BB100

Always make sure you make some kind of noise so they know you are there even if you don't answer the door. Sometimes thieves ring on the bell to see whether you are in or not before the burgle you. It happened to my neighbour who didn't answer the door and a guy broke into her house when she was in bed thinking she was out. Sorry I don't want to scare you but I thought it would be helpful information to know.

Emily Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Today I was told the problem with results at Habs > was in maths, which was put down to the entire > maths dept leaving or becoming pregnant and > leaving, so no continuity of teaching. >they were the first year to be admitted after the massive change in intake to academy status That's what my niece told me: change of intake and staff leaving. I'm sure they will recover though as they are engineering the feeder primary school, which stands in the middle of an owner-occupied area!

Have you thought of making a book yourself? If you take some digital photographs (maybe with a doll as you haven't had the baby yet) and add some captions, you could even have it made into 'real' book by Bonusprint or other such photobook company. A personalised book would make your 3 year old feel even more loved and special than reading about someone else. It's also worth buying a doll and a bottle, nappies, etc so your child can understand what you are doing with the baby and can develop empathy for your role as a mother. You can also try to 'turn around' any requests such as 'getting up and dancing' by saying something like 'I would much prefer a cuddle, can you come and sit next to me?'

What work did they do for you? I ask only because most builders are better at some things and than others.

prdarling Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Meanwhile I can't park in my road at 3pm for > parents coming to pick their children up from > school as they live so bloody far away > That's a legacy from when they were not so popular! Mr Bosher told me himself last year he always has kids that fail to turn up on the first day but they have to give a full 2 weeks before they can give the places to someone else. So you may hear soon.

They were all there when I asked them two/three years ago - they were mature in their thinking. They are in their twenties now.

sillywoman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- Kids don't really know that much - > they just think they do. Depends which kids you ask. I didn't have the access to the data you suggest or the time or inclination so I asked mature relatives/friends from three different families that told me not to send my kids there because it is changing and on the slide. A 20% drop suggests they knew enough. If you know different then please share.

I'm just relaying the reflections of a young adult in her early 20's who was there for seven years, it was her opinion they were the best teachers and yes your definition sounds pretty accurate of them but what does that say about the ones that didn't leave? Usually if you want the truth you ask the kids.

ladyofleisure5 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My son has a special needs statement and I'm keen > to apply to Haberdashers' as it "ticks all of my > boxes" for my son's secondary school requirements. > Unfortunately I'm now having doubts due to the "20 > point drop" in the recent GCSE results. Anyone > know the reason for this huge drop? I'm visiting > the school with my son today and will of course be > asking this question. I think you'll find it reflects the change of intake and (my niece tells me) all the best teachers left and went to Colfes when they did this - she was there before and after the change. So what did they tell you when you visited?

Why don't you ask them to do that? A short letter may tell you whether they care much about the local community or not.

Kingsdale GCSE with English & Maths Provisional result for 2010: 58.7% increase of +11.8% http://www.southwark.gov.uk/news/article/75/great_result_for_gcse_students_in_soutwark I think the word 'obfuscate' has well and truly been added to my vocabulary in a most interesting way!

I'm going on what I know from relatives and friends going through the school. At least 12-14 years ago they were still doing interviews and tests because I remember helping my nieces two years apart to prepare for it. Then about 10-11 years ago Lewisham stopped the interviews and only did testing. But the tests were criticised by parents because they asked children to write about their last holiday which parents alleged was being used to indicate the childs social-eco background and influence selection. I know there was a test at that time because my neighbour told me she had complained to the council about it. So they introduced the non-verbal reasoning test (taking the top of 9 bands) with random allocation - which is the kids who have just done their GCSEs (and is the same test and method Harris are doing). I know this because my nephew took both and said they were more or less the same. They are both still doing this test but for 2009 intake Askes stopped the random allocation. As far as I'm aware they have always done testing. What makes you say otherwise? And in any case their results have dropped 20% this year which doesn't support the idea that their selection testing is helping them to recruit the most able children. This was Aske's prediction for itself this year so something has gone very wrong: '?In 2010 Haberdashers? Aske?s Hatcham College aims to achieve 95% 5 A-C GCSE grades (including Maths and English' http://www.hahc.org.uk/index.php?/news/article/haberdashers_askes_academies_federation_top_of_the_class_for_gcse_results/

