Mamma Mia

Train to London Bridge then jump on the Jubilee line

It never seems to be open when I take my girls. Is it only open on Saturdays?

Keef - I love the way you are now saying "all my children".

I found that the appointments when they are younger are just to get them familiar with the experience so don't worry too much. Just pop along when you get a chance. We have been very happy with the Half Moon Dental Centre at Herne Hill and they are great with little ones. Children are covered by NHS up to the age of 18. I will be taking my 17 year old twins for a quick check up in the next couple of weeks as they turn 18 in June.

She sprinkles fairy dust on them at our house and turns them into a pound coin

KidKruger Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Mamma Mia you may have to go for Linoleum. > Life's FULL of compromises. You could be right. This is our 4th year and have tried everything, pheremone traps, the lot, and my patience is wearing thin. They are reducing in number so I guess we are slowing defeating them. Let battle commence, again!!!

Thanks EDmummy The problem is I don't really like polypropelene carpets. Does anyone know what the difference is between sisal, coir, jute etc or what type of fibres they are? I know they are all natural fibres but presumably not a wool fibre which is what the moths seem to love in our house. Are they soft straw fibres? I have a straw bag sitting on the carpet which the moths don't seem to bother with, even though they have destroyed all the wool fibre from the wool mix carpet surrounding it, leaving just dark patches of the nylon fibre. I am hoping to find something with a sisal-type look but hopefully something that the moths won't also enjoy. Maybe best to get some samples and place them on the moth-eaten carpet and see what happens over a period of time.

We are at the moment living without carpet in our hall/stairs/landing until we can remove our last completely moth-eaten carpet and hopefully be rid of them for good. We have replaced carpets with wooden flooring in all rooms, which has reduced the number of moths we see flying around enormously, but would prefer carpet on the stairs out of consideration to our neighbours. The problem will be finding a suitable carpet without natural fibres. Has anyone had any problems with moths with sisal carpet?

SteveT Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I thought my moths had disappeared but only in the > last few days have they started to move around, > because the temperature has risen I suppose. Same here but we do only have one carpet left now (also soon to be replaced) so the majority of our infestation is probably languishing over at my allotment.

Ladymuck Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sainsburys: went to pay for a massive weekly shop > - no purse...humiliating to say the least as huge > queue of people behind me (though Sainsburys were > very good about it). Jesus, I thought this only > happened to senile little old ladies. Obviously not because I have done that too. Twice! You'd think I would learn, wouldn't you? One occasion was on a Sunday afternoon at 5.20 with a bulging trolley (so you can imagine how popular I was). Had to race home and back before the tills closed at 5.30. Did it in 7 minutes flat! Way too much stress!

*Bob* Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > One thing which would be useful (if possible?) > would be a total number of votes cast. It's great > to see 'our boys' out in the lead, but if there > have only been 42 votes it's not so impressive. I hope the fact that there have been 1700ish views of the poll and only 200ish have participated isn't an indicator of how many will actually bother to vote on Election day.

Fed my Oyster card into the ticket slot at London Bridge station and had to wait (red-faced) while they opened up the machine to retrieve it. Still worked fortunately.

Fuschia Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Mamma Mia Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > >. My > > understanding was that they were offering > > scholarships to anyone who had musical ability > and > > if they were subsequently offered a place they > > would benefit from this rather than it giving > them > > an advantage in gaining a place. > > No, if you read the admissions criteria, it gives > you more priority even than having a sibling > already attending I agree. It is the second criteria but it doesn't give you much advantage as the list of applicants with music/sport scholarships is very long. My understanding was that unless you are near the top of the list you would have very little chance of gaining a place based on the fact that you have been awarded a scholarship.

