BB100

Thanks - downloaded the complaints procedure and it seems they have 10 days to respond. I'll have to wait till Wednesday.

MFL = Modern Foreign Languages

Yes I did write and ask for an appointment with the Head. I did not get a reply so I wrote and asked for an acknowledgement of receipt. I got an acknowledgement but then nothing. That was over a week ago. If I ring they just pass on a message. I work full-time so going down there is not an option and I doubt I will get pass the receptionist. Are Academies answerable to the council then? It is Croydon council though (no prizes for guessing who it is).

I'm really fed up. My child has a MFL 'teacher' who is unqualified. When I went to parents' evening the guy could barely read and write English and my child has spent the past year copying from the board. He also shouts a lot and sends the children to face the wall if they get an answer wrong (they are 15/16 yrs old!). Sometimes he refuses to teach them at all. This weekend I've found out my child has a GCSE exam due and whilst the other classes have been preparing for it this 'teacher' knows nothing about it. I've complained before but they just reassure me everything is fine. This time the school is not replying to my e-mails/calls but they have postponed the exam for a week to help the class 'catch up'. Other than keep ringing/e-mailing the school office, has anyone got any other suggestions about what I can do?

Carbonara Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- , , and there are plenty of white middle > class children in the middle and lower sets as far > as I can tell from knowing many families, > involvement in the school etc. > > Whether it is the same in the Grammars / > super-selectives, which seem to use expensive > tutoring to achieve ever-spiralling scores in a > competitive race for the place, I don't know as I > have no involvement with those schools. The grammars are full of Asian children. So much so, my son can do a range of regional Indian accents.

My midwife swore by refrigerated cabbage leaves placed around the breast - she said it has an ingredient that reduces the inflammation - nice and cool too. However it was a certain type of cabbage but I don't remember which. Maybe someone on here may know. http://www.breastfeeding-problems.com/mastitis.html

I think every grammar school should be made to take 10 or so children from its nearest deprived area primary schools. A few years ago I worked at a primary school on a notorious council estate that lived in the shadow of a grammar. No one from the primary ever got a place but there were a number of promising children on free school meals who would have thrived there but instead they all went off to the local sink secondary...

david_carnell Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The following 11+ exam sample questions might be > helpful to get your child started. > > Q1. Please define "hot-housing" Answer: A place where my child goes to learn without having their education disrupted by disaffected children who have no intention of learning. > > Q2. If Johnny has to travel 1 hour 15 mins each > way to school 5 days a week, 36 weeks a year, how > many hours of his life will have been spent on > public transport by his GCSEs? Please show your > working and round to the nearest 50 hours. Answer: exactly the same amount of time it takes for my other child to get to Kingsdale and back (they leave at the same time and the grammar one gets back home first. > Q3. You are earning minimum wage. A tutor costs > ?25 p.h. How many meals will you have to miss to > get afford enough sessions to get your child into > a marginally better school on the other side of > London away from their friends? Answer: zero. Didn't have a tutor, just a good primary school. > > Q4. Multiple choice. Finish the sentence. "I don't > want my child to mix with children outide their > narrow ability bracket because...." a) stupidity > is contagious b) I can't afford public school c) > have you seen Educating Yorkshire?! Answer: d)because he does that outside of school and he's not missing anything my other children will assure you.

Some other practical things, which seem obvious but it's surprising how many parents forget is to label clothes, especially if they have to wear school uniform and get them to practise putting on and off their clothes, coats and shoes by themselves. They will have to do this for themselves for P.E, etc. Also, if they are having packed lunch make sure they can open the lunch box and any packets - you would be surprised how many children can't open a packet of crisps or take off the lid off a yoghurt pot. You could talk to your child about the routine at school i.e I will leave you to play then you might sit on the carpet for a bit then play again then lunch then play then time to go home. The teacher will read some starting school stories to your child but you might want to get some of your own. If you want to ask questions about their day, I've found it useful to ask 'what did you enjoy playing with?' or 'what was the best thing that happened today?'

Next Directory

You can't really compare 'hardness' of o'level to GCSE unless you know what the pass mark is for the papers.

Skegness Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I hope you're right, Curmudgeon. They did not > release the results at all last year so I'm a bit > nervous of a repeat but you are right that it's > very early days. Last years results are on their website. Edited to add: Well it was there yesterday but now it says the page is being updated.

Curmudgeon Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am surprised that you would consider schools > like wilsons to be commutable with over an hour on > public transport each way. Still it is hardly > surprising that selective schools do so well You will find quite a little (growing) troop on the train in the mornings. It's a 30 minute train ride.

Can anyone add to these? They are all 5 A*-C including Maths & English. Harris Crystal Palace say on their website their drop in results is because it's their 'first cohort to have been admitted to the Academy under the Academy Admissions criteria having changed from the previous City Technology College (CTC) admissions criteria and procedures.' New Headteachers starting at Prendergast, Harris Crystal Palace, Harris East Dulwich Boys & Wallington Boys. Wilsons Boys(Sutton Grammar) 100% Wallington Boys (Sutton Grammar) 100% Chislehurst & Sidcup (Bexley Grammar) 99% Langley Park Girls (Bromley) 83% Harris Crystal Palace (Croydon) 82% Bonus Paster (Lewisham) 80% Charter 72% Addey & Stanhope (Lewisham) 71% Haberdasher Askes' New Cross 71% Forest Hill Boys 67% Sedgehill (Lewisham) 52%

That must be a huge relief. Most Reception classes have a staggered start with a few children starting a few days at a time so your child will probably not start right at the beginning of the term. Hopefully someone from Goodrich will see this and know more specifics.

If you have rats in Lewisham the council will deal with them for free: http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/environment/pestcontrol/Pages/rats.aspx

Only time will tell if the new Exec Head will make a difference. However with a catchment of lawyers, artists and other profs it is doubtful it can slip