Sqiggles

My two went for the first time last year - 12 and 13 - and absolutely loved it. The highlight of their plans for this summer is a return trip. But I do think 7 is probably a bit young. Interestingly, they were both insistent that they do not want to go with a friend this summer because I think they enjoy the freedom of making new friends. Last year one went with a friend and one went on her own (they went to different centres).

We went to Beauty Haven and it was great - I would recommend!

thank you everyone. She keeps going on about the pain - as she was a 9lb 4 baby I have little sympathy!

I have agreed that my daughter (coming up to 13. Can get her ears pierced. can anyone recommend anywhere local to get it done? She seems keen to have some sort of anesthetic!

Personally I would not spend much on the bed itelf, and just get half decent mattresses. We bought a very cheap bunk bed (with a third pull out bed) from argos. It was a bit of a pain to assemble but has been great. Save money now and buy them decent single (or maybe even double) beds when they are a bit older.

Helen is MP for Dulwich and west Norwood which includes College Ward but also includes a lot of other wards including Village and East Dulwich. Lordship Lane is in East Dulwich

Although a lot of the children at Dulwich Infants go onto Dulwich Hamlet, there is a bit of moving about at 7 for a number of reasons. One is that the Infants is a church school, and therefore its admission criteria is different from DH's. People also move house - you have a do the whole catchment area thing again at 7, so you might not get a place if you have moved since reception. Also some children preusmably move into the private sector at 7. I have always thought that this is a bit tough for the other schools nearby - a risk of losing quite a few children who they have worked hard with at the end of year 2 - but I suppose the answer to that is that parents only want to move children if they are not happy with the current school?

I agree with landsberger and legalalien. When the land was leased to the school everyone knew that the field was only available to the school unless and until planning permission was granted. It would be disingenuous for the school to now campaign against planning permission. And surely it was better that the lease was granted to the school on this basis than not at all? I am all in favour of preserving playing fields, and other green spaces, but we also have a severe housing shortage in London and they are not that many sites like this that could easily built on. it is a difficult balance, but given the background I can see that the LA may well conclude that the lnad is best used for more housing. The playing field policy was intended to prevent schools selling off land they owned, not to force landowners to lease land to schools. Some of the other points in the petition - traffic issues etc - are all matters that will be considered in the usual way by the LA.

JAGS Sports club runs swimming lessons - you do not need to be a member - although they do get quite booked up. Crystal Palace is also a good option.

The Herne Hill services has been a disgrace since Christmas. It is regularly not possible to get onto trains at Herne Hill due to extreme overcrowding (preusmably not helped by the problems on the London Brdige services), there have been a couple of adjustments to the timetables which leave 15 minute gaps between trains during the peak 8am to 8.45am period, and this is often made worse by cancellations. We have got used to the fact that the trains rarely run on time, but at least there used to be a reasonable throughput of trains you could actually get onto. The current problems also illustrate that the suburban lines are not the operator's priority. There is absolutely no reason why they could not be operating a proper service to and from Blackfriars. The suggestion that a train to Victoria is an adequate replacement to a train to Thameslink station is ridiculous and a cop out. Has anyone from TL ever tried to get on the tube at Victoria in the morning? But the Gatwick/Brighton trains get preferential treatment, and the Wimbedon loop trains just get cancelled.

I bit more coordination for the South London transport system would be useful. Having already given up on the LB trains, the thameslink trains were up the spout this morning so I went to Brixton to get the tube. I then had to queue for 10 mins to get into Brixton tube station because they are replacing the escalators!

