murphy

I am sure if the walking route led to expensive housing then Charter would have changed its rules a long time ago to make sure people who lived there could attend the school. The problem is everyone wants schools that produce great results, so schools do what they can to ensure they get a "better quality" intake. Kingsdale for years did the music scholarships which was bound to favour middle class kids. The Charter school will find it difficult to improve results with an increase in the number of socially and economically deprived kids. Results could drop, which may or may not mean parents once again look to move out to Kent, or to the private sector, for secondary school options for their kids. If this happens then results drop further and you get a school seen to be in decline. The biggest beneficiary of the changes to the Charter school admissions policy, apart from the kids who can now get in, will be Harris Boys East Dulwich. Their criteria for entry is closest straight line distance. The largest catchment area for the school are the relatively wealthy parts of East Dulwich, who have to an extent avoided the school so far. If most people in East Dulwich decide to apply to Harris (as Kingsdale entry becomes more of a lottery, and those on the east side of Lordship Lane lose out in the changes to the Charter admissions process) then Harris will see their results rise. The end result could be in a few years that Harris becomes an exceptional school. If that is the case and poorer kids in the main didn't get in, as the catchment area was mostly expensive private housing stock, would local residents and Councillor Barber (East Dulwich Ward) argue that Harris was excluding poorer kids and argue perhaps for a lottery system among all Southwark residents? All the schools, parents and councillors talk of what is right and fair, but all really have their eyes on the long term benefits to their own school, children or constituents.

My guess is it will mean those living on the east side of Lordhship Lane will be losers out and those living around Dog Kennel Hill and Denmark Hill will be winners.

"Going down, going down, going down..." should get a good airing at Watford v Spurs tomorrow.

jimmyraj Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I prefer to go Tulse Hill, Streatham Hill, down > the back of Balham, cut across Trinity Road, > Garratt Lane, Plough Lane, up through Wimbledon > Village and onto the A3 there. Convoluted but > better than joining the A3 at Oval and sitting in > traffic through Clapham Junction and Wandsworth. This is a good route to the A3 - use smaller roads at busy times - Palace Road, Downton Av , Telford Av , Thornton Rd, Adkins Rd - back roads to Nightingale Lane - then as above. If going down the M23 for example (not the A3) it can be quicker and less stressful to go via the A20/M25 than go through Croydon and Purley, even if you know the shortcuts.

Problem for Palace all season has been we can't score enough goals, Freedman doing a good job though after a year in charge, making us difficult to beat and then building from there. Palace v Liverpool would have been a perfect final, happy memories of Villa Park. El Clasico - Real Madrid very unlucky, ref seemed to give everything to Barcelona, disallowed goal, dodgy sending off, added nowhere near enough extra time and then blew before time was up.

Come on Palace! Hoping if we score 1 that will be enough. Away goals count after extra time.

Meet the new owners Lots of marketing speak but seem to give landlords a free rein to do what they want, be community pubs and offer good beer. I can think of plenty of worse companies to run the place or it could be flats. Have a soft spot for the CPT but the beer has been awful for a few years.

MGolden Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My partner is a Spurs fan and when we had our > first son and moved to Crystal Palace I decided > that he (our son) would support CPFC on the > grounds that it was our local team and anyway I > didn't want him to have a lifetime of misery like > his dad did following Spurs. Clearly, I knew > nothing about football. > > That son is now 13 and whilst rarely cheerful is > never bored supporting Palace! On the way home > from Old Trafford in the early hours of yesterday > morning he said 'Mum it really is the theatre of > dreams - just ours not theirs, best night of my > life'. He came home from school yesterday > incensed at all the people who were now claiming > alliegance to Palace - 'glory hunters the lot of > them'! > > I imagine that wherever he ends up living, as an > adult, his devotion to Palace will never fade. That's the spirit, took my son up to Man Utd last week and he loved it. All of his friends support teams but hardly ever or never see them because it's either too expensive or the team is hundreds of miles away. Season tickets for under 10's are free at Palace next year. Credit to the many Utd fans coming up to Palace fans after the game last week and saying well done, you deserved it. Changed the opinion of a fair few about Utd fans.

mockney piers Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Gah, that's tomorrow isn't it. May try and make it > to that, I reckon the mocklet will love it! No tickets available tomorrow at Palace, would need to buy online tonight.

