hoipolloi

Hi I have 2 children at Goose Green and would like to echo what Coach Beth has said. There has certainly been a drive to improve academic results, to great effect (as evidenced by the last set of SATS results) but there is plenty of opportunity and encouragement for the children to be creative. The music teaching is really excellent - my mother in law was head of music at an independent secondary school for 30 years and she has been really impressed with the standard of the music teaching and the amazing performances the children regularly give. This week the year 3 and 4 children have given several performances of a play which I am told was brilliant. Tomorrow evening they are performing it for parents at a special Goose Green theatre night. By way of a further example the year 1 children went over to Peckham Rye this afternoon with sketchbooks, to draw flowers and wildlife. I hope that this helps to allay your concerns. Good luck with your decision-making. HP

Hi My husband is really tall (6 ft 7) and cycles to work every day. He needs some waterproof trousers to wear on the bike but I haven't found any online which are long in the leg without being really huge round the waist. I realise unlikely to get some which would be the ideal length for his height but thought some brands might do longer legs than others. There must be some tall ED cyclists out there who could tell me where I might find some - please?! ta HP

I agree - my (nearly 6 years old) kids are so easily scared, there are even some CBeebies programmes they won't watch but they absolutely LOVED the Snowman, would highly recommend. It is magical.

We live also near Goose Green and have our milk delivered by milkandmore - you do it all online, they have been v reliable and the milk arrives very early.

There is a fantastic and very lovely lady at the East Dulwich Dental Clinic which is just by the Herne Tavern. My girls love her, she counts their teddies' teeth etc and they get a big sticker. I think her name might be Bonnie or something? I am sure she has been mentioned on a previous thread somewhere

I have also PM'd you Pazzabitz

Hi My children aren't at Oakfield but we did seriously consider it and from memory, some go to the well known Dulwich schools, Alleyns etc but quite a lot go to St Dunstans (or at least they did in the years we were looking at). I think this information may well be available on the website

A friend of min's 5 year old son has recently started street dance at Theatre Peckham on Monday nights after school. Apparently he loves it!

Without doubt my fave sweet of all time was the Jolly Rancher - so sour! Brilliant when hungover. I don't think you can get them any more, sadly.

Sorry to hijack this thread but I have been trying and trying to find out details for a Rainbows group in ED. Have tried contacting the Guides through website and the local number by phone but to no avail. Does anyone take their daughter to a group - if so and you could let me know where and when then I will try just turning up to speak to someone in person thanks HP

Hi When we applied (for September 2009 start in reception) Herne Hill certainly did cherrypick - the children went in for an assessment and places were offered (or not) on the strength of that. We applied fairly late - they have a deadline (you can probably find it on the website) but it didn't matter when you applied as long as it was before that deadline expired. We decided it was not for us in the end, partly because of the hassle of going through the whole process again at age 7. Good luck

If Goodrich is your nearest school (rather than Heber) then even if your friends live further than you from Heber, if it is their nearest school then they would come higher than you in the allocation of places. That is the way the criteria were worded last year, anyway.

You said it Fuschia - Goose Green is an improving school and to continue that improvement it needs the support of the local community and does not need to be the subject of negative comments on this forum - of course you are concerned about the schools situation in ED and that is entirely understandable. I only ask that you please consider the possible wider impact of your comments.

I think it's unfortunate that in order to make a point about the fact that some schools in the area are better than others (hardly news, is it?) people insist on referring to Goose Green in such a negative way, including by selectively quoting from old Ofsted reports. This kind of scaremongering is not helpful to anyone. Some people will be allocated Goose Green school. Many of them will have chosen it because they have older children or friends with children already there and know that it has a lot to offer. Those who did not choose it will hopefully go and meet the head and look around and make their own minds up. If they don't, it will be their loss. I dismissed it when making my daughters' application purely on the basis of the Ofsted report at the time but when I looked round I was very pleasantly surprised. We turned down places at 2 private schools in favour of Goose Green (because I felt it was important that my daughters went to a local school) and we have never regretted it. My daughters are really really happy there. The teaching and pastoral care in reception is exemplary. My girls attend the after school club where they mix with children of all ages up to year 6 and without exception they are delightful - I have been particularly impressed with the way in which the older children look after the younger ones. So if you are allocated Goose Green please don't rule it out without at least going to look around.

Another recommendation for Latitude - took our then 4 year old twins last year, they absolutely loved it. Loads of stuff to do for kids. But their favourite bit was seeing the Pet Shop Boys! I think they even had babysitters available.

Tried to get bus down Rye Lane and was turfed off early, whole of the Lane closed to traffic. Anyone know what has happened?

Great - many thanks to all x

Hi I have looked at the website but just cannot find information on how much they charge per child for a party. Has anyone had a party at Gambado fairly recently who could give me an idea? I can't get through on the booking number either. thanks

I got train at 15.18 from LB, ran perfectly on time. Had to leg it to catch it though so didn't see whether later trains also on time. It was snowing a few mins ago but think it may have stopped now.

Just had text from Goose Green to say that school officially finishing at normal time and after school club running as normal, but weather apparently worsening so if parents want to collect children early they can do so.

no-one got any up to date news on trains between ED and LB?

snowylady, where were you travelling from and to? I waited an hour for a train from ED to LB this morning and am trying to decide what time I need to leave office to pick kids up. Just checked live departure/arrivals boards for LB and ED - arrivals at ED all say "on time" and departures from LB just say "starts here" - just wondering whether this info can be trusted?

I've heard that the church near the station in Peckham does a lovely children's/family service - not sure of date but I heard they had a real donkey last year?!

Hi Steph I think there is a meeting at the school today for Jan start parents - I know there is for new reception starters, not 100% sure if includes nursery but in any event there will be a couple of current parents there to chat to. HP

I would just like to echo Beth's comments above about the importance of going to see schools, meet the head, speak to other parents etc before writing off a school based purely on an Ofsted judgment. I am not for one minute suggesting that parents are being narrow-minded by taking Ofsted reports into account - obviously, Ofsted has its part to play. However I speak from bitter experience when I say that it is a big mistake to rule schools out based solely on Ofsted reports. I applied for 4 local schools for my daughters (at the time all were Ofsted rated "good" which is no longer the case for some of them) and wasn't offered a place at any of them. If I had not foolishly ruled out Goose Green based solely on its Ofsted report I could have saved myself a great deal of stress and anxiety. My daughters couldn't be happier there and have learned so much! The teaching staff I have encountered are brilliant and there is a warm and happy atmosphere in school. But of course I'm not an Ofsted inspector, just a parent...