I just came across this old thread, whilst searching for something else. I went to Jags in the 70s (when William Penn was there) and I can confirm that it has the same playing fileds now as it has then. I have no idea why people thing jags bought the playing fields when William Penn closed - and, of course, there was no gap between William Penn and the Charter School. I am also not sure how jags could make the sports facilities more available. For example, the swimming pool timetable means that the pool is very heavily used by jags and other schools during the school day and by the jags sports club (which anyone can join) and numerous other sports clubs and teams the rest of the time. The same goes for the astroturf pitches, for example. I have tried to hire lanes in the pool for my swimming club but there really is no space available. There are also loads of courses for non-members - swimming lessons and kids football, for example. It is completely manic most weekends, and I would say it is serving the local community. The position was indeed very different in the 70s, when the school facilitites were only used by the school, but that is no longer the case.

I read somewhere that the drop in system at the Lister HC in Peckham has now changed, and you have to book an appointment through your GP. Worth checking before going down there.

This junction is not safe for pedestrians, but that could be fixed simply by changing the phasing of the traffic lights. The problem, if crossing east dulwich grove from townley road to greendale, is that the two sides of the road are phased separately. This means that the school children have to wait in the cnetral reservation, which is not big enough for the number of children in the morning. They are also tempted to rush across the second side, not waiting for the green man. The lollypop man does the best that he can but there are so many children in the island that he cannot get from one side to the other. The best solution would be a complete pause on the lights to enable all the roads to be crossed at the same time, including diagonally. As someone else said, this would also allow nervous cyclists to dismount and corss the function at the same time. I agree that no right turn from Towneley Road sounds a disaster!

Most of the time the parking in Dulwich Park works just fine. But some summer weekends it gets really crowded and so people start to park down the middle of the road into the park before the entrance for the car park. I think this is what they are getting so upset about, as they worry that it blocks the road for emergency vehicles. But the 4 hour time limit is absolutely mad - why tell people how long they can stay in the park? It might be better to have some wardens enforcing the parking restrictions on the 20 or so days of the year when it is a problem. Suggesting parking on the nearby roads is not a sensible answer because on those same days those roads are all parked up too.

Congratulations to the staff and pupils on a very well deserved result. This school is really buzzing at the moment!

either go for the tripp trapp - our 8 year old still uses hers - or el cheapo ikea. and avoid anything that has fiddly bits that will be a nightmare to clean!

Have you looked at sitters.co.uk - they use regular sitters, who have childcare expeience, and seem to me to be very reliable - much more releiable than some of the teenagers who cancel on you when a better offer comes along! And you can ask for particlaur sitters once you get to know them.

kateamin Go and visit the school and see what you think - I think you just call up the office and arrange a convenient time. The building work is now finished, so the whole school is on one site (the early years site over the road is a bit of a mess, but no one is in there anymore) and the new children centre is open. A new head started in September, and is making her mark (in a very postive way). The school had already been doing really well over the last couple of years (hence the SATS results) and that should continue - the school suffers a bit because of where it is, as it is out of the way and so lots of people don't know it is there. But it is definitely worth a look.

Don't forget Bessemer Grange School - SE5 so you might not pick uit up on an SE22 search. Got 74%. Well done to all the pupils and staff.

an ad on gumtree works well - although you will get a lot of replies, so you need to filter. The best way to find a nanny however is word of mouth - if you know anyone with a nanny, ask them to ask their nanny if she has any friends looking for work. In my experience nannies only recommend people that they rate, and they know who are the good nannies.

Beckenham Spa is the best place for pool parties (they can adjust the depth of the pool to suit the age and height of the children), but I agree 3 is probabaly a bit young. And rememebr you need to peusade enough adults to come in too - not everyone is keen to hang out at a party in their swimming costume.....

I do pretty much what Mel does.

There are loads. Beckenham Spa is nice, Crystal Palace if you fancy a 50m pool, Brockwell Lido and Tooting Lido (unheated, so best leave it until it warms up a bit).

Vanessa, I had a home water birth - don't worry about all the practicialities, it is easy. We put a big sheet of plastic over the carpet under the pool, but other than that everything was provided - hose to fill it and pump to empty it. It keeps pretty warm - only issue is that it is a bit of a pain to empty, but by then you are tucked up in bed with baby, so that is someone else's problem!! And definitely worth it!