Scruffy Mummy

A couple of years ago I had to make the trip to Peterborough a week before we were due to fly to North America because of this. Apparently they DO often turn it around in a couple days so you might be lucky... in my case, having gone to Peterborough, been assured by the official that everything was ok and I had everything correctly..... a couple of days ago I got a call from a friend who had signed off on my son's photo (she is a barrister) and they had decided to do a random check on her as a verifer and needed her to send a fax or scan to them ASAP with her ID!!! It was ridiculous as she was in court and they hadn't even called me! If she hadn't been a friend, just my doctor for instance, I doubt she would have acted in haste! Anyway, she did this and I got the passport in the nick of time - the day before flying out.

There are several excellent secondary schools that are within reach of nunhead parents including St Thomas which had impressive results and great premises with a swimming pool - albeit single sex and a religious school. Deotfird Green is also a good school on the way up and Harris Girls has good results and seems popular according to parents who kids go there. New Charter will expand to 240 children which is double the current intake but there are other schools which have a proven track record.

I have absolutely nothing to do with this initiative but well done to all who are involved. It's not easy to try and do something to improve our local area. I wonder how many people criticising here actually get up off their back sides and do anything locally at all which might improve the area? I've been involved as a fundraiser for charities and as a volunteer for causes dear to my heart. So I do know something about how these funding programmes are structured. There are many, many small pots of money for very specific initiatives. Often they are government initiatives that are then delegated to local councils - this is what this pot of funding appears to be although I'm not an expert. Relatively small grants like this are for ideas and initiatives that provide 'additionality' - they are not meant to replace core and essential funding. I also want to give a shout out to local businesses who also support local community groups and schools - many local businesses give raffle prizes to local school PTA's so they can raise funding for our kids, provide support for great local charities like Dog Kennel Hill Adventure Playground (love their recent crowdfunding campaign!) and sponsor local events (e.g. Property in Dulwich support Arts Week events and many local estate agents sponsor school fairs). Why begrudge a group of local business owners who put in a bid to a fund that is specifically designed and aimed at for local high streets developing awareness and pride in their area????

The issue is that if you get the bursary from Norwood or Kingsdale but then don't put them as your 1st choice, and then are awarded your first choice school, you will automatically not be considered anymore for the school where your child was awarded the bursary because your 1st choice school will superseed that of the bursary school (if the bursary school isn't your 1st choice). However, if you put your bursary school 1st, and then aren't awarded that school, you will then be awarded one of your other choices. So if you do want the bursary school above all the others, the best advice is put it 1st. If not, put the one you really want 1st.

The catchment to old Charter is still pretty small - although with the new ED Charter last year taking 120 children seemed to widen the 'catchment' for Old Charter. I knew someone living near Melbourne Grove who got a place at the old Charter on a waiting list place. However if you live the other side of Lordship Lane, you really haven't got much of a chance and certainly not in the first round.

Yew we do partake in this tradition but we in East Dulwich only give out healthy and organically grown treats to our discerning young ones such as Kale Crisps, Carob no-sugar brownies, and small pots of hummus dips with carrot sticks. Only organic and Fair-Trade pumpkins please.

A cage (i.e. large mesh barrier around the football playing area within the playground) would make this a separate area within the playground keeping the football players and smaller children playing apart. It would mean that when there aren't football games on (i.e. during the school day, early morning), smaller children can still access the area to toddle about in as there will be a entry through the fencing. The neighbours in the house next to the bit of ground don't want balls against the side of their house - it could work if a mesh barrier was put up around that bit of green but I can't see that being a popular idea with the public. I can't see the general public being happy with a football pitch being set up on Goose Green itself - so many people use that for walking dogs, picnics etc. If anyone wants to take up Renata's idea of putting together a Greener, Cleaner, Safer Bid to get this mesh fence/barrier let me know and we could put one in.

