Mrs TP

Echo all redjam says, a spot on summary of how it works. You can get books on sample questions so you and your child have an idea of the types of questions but really not worth in depth swotting up and there is no pressure at all to do well. Beware most secondary schools test every half-term / term when the children are in.

It was the end of the day for Key Stage 3 pupils but lesson change for Key Stage 4 pupils, who have a later finish on Thursdays than the younger pupils. I agree no school is 100% safe but they can constantly review procedures and implement new measures across the whole spectrum of their remit and share any positive recommendations with their peer school communities with a view to making all safer.

And it shouldn't be, perhaps all the schools need a rethink. If he had been waiting outside, perhaps the victims' mates may have seen him and alerted them - yes I know 'perhaps', 'what if' etc but lessons need to be learnt, by society as a whole.

It is impossible to entirely eradicate this behaviour and we could argue all night as to whether or not teenage knife crime is worse or less frequent than however many years ago or more or less prevalent in particular geographical areas but what sticks out for me in this whole situation is a major safeguarding failure of the school. One pupil involved was excluded from the school and should not have been on the premises. Ok so it could have happened outside the school but it didn't it happened inside the school grounds and the school needs to take a review and think how it could have prevented this incident from occurring within its jurisdiction.

I do think you are right to think there will be upwards sibling priority wherever your younger child gets in.

Trying to get back on topic, it just wasn't a pleasant shopping experience. Not very friendly when you entered the shop or dealing with donations. They had some different assistants in more recent times who were a 100% more pleasant than initial staff but by then I think most locals were already giving it a wide birth. A niche shop for regular donors and customers who seemed to specifically travel to it. Not a popular destination for locals and those from further afield in enough numbers to keep it going. Sad for the owners but probably not missed by many.

A relative of ours once had a swan 'stuck' in their garden and called a rescue organisation to collect it. They did and said it was common for swans, geese and other big water-birds to get stuck in gardens, confined spaces etc as they need a huge area for take off.

Sounds like a story for the SLP to me, what a rubbish policy and wrong on so many levels. What will happen in the school hols? Will your dentist refuse to see them at all then? We go to the one above the chemist on North Cross Rd. I was there last wk booking apts for my brood and have 3 consecutive appts after school for them.

Ah the superbob guys on Geoff show on Absolute Radio now, they talking about filming in Peckham.

Double check exact sibling criteria, e.g. if your existing child in yr 6 now and moving to secondary when the next one starts I'm not sure that counts. Look for oddities like that. Check where siblings come on admissions criteria - so are they the first to be offered places or are there other groups offered first such as local authority referred children. Also speak to the head or similar and ask if they know if siblings are over-subscribed or if the place a certainty. I checked this all out and only put the 1 school on a secondary application last yr for a sibling place. Good luck.

Have a look at both your home buildings and contents insurance cover, some policies include insurance for legal action during redundancy. Also are you aware of / in touch with anyone who has taken legal action against your employer; often good to use their solicitor who has experience of the employer. Good luck.

Look on the Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham, Westminster etc websites and they will list all their state schools and hopefully admissions criteria. Also ask you primary head if they have a list of where the last 2yrs yr 6 pupils went. You are better filling up the last slots on your form with schools you have visited and know. Worse case scenario your child is better off going to a local less preferred school, than one truly miles away, whilst waiting for a place to come up on the schools higher up your list. There is still movement going on with new year 7s. I have heard specific examples of Kingsdale and Sydenham School (Girls) offering places since the start of term.

Cool thanks, catching up on iPlayer now - always nice to have a nosey at local stuff.

Thanks all. Have come round to it :)

It's a fab school. I've had two daughters go through recently, now in yrs 7 & 10 at secondary. Loads of teaching staff and support staff and very friendly office staff. Loads of days trips related to topics, which change each half-term. Two residential trips - Michael Morpurgo Farms for City Kids in yr 5 and PGL in year 6. Church service for whole school and parents / carers etc on the morning of the final day of each 3 terms (not compulsory for parents). Various after school clubs. A breakfast club. Great pastoral care. Children mix throughout the years esp at playtime and external play leaders to lead organised games at playtimes. Good teaching standard. Music, art, IT and French all focused on. Have a look at the website and twitter feed to see all that goes on - it's busy.

Worth asking the school / class teacher if they know anyone? At our school some TAs do private after school care but most of the clued up teachers also know the childminders and au pairs who pick up too.

So my youngest, who is in year 2, has come home with a permission slip from school to sign for the flu jab. I've been very diligent with all jabs to date but I'm really not feeling mindful to consenting to this, probably because I have two elder children who have got by without this. Am open to a massive discussion. What do others think about the rights and wrongs of this latest vaccination?

It may take a wee while for the saving to kick due to the excitement of having her own money. Mine rarely actually bought magazines with their pocket money as they are so expensive. After trying various things, I did one regular magazine each (both choose mags that came out every 3 wks) plus pocket money of 25p per wk per year of life, so for an 8yr old it would be 25p x 8yrs = ?2 per wk and so goes up 25p per wk on their birthday. Some relatives also did the odd magazine subsrcription for b'day / Christmas particularly when they settled on a certain magazine rather than being swayed by whatever tat on the front. Saving kicked in more with maturity at dealing with money and esp when I forgot their pocket money and owed them 2 /3 wks or more at once, esp if it was a whole half-term and they got ?10 or so in the hols. Like bawdy-nan a monthly allowance once established at secondary and going out and about more.

And advice changes within areas. My older two Southwark born children weren't offered BCG as babies but no 3 was. There must be thousands of under 16s in Southwark that have not similarly been immunised against it.

My niece had her engagement party in the Hero back in the mid 90s, she was getting engaged to the then landlady's son. Back then their most famous regular was Damian Hurst. The engagement didn't last.

Of course, how could I forget that. Used to stop off there on the way home from work but since having a career break to mind the kids it's all about Lidl Peckham ;)

Bromley has an M&S and it's not just a food shop - oh wait that's another thread ;)

M'm probably erratic delivery, we never had enough. Use 3/4 a week with all the peelings for a family. Don't want a compost box as mice, rats and foxes a big enough problem without encouraging them. Sneaky as in 'look at this brilliant new way of rubbish collection oh and by the way you will have to help fund it yourselves a few years down the line on top your regular council tax by buying your own bags' - aren't we all making cutbacks :(

Am I the only one who has missed this sneaky move, which I have copied from the Southwark Council website: "From 1 April 2015 compostable food waste bags will no longer be provided free of charge for residents on the food waste service. While stocks last food waste bags are still available free of charge from libraries and Southwark?s Reuse and Recycling Centre." I must admit I have been collecting them from the mobile recycling promotion van at the top of Barry Road when I have seen it and hadn't thought us no longer getting them on the doorstep - grr ...

I think it's more the reasonable, what is your definition of reasonable? GMs Melbourne Grove is ?15 for a child's cut and I think most are around that price. As a mum of 3 girls my best advice would be to grow fringes out and then you are not faced with the 6-8wk regular trims. Mine have been to GMs, the one on Northcross Road (forget the name but the one that has been there longer than Myla & Davis)and Kuki on Bellenden. All around the ?15 mark and all good. A friend took her 8yr old to the Galleon near the Herne Hill Tavern and was pleased.