Looking forward to Palace v West Ham tomorrow. Palace were great away at Brighton in the week and it was lovely to be there to see Brighton lose their first ever league match in their new stadium. 18 year old Zaha and 17 year old Jonathan Williams were the stars of the show. For anyone thinking of going the game is all ticket, tickets still available but not in the away end.

Laddy Muck Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yesterday's FA Cup match...read all about it... The Dulwich Hamlet match reports are a guilty pleasure for me, here's a snippet from a match report earlier this year. They are er... not your normal match reports. "As the sun lightly toasted pallid skins exposed to the first burst of summer's bounty, the game was afoot. Blistering heat, blistering pace. No doubt buoyed by Churchillian orations from the respective managers both teams were off like hounds upon the scent of the fox but pell-mell football ensured, a steadying hand and the huntsman's trump needed to bring headstrong hounds to heel and set them upon the true trail to triumph. As the dust clouds swirled in the gladiatorial arena, defences reigned, Nyren Clunis swamped by yellow shirts when close to goal, Francis Duku beaten in the air by the Hillians' ambling alp, Danny Gainsford. Kalvin Morath-Gibbs popped a header wide, flying like a flacon to meet an incoming free kick." This season's match reports haven't quite got going yet, but a good attempt from a few weeks ago.. "Whilst gilded youth and guns for hire of the Premiership play for places, pride and the dubious glory of the trip to some backwater of the former Soviet Bloc come next summer, down in the boondocks of the Non League Football, the old credo of winner takes all still rings. Some will break the bank to take their team to the title, the only position take guarantees promotion without the agonies of playoffs, others will invest in youth, spend the few shekels they have on proven talent and Non League nous. Such is Sittingbourne, haunted by the ghosts of past ambitions, when like Icarus they crashed and burned amid accusations of dirty dealing, from those into whose care the club had fallen but who would sell that heritage for a mess of potage."

West Dulwich is a south London tart that attracts the gullible - look at me - lovely houses, wide roads, lots of greenery, near to the parks and close to Crystal Palace, East Dulwich, Dulwich Village, even Brixton and you get so much more for your money. In reality it's closest neighbour is the permanently downbeat West Norwood that will never come good, transport connections are rubbish and the bars of Crystal Palace, East Dulwich and Brixton are all just a bit too awkward to get to easily without endless walking or cabs, the most lively thing in West Dulwich is I'm afraid Tesco Express. People of West Dulwich admit it, you were fooled, duped, hoodwinked, you were I'm afraid another crime statistic, another innocent victim of the estate agent mugger. In you seek to defend it "there's a new bar in West Norwwood that looks promising" or "it has a nice butchers" are inadmissable evidence.

I would just like to remind people that this is a public forum and journalists have used direct quotes from the EDF before. Winston and Mrs Integrity if you are/were teachers at the school then going to the exam board was the right and brave thing to do and I presume you will be talking to the investigation team. It is wildly unproffesional however to have posted some of the information above on a public forum.

DaveR Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If the paintings are oils of generic type scenes > (landscapes and still life) on identical size > canvasses then they are almost certainly mass > produced in China. Nothing to stop you buying one > if you like it, but it won't be a bargain and you > won't be supporting struggling art students 90% sure exactly as you say. If you like the paintings the better bet is to buy several but only pay what you want (just compare the cost with commercial art) you are likely to get the paintings for half the price they are offering it at. The kids will all be on commission only, the artist story is just that I'm afraid, a story, to make the sales patter more interesting, usually kids from overseas trying to earn a few quid. Just tell the seller you know the real story, are happy to buy at a certain price if they want to come back to you at the end of the week, if it's worth it for them they will come back to you.

Received a legit email today - no tickets but a chance to book what's left later this month. Email included what tickets are available, and it's not a lot. A large number of sports are complete sell outs and much of what remains isn't attractive - Dressage Day 1, or 1st round of athletice/hammer qualifying. Better bets, and more fun to watch look like handball, volleyball, table tennis and weightlifting (apparently a great spectator sport). Stacks of tickets left for the football.