sillywoman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > randomv Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > Isn't that exactly what Haberdashers used to do, > the whole banding thing - taking the top whatever > percentage from each band? Interesting to notice > the massive drop in their results now they've > stopped doing it. Down from 90% A-C's to 70% in a > year. No, Haberdashers used to offer places based on a combination of interview with the parents, interview with the child and a selection test. It's only in the past few years that they started random allocation over 9 ability bands based on non-verbal reasoning tests - and it's these children that are now taking their GCSEs. Interestingly, Harris use exactly the same admissions method and their results keep going up. Which I expect is a reflection on the quality of teaching because lots of the best teachers left Askes when they changed their intake policy, whereas Harris continue to recruit talented staff. Last year Aske's had to change their intake policy again and are now doing distance from school across 9 bands of ability. Lewisham LA really know how to run a good school into the ground.

Dulwich_ Park_ Fairy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- I had a look > around there, and the intake isn't paricularily > reflective of the area, seemed overwhelmingly > white and middle-class. You need to go when all the kids are there - it is a very good mix. And actually the current year 8 is predominately black - maybe becuase Kingsdale creamed off the white kids, (check Kingsdale OFSTED report remarks about their Y7 intake). OFSTED 2009 Harris Crystal Palace: 'The (Harris) academy is ethnically diverse with the largest groups from White British heritage and Caribbean descent. The proportion of students with a first language other than English is well above average. The proportion of students eligible for free school meals is above average. Students are drawn from a wide area across the inner city.'

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Thinking about your desire to have school that treats boys like young men, what about Wallington Grammar? It's a train ride from Honor Oak station.

Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear of your family's bad experience. It must have been an awful time for you. However you do sound understandably bitter and twisted by the whole system and if you, as you say, have been home schooling for some years maybe need to take a fresh look at what is available for yourself. All I can add is that maybe you shouldn't write off Harris Boys based on your feelings about a building or the very differently run girls school. A friend of mine homeschooled her son during primary years becuase of similar issues and he is now very happy at HB because it's a very small school that is not full to capacity and have very very strict standards of discipline and behaviour and some highly experienced teachers. However, it sounds like you have set your heart on Kent........

If you have a boy you could try the new Harris Boys sixth form. It's new and so have everything to prove and so will be doing everything not to fail.

Harris City Crystal Palace 88.44% 5+ A*-C grades including English and Maths makes it the best performing state school around here.

These results are 5 A-C passess including maths and english. Schools like to publish their results based on 5 A-C whatever the subject which are always much higher, so you have to check you are comparing like for like. Kingsdale's results aren't available yet so don't know whats happened there as they have not published it on their website either.

2010 GCSE results for southwark http://www.southwark.gov.uk/news/article/75/great_result_for_gcse_students_in_soutwark 2010 GCSE results for lewisham http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/NewsAndEvents/News/GCSEResults2010.htm (scroll to bottom of page) Interesting to see Haberdasher Askes results have tumbled 20% now they cannot cream off the most able.

I had one child who had TB jab at 2 wks and another at 14 months. The one who had it at 2 wks is so feint I have to search for it. The other one is not clearly visible either. It seems the younger they have it the less scarring there is becuase they use a punch with about 50 needles in so there are lots of tiny little scars rather than one large one.

It has a lot to do with a research report which suggested the more time a child spent with a T/A the less they learnt. http://www.education.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/DCSF-RB148.pdf But they only visited 18 schools and seem to have ignored all the good things the report says about T/As. P.S Don't shot the messenger - I'm just passing it on.

Those restrictions are very clearly defined (and the seat belt law is universal). The issue here is parental rights to make decisions about their child's wellbeing, without fear of state intervention. It is central to the reasons why parents are cotton wooling their kids for fear of getting it wrong and social services on the doorstep.

......and I should add....what people think gov. will or won't do is used as a threat to control other parents behaviour.