eliza

My children are in other year groups but I know parents of older children who are also mystified by your post and rather wonder who you are, as do I. If you're going to post wild misinformation in a public forum you must expect to have it corrected. That doesn't constitute 'a lecture'. Enough with the capitals.

ydrmdy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My son has just had his Physics exam results and > every pupil that took A level Physics got a U. How > can that be, i never even heard of a grade U. Is > this examiners punishing Kingsdale at our childs > expense? As a parent with 2 children at Kingsdale, I contacted the school having read this post. The information is completely untrue. The top grade achieved in the modular unit Physics exam was a grade A. I really do wonder if ydrmdy is an actual parent or not. Odd to be so misinformed if he or she does have a son at Kingsdale. The school isn't going to be responding to any further misinformation published, in line with its usual policy.

Yes, I preferred Kingsdale as well, even though we live much closer to Kingsdale. Prendergast was my second choice for my daughter but I've never regretted my first choice. She's now in year 8 and really thriving in every sense!

I've now got two kids at Kingsdale. I had only one last year! They're quite different children - one very high ability, the other more average and a bit of a coaster! I'm still really happy with the school, it has suited both of the children in different ways. It's not the case that anything negative about Kingsdale is automatically deleted, but it is the case that libellous comments and ones with direct reference to the exam investigation are removed, as they should be. I've found communication with the school to be pretty exemplary bar problems with a computer virus. A new website should be up and running soon. I've also found the school to be unusually receptive to comment and criticism from parents. I was unhappy with one of my childrens teachers and the matter was looked into and my daughter was moved to another class. The Head does have very high expectations of the staff. I'm not worried about the investigation - there is very much more to it than meets the eye.

I know several women who had 3c tears and then went on to suffer equivalent trauma in a second birth. You need to think about your health and that or your baby. You can't ensure that you will have a good natural birth second time around just because a few women say that this was their experience. Plenty of women will say that this was not their experience. If you find out that you're going to have another big baby then do consider an elective caesarian. I've had 2 elective caesarians - quite different from emergency ones - and both were great experiences, really calm and stress free. I recovered from both very swiftly and with negligible pain due to good painkillers (much less pain than a vaginal delivery). In the end what matters is having a healthy baby and not having major recovery problems yourself. This holy grail of natural childbirth turns having a baby into a competitive sport. I have a friend who ended up doubly incontinent in precisely the situation you are in now. She rejected having a caesarian the second time round as her friends 'disapproved'. She wasn't able to have sex for 2 years due to the physical and psychological trauma. You may be lucky if you go for a vaginal delivery - like a few of the posters here - but you may not. You can't ensure the outcome you desire however much you follow all the advice about squats, perineal massage and raspberry tea. Good luck with whatever decision you make.

Yes, this is fantastic news for the hard working kids, teachers and management at Kingsdale. The storm isn't over yet but it's now clear that the most serious allegations have been dismissed by the exam boards.

You're so welcome!

I'm a journalist sitting in a BBC office surrounded by Oxford and Russell Group university graduates. 9 out of 11 including me didn't get Gove's invented EBAC because most of us only did one science - we're all arts graduates, or did two languages instead of doing Geography. It would be difficult to argue that we all failed to get a rounded education and we're now on the scrap heap! The EBAC, in its current form, has been criticised by a wide range of schools including grammars and independents. My daughter is at Kingsdale and my son is going in September. I have nothing but praise for the school. There are a great many inequities in the educational system but they've been created by both Tory and Labour administrations. Kingsdale didn't create this marketplace or choose to be in a borough that's full of academies and faith schools. It has many more middle class children than it once did but also plenty of working class kids too. A couple of the Lewisham schools I visited couldn't have been described as comprehensives as they had disproprortionate numbers of children from disadvantaged backgrounds relative to the areas in which they were located. I think people also need to realise that some of the 'local' Lewisham schools are about the same distance away from us as Kingsdale.