Something like this would be perfect.... http://www.paramountsteelfence.co.uk/products/view/mesh-fencing/parasports-ball-park-fencing I think everyone wants the playground to be used by children of different ages and I speak from experience... the East Dulwich toddlers of today will soon become the 11 - 14 year olds of tomorrow who also need safe & attractive places to play in their neighborhoods (rather than sitting for hours on playstations and ipad in their house), where they can walk and meet up with other children in their neighbourhood. That's what's lovely about Goose Green playground - that children who went to nursery and played together as toddlers can play as older children there as well. But thought needs to be given about how to organise the space.

Having an 11 year old who plays football there, the reason they don't play football on the actual green is mainly because there is no proper goal area. The goal at the playground is ideal really. A bunch used to play on the green bit near the playground and the semi enclosed nature of that area was good but the owners of the house complained about footballs being kicked against the house which was fair enough! I think a barrier is good idea - I know my son finds it difficult when parents let their toddlers wander and play in the goal area. I know when he was a toddler and we when to GG playground I couldn't understand why so many older children played ball games against the small wall (this was pre the formal goal & basketball area being built) either but now I get that it's a place where they feel safe & it's a good football area. However it is very small area - I have been hit by a football there myself. Would make more sense for them to put a 'cage' (mesh fence) round it - like small inner city playgrounds I have seen in NYC. It may not look too attractive but it does the job!

Remember the issue with new Charter is that last year parents who were offered a place for their child at new Charter were also offered a place from the Southwark Admissions as well. So what happened was that as parents made their choice, many parents did choose the second school and then they went back to the waiting list - I heard someone who was at 112 on the list was offered a place (again, loads of people applied as it was essentially an extra choice, were put on the waiting list automatically but then were happy with their first place school and turned down the waiting list place they were offered which meant that they went fairly high up the list which including children from further away including Herne Hill). So this years stats for the new Charter are bound to be skewed and won't be that applicable for this year. HOWEVER, I do think that an extra 120 school places that new Charter will provide will have a definite impact next year - so if it's a school you want even if you might assume you live too far away, you may find yourself pleasantly surprised.

I second what London Mix said. I knew someone who did that against all advice - she only put three schools on her child's form and was sent to a very undersubscribed school which she had never heard of before which was two bus rides away and where her child would know no one! Child got a waiting list place to a school that they liked in the end which was lucky. You really should use all your choices - you will be automatically put on the waiting list of all the schools you wanted - so if you were to be unlucky and get your 6th choice school, your child will automatically be put on the waiting list for all the other schools - there is huge amount of movement so there is a good chance you would get her a waiting list place. We're actually very lucky to have so many good secondary schools in the area - the new Charter should relieve alot of pressure on the school places at other local schools too.

Thanks all! So today we had a conference call with the staff leader and my son to discuss the situation and what to do. My son said that he just missed us but he was having a much better time but he still sometimes felt very homesick and would rather be at home then at camp. The camp leader said we must be a very lovely family for him to miss us (bless him!) but that there were some great activities for the last two days he thinks he would really enjoy. Then I said that next week we'd all be hanging out together with lots of family time before school starts. And then, I said if you stay till Saturday and the end of camp we'll give you ?15 and a pizza dinner to celebrate his achievement of perservering. He said 'Well I'm definitely staying then!' Whew! Bribery ... Or the rewards based system works every time! The camp leader then left the room so he could talk privately and he confirmed he was doing better and has made some good friends some of whom he has already exchanged phone numbers with. Then he said he was ok and could we finish the call so he could go play!

Yes, that is an option! If I get another teary call this afternoon, I think I might say that.... it's just that most of the advice I looked up online suggested keeping a firm line so that they are able to work through the homesickness and come out the other side on their own.

