growlybear, as a fellow Fairlawn Parent, i feel it is my duty to inform that 3 members of staff are facing redundancies, 2 members of staff may have reduced hours, one will escape reduncancy by virtue of being pregnant. As for the parents whose children were on the list to go to Fairlawn Nursery, 2 will go to a catholic school (one muslim, one eschewed catholisimn in favour of a different religion). I was in a consultation meeting i did not hear a growlybear type of person voicing their concerns about this nursery going or expressing remorse (many parents at the very least expressed remorse). So you are not in a position to judge fellow parents. Above all, this campaign is supported by fellow Fairlawn Parents as well as Horniman School and Forest Hill Society. Because if it is successful both our school and the wider community will benefit from it. So once again, your ignorance of what goes on in our school is puzzling to me.

This is not just a petition, it is a campaign. It has even made it to South London Press as well as backed by Forest Hill Society. A lot of the parents in Fairlawn School and Horniman School support this campaign! I am therefore puzzled at your ignorance, Growlybear?

Growlybear, if you are a parent at Fairlawn then you must understand why Fairlawn had to make that decision! i was present in the first consultation and had long chats with both heads about this issue since. But there are legalities as to what schools can or can't do. Fundraising was explored but frankly you can't run a nursery year in year out relying on fundraising. no Eliot Bank is absolutely undoable for me so is Hazeltine. I won't send my child to St Francesca (a catholic school), no offence if you did. In any case, I had since sorted a place for my daughter anyhow. Though stating that this petition is a useless exercise is dishonest! Even if doesn't achieve its ultimate goal, it has provided moral support for the staff at the nursery!

Penguin68 you know as well as i do that the future of school nurseries may or may not be secure given the cuts! As for Fairlawn Nursery, it benefits schools considerably less better off than my son's school. Case in point, Adamsrill, Holy Trinity. So given these facts, you still argue that to hell with it which I find it to be really odd. As for the petition it may or may not be to late as the nursery due to close in August! So please don't use this on me.

sorry i apologise for that. i just assumed those who were attacking our petition were non-parents! it wasn't a generalisation on non-parents! it would be understandable why some of the non-parents would not want public money being spent on early years education etc.. but not to the point of insulting those who do! so really we are not the bad guys here at all :)

actually no, we put this petition on this site to collect signatures. ppl started to attack it left, right and centre. this nursery closing is very emotional and a rather sad event for both parents and the members of staff. having ppl call you a liar, arrogant when all we were trying to do was draw attention to this case is really very annoying at the very least. hence why i was inclined to engage in bickering!

see i am going to sound rude again, but this is the problem with you non-parents (i should hope), you simply don't understand why we are prepared to go to such an extent to protect our children's future! Making a great fuss about a public nursery closing, caring about our local woods are just part of it!

Well, we have written to council about it. I had some personal dealings with Jeremy Corbyn in the past (working on a couple of refugee cases) as he was my local MP and found him to be very helpful so i thought i should try my luck.

Sorry I know this is not strictly relevant to this forum. I was just wondering whether people were thinking acedemisations of all primary schools is a good policy or not!

Of course, I was kidding when I said we are giving up on this campaign. we have now written to senior politicians in Labour Party and asked them to take an interest in our bid to save our little nursery. Fingers and toes cross! Save Fairlawn Nursery!

ok guys, you have finally done it. i am backtracking from this campaign! back to my kitchen where i belong :)

incidentally joeleg, you backing away is a relief for me! First you target SSW, now Save Fairlawn Nursery, i mean one might think you despise ppl who care about their community?

but we would've spoken to council about it, wouldn't we before taking up a petition like that?

Sorry no offence, but Penguin68 you are not in a position to speak on council's behalf. Nor do you know what else we had done before taking up this petition or what else we are planning to do to support our case. So please kindly let other people make their minds up as to whether to sign our petition or not!

JoeLeg, i am ignoring you as the direction of your argument is getting personal again! The point i was trying to make is if everyone stuck to consultation results, then nothing can be changed! So for instance in place of Forest Hill Leisure Centre, we would now have a block of flats and a tiny swimming pool! M and Co would've gone and its place we would have had Morrisons who had the licence for that premise. Lewisham Council is the correct body to direct our petition as they provide the funding for the schools!

yes, thank you for that. The lady who is putting a list of volunteers together for forest hill library is also collecting manual signatures for our petition. national debt reduction can be done by other means such as getting better at collecting taxes from the very rich etc...

"I'm beginning to think Yas is just satirising the whole concept of petitions. I keep getting the image of Nigel explaining his amplifier goes up to 11." How do you mean? So by your argument petition to save lewisham libraries is a waste of time?

"I'm beginning to think Yas is just satirising the whole concept of petitions. I keep getting the image of Nigel explaining his amplifier goes up to 11." How do you mean?

council wasn't. it was with the school! we have suggested fundraising but you can't run a nursery relying on fundraising year in year out! so there has to be a sustainable way of maintaining it.

both my husband and i were involved in consultations in respect to Forest Hill Leisure centre and rejected council's proposal. But they still pressed ahead with their proposals! So yes, i do know what i am talking about! likewise, of course we were involved in consultations in fairlawn nursery closure. but the school simply can't afford to keep any longer!

As I said please go ahead and conduct your evidence finding tour! Back to our petition: Even if our petition doesn't achieve its ultimate goal, i should hope it has contributed in highlighting how us families (middle classes and working classes alike) are affected by ill advised and UNNECESSARY cuts to our public services! Not to mention providing moral support to the staff who are about to be made redundant! Please sign our petition!

but but if we were the sort to follow your logic, in place of a lovely leisure centre in forest hill, we would have a block of flats and a tiny pool and in place of m & co (a much needed shop for mothers), we would have a morrisons! please go ahead and conduct your evidence tour! :)