westof Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Although their admissions criteria - whilst > ranking music/sports scholars above siblings - do > also say that a maximum of 15% of the intake can > be there on scholarship grounds. (actually it says > "the equivalent of 15%" so maybe having > 'half-scholarships' is a way of being able to > apply selection criteria to a greater number of > pupils?). > > They also have a 'banding' waiting list & a > 'scholarship' waiting list - I've no idea how that > works but I'm not worrying about it since we are > nowhere near the top of either! > > I think that generally in schools with a random > allocation element, the waiting list is also > randomly allocated so that would be the banding > one. I don't know if the scholarship list is > randomly allocated, or a subset of the other one, > or something else entirely. I was told that applicants with full scholarships would have a better chance of securing a place. It wasn't made clear how it breaks down, but they have a mix of full and half scholarships and gifted and talented groups. I think the full scholarships were allocated early on in the process as a friend whose child was also offered a half-scholarship was asked why she had left it so late if she was hoping for a full scholarship. All very confusing, I have to say, but for us it is all water under the bridge as we were fortunate to secure a first choice place in the end. Best of luck to all of you who are still hanging in there.

Debi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It's such a confusing process, I'm not surprised > people find it hard to grasp. > > To clarify: Foundation schools most definitely > can't sift applications. They can only set the > criteria which are used by the local authority to > allocate places. > > Order of preference isn't part of the criteria. > But the system used by the authority to allocate > places means that where you place a school on your > list makes a big difference in what you will be > offered. The intention/hope is that people will > be offered a place at the school they put at or > near the top of their list. Obviously, if a > school is over subscribed, the likelihood is that > putting it lower on your list will adversely > affect your chances of getting in as the places > should have been offered to those who put it > higher. > > It doesn't always seem to work that way - partly > because it's also essential to take children > across the ability bands to guarantee a balanced > intake. The system is no doubt flawed, but the > first stage of the process is completely out of > the hands of the schools themselves. It's only > once you get to the appeal stage that a Foundation > School can make direct decisions. > > Hope this has helped. My daughter was offered a half music scholarship. She was asked during the assessment where she had put Kingsdale in her preferences (didn't think schools were allowed to know this information) and correctly told them second. We were initially confused about the scholarship process and when we asked if it guaranteed her a place we were told it would depend upon how far down the list she was. Many of the children we know who applied for a music scholarship were successful. My understanding was that they were offering scholarships to anyone who had musical ability and if they were subsequently offered a place they would benefit from this rather than it giving them an advantage in gaining a place.

Maybe Southwark have a designated day planned when they will announce that the new bike racks are operational and will rip off the plastic

Me too ... and my son. Best of luck.

The Haberdashers coaches are to ferry sixth formers between New Cross and Downham campuses as they have lessons at both sites with only break or lunchtime to travel. Students have to travel to and from school on public transport.

My dad would say "Ishmay Arpeskay" if he wanted us to go away. No idea how it is spelt but that is how it sounded.

... followed by "Fresh Air Pudding"

When asking what was for dinner ... "Wait and See Pie"

ladywotlunches Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > On a related note, is there a time limit for > Southwark to respond to your appeal? I got a > ticket on 27th October and appealed the next day, > but haven't heard anything either way yet. Am I > off the hook??? I got a response fairly quickly and the hearing was about 8 weeks away.

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > johnh Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I have had one appeal turned down > > As I understand it, the initial appeal is > routinely turned down. If you keep at it though, > the odds seem to be in your favour (unless you > were obviously in the wrong). Definitely appeal if you feel you have a strong case. The rejection letter I received gave me the opportunity to pay the full ?120 before going to independent adjudicators. One week before the hearing I received a letter from Southwark Council offering me a last chance payment of ?180 which I ignored. Two days before hearing I received a letter saying Southwark Council had decided not to pursue it.

Next door to Red Apples newsagents

Whilst we are on the topic of the correct areas to post, where should 'Lost and Found' threads be placed? All trace of my recent post "School Shoe Found On Beauval Road" was moved to the For Sale Section?! Not a problem for it to be moved because I understand that these do clutter up the main section but where should they go? Would a new Lost/Found section be useful considering how many cats, mobiles, ipods, shoes, baby items etc etc need to be reunited with their owners?