Townleygreen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Dear Sillywoman, > > If you pass the entrance exam, you can get a > bursary and pay nothing. > > They had to close the pool/sports club because > (unlike JAGs) it can't be physically separated > from the rest of the school site and so a sports > club user could gain access to a child at the > school. It caused great dismay at the school, but > it was just for H & S reasons. > > Southwark wouldn't let them use spare land along > Townley road (between the astro and the road) as a > car park. That rather undermines your argument > that money talks too. So blame Southwark for the > car parking situation, not the school.> > Your views might just come over as sheer > prejudice! The "spare land" which you refer to is more commonly known as Metropolitan Open Land, not really suitable for turning into a car park. The "car parking situation" was caused because the school built the new theatre over the original school car park that was not on MOL, (although the school did eat into some MOL for the new theatre as well). So you can blame the school for the car parking situation. Residents at the time of the theatre development raised parking issues as a major concern. It's perfectly reasonable for Alleyn's to develop the school and I don't recall any objections from local residents when Alleyn's built the new dining hall, large new sports hall or built a major new block for the primary/junior school. Accusations that local residents are always guilty of nimbyism are not correct, residents have been happy for the school to develop new building many times, but rightly object on the occasions when they feel development has a detrimental effect for local residents.

Not really just 27 objections Mr Barber - 27 written objections and a petition of well over 100 local residents, you are right about 1 supporter though.

Despite objections from what I hear was over 100 local residents, as expected the floodlights have been approved.

Applied for nearly ?1,000 worth of tickets in a variety of sports including heats in a couple of the less popular sports, knew I wouldn't get everything but got absolutely nothing.

Sue, do you think it's a good idea to give the highy qualified chef at Franklins a copy of Jamie's Sizzlin Bubble & Squeak? You might find the outcome is "The Goose is Stuffed" appearing on a Franklins menu rather sharpish :))

They are all busy composing their congratulations letters to Utd, City and Spurs (Europa qualification - though not sure if Harry actually wants that).

So who do you want to join West Ham? My choices would be Blackburn - idiotic owners, low crowds, and Birmingham - dour football. Wigan try to play good football, Blackpool have had a go and deserve another chance, Wolves - don't mind. West Ham owners once again show real class by sacking Grant in the tunnel a couple of minutes after the game. Congrats to City and Utd. Not the best Man Utd team, but maybe one of the stongest squads Utd have ever had, think I read somewhere that in 93/94 Utd won the title using 14 players and that this year it was 27. Aresnal well and truly lost their nerve and imploded, might not even finish 3rd, time to buy a bit of character not just technical ability.

mockney piers Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Too right, I was actually telling the mocklet this > morning how I'll be taking him to Palace to hear > the roar of the crowd and watch some good > football. > Which I had to temper a little, considering that > it's Selhurst Park, that the crowd will probably > murmur rather than roar, and the football will > probably be dire, but he's still looking forward > to it....not that he had the foggiest idea what I > was talking about. > > A long winded way of saying, absolutely. Palace support used to be quiet but is fantastic now, one of the best in the league. 3-0 down at home to Forest last Saturday, crowd still in full voice and lots of praise from Sky commentators and pundits. It made a change to be at a Palace game on the last day of the season and have nothing riding on it. Hopefully the football will be better next year, but no worries about the atmosphere and should be great v West Ham. It will certainly be friendlier than the Millwall game, do you plan to visit there as well?

"What are you mad? Go out as a family down Lordship Lane on a Saturday with the baby in the pram and the other two on their scooters, to all the little shops and then go for a coffee. Why the %+$@ doesn't one of us just stay at home with the kids while the other does that, it's more enjoyable for us, the kids and everyone else in Dulwich." "A light and bitter, a pint of mild and half a shandy for the wife please." "Tea, strong, four sugars please." "Yeah he's going to go in the building game when he leaves school" "A copy of The Sun and 20 Regal please" "Fancy going down to see the Wall on Saturday?"

All the goals from Leatherhead v Dulwich - apparently the Leatherhead equaliser was in the sixth minute of injury time.