My 11 year old is at a week long camp out of London - he is generally confident and outgoing and makes friends easily. They set off on Saturday and he was in good spirits as he knows one boy who is a couple years older through our church. Last night he rang (they have to hand over their phones and get them back for 4 -6pm) and was saying how homesick he was and how he wanted to come home and how his friend was just hanging out with the older boys and not talking to him. I can't blame his friend as I think it's natural and TBH I can imagine my own son doing exactly the same thing if one of his younger mates from church came on a residential camp! Anyway, I said I thought he should stick it out and that he should go talk to one of the adults. I then rang the camp and two of the staff spoke to him - they said he cheered up and they gave him a special project to befriend another boy who was feeling abit isolated which was a good plan. I then texted the camp and they said that he said he was fine and was playing football. So fingers crossed it has passed! But I am dreading receiving another tearful call asking me to come pick him up today at 4pm when he will have his phone back! I feel like it is important for him to stay till the end of camp on Saturday but not sure I can hold the line if he is really upset. Do other parents have experience of this?

Ignore her. She is a control freak. Keep playing your music & just blank her when you see her in the street. The more time and attention you pay to her the more you will get sucked into her control freak drama/attention seeking behaviour. You don't need to please or pander to her extremely unreasonable behavior. It is very liberating to free your from having to be the nice accommodating one!

Snappy snaps. They lots of nationalities - got my US passport done there.

I've been a leaseholder for over 10 years and as far as I know, it's absolutely fine to replace any internal fittings like kitchen or loo - I've done this myself. And no one from the council raised an eyelid (they came into the flat recent to have a look at my back garden door and saw the new loo and kitchen as part of the recent works and they did also came into my new loo ages ago when my downstairs neighbour who is a council tenant had some water leaking through (it was totally our fault due to a faulty bathroom seal and we just repaired this ASAP) However, you technically need official consent for anything external - such as window frames or doors or fences but in my experience, they really could give two hoots. In fact, my window frames where rotting in from front windows a couple years ago - even though in the lease this is clearly something they need to do or at least approve, the response I got was that they won't do this, they saw it as external decoration and unless it is part of their once in 10 year major works, they won't do it. So I sorted it - which I prefer as I know I can oversee the work. My fence and gate also needed repairing and I just got this sorted.

So basically Kingsdale are going to have 12 classes of 30 kids on year 7???? It's pretty massive kingsdale as it is. Personally, I wasn't that keen on it when I looked around and defo not if they are going to be in a year 7 which has 12 classes!

to be fair uncleglen, they are paying ?20 for a 30 minute lesson - but I agree, a instrumental music teacher is a highly skilled professional who should be paid at least ?30 per hour. And ?20 for 30 minutes as well because it requires the same level of travel and also of prep to teach for 30 minutes.

no it wasn't aimed at you!

I think that if you think the only school your child can go to is Charter or Kingsdale or Habs you won't be happy. But many of us look beyond the hype and have realised that there are a number of good schools that are not too far away - Deptford Green is not that much further than Haberdashers, St Thomas is even nearer. I was also not in favour of single sex schools before I looked around but a couple of the boys schools impressed me and I also now think that one of the benefits of boys schools are that they really know how to work with active and lively boys. Go see the schools before you dismiss them is my advice.

No. I think you should buy a caravan and sneak it onto the building site now. Then in 5 years time you will not have to worry about moving near the site... you will be on site! Better yet, your caravan could double up as the school science lab.

Goosey-goosey - the delightfully imperfect & eccentric little tree was planted as part of the Council's plant a tree scheme where community groups and schools can plant a tree - and the Council who planted it! It's a very young tree that will grow and in several years be very fullsome. It was deliberately planted where it is for several reasons - one of which I believe is that a tree nearby is dying. Last year, I thought it looked very sweet with Christmas ornaments and Christmas lights and the annual Carols on the Green event happened round the tree. How nice that we can carry on this tradition every year around a living Christmas tree.

There is this from the British Au-Pair agency on the age of children an au pair can look after on their own. 'Childcare: An au pair is not permitted to have continuous sole charge of children under the age of two' http://www.bapaa.org.uk/displaypage.asp?page=31