I really don't accept that there's any problem with Kingsdale wanting (and getting) more middle class and aspirational parents (not all of whom are middle class) to send their children to the school. This is a school which used to have an intake comprised of the most economically disadvantaged children. There were hardly any girls at all, in common with many failing co-educational schools.(There are now slightly more girls than boys in year 7). It was hardly an 'inclusive' school. A comprehensive is supposed to be socially mixed, after all, and sink schools are always the ones which have been shunned by middle class parents. As to whether or not Kingsdale is 'Shamelessly courting the middle classes'...Hmm. That's a contentious way to put it. They're attracting middle class parents because of their remarkable facilities, small class sizes,musical and sporting opportunities, fantastic Head teacher, committed teachers and great pastoral care. The year on year improvements in exam results will only be maintained by the school continuing to ensure a solid presence of middle class children. I look at alleged community schools in Lewisham (my borough) which, in theory, have a comprehensive intake but, in fact, have a tiny minority of middle class children regardless of the fact that they're in very mixed areas.

Very sorry, must clarify earlier post - i was talking about Harris Boys in Peckham not the Crystal Palace one about which I've heard much better things. I did visit Harris Boys with a friend with a year 6 son and we both found it very heavily orientated towards discipline. I don't think this would suit a boy who is basically well behaved. They seem to start from the premiss that boys in the area are all incipient members of gangs! I found it really over the top. I do also have a preference for mixed education for boys which is one of the reasons I was so delighted to get my daughter into Kingsdale as she has a younger brother.

My daughter is in year 7 and is fantastically happy. I've been bowled over by the quality of the teaching and the pastoral care. All her classes are small - the great advantage of Kingsdale over nearly all state schools in the inner city - and children are very well behaved. She says there hasn't been any disruption in any of her classes. I was encouraged to enter my daughter for grammar school a couple of years ago but wasn't keen to send her out of the area. I did, however, worry that I'd made the wrong choice and she simply would not get as good an education at any non selective state school as she would at a grammar. I can now say that I wouldn't send her anywhere apart from Kingsdale. I was educated at a mix of grammar and independent schools and was, in short, educated within an inch of my life! I've therefore experienced the kind of elite education that very few of our children will ever experience. As far as I'm concerned Kingsdale combines the very best of both a grammar and an independent school without the feeling that your children are inhabiting a tiny, social bubble. The fact that there are more girls than boys in year 7 speaks volumes. You'd be hard pressed to find a mixed state school in the area that isn't boy dominated but Kingsdale attracts more and more girls year on year. I also have a son and would not be happy to send him to Harris. It has a boot camp aspect that I find really unattractive. An earlier post suggested that Kingsdale could be a bit disorganised and the teaching at Harris was possibly better. This is not my experience or that of any other Kingsdale parents I've spoken to including one who took her son out of Harris because of the militaristic atmosphere. I've found Kingsdale staff to be consistently professional and well organised and any queries I had in the first few weeks were answered fully and promptly in a way I never experienced at my daughter's state primary. I've also been very impressed by the detail and thought which goes into the marking of homework and the fact that work is set according to ability levels. The children are placed in sets from the outset but are carefully monitored to ensure that they are in the right sets so you don't feel your child might get labelled or 'stuck'. She has friends attending Lewisham schools at which there's too much of a tendency for all the kids to be given the same work, regardless of ability, which may be easier for the teachers but is stressful for children who struggle and boring for the brightest ones.(See Sydenham's last Ofsted for comments on this problem).

'Dulwich Mum' should be reported to 'Admin' if anyone should. What crass, revolting snobbery. Scarcely anyone can afford a house in Alleyn Park yet she thinks the presence of a state school - a highly regarded one at that - sends house prices tumbling.

The IB is available at the newly opened Kingsdale 6th form in Dulwich. Don't waste your money!!! Kingsdale is a state, foundations school and its own admissions authority. The 6th form is selective. Go visit it - this is a school that's always got time to show parents around. One of the reasons I'm sending my kids there is because of the IB. Eliza

My daughter is going to a sports 'audition' at Kingsdale this Saturday 16 October. Could anyone whose child has been through this process tell me what kinds of things they do during this morning and what the experience is like? Also, if there are any parents of girls whose daughters are also going on Saturday - I'd love to make contact with you. Thanks so much, Eliza

My daughter is going to a sports 'audition' at Kingsdale this Saturday 16 October. Could anyone whose child has been through this process tell me what kinds of things they do during this morning and what the experience is like? Also, if there are any parents of girls whose daughters are also going on Saturday - I'd love to make contact with you. Thanks so much, Eliza

My daughter is going to a sports 'audition' at Kingsdale this Saturday 16 October. Could anyone whose child has been through this process tell me what kinds of things they do during this morning and what the experience is like? Also, if there are any parents of girls whose daughters are also going on Saturday - I'd love to make contact with you. Thanks so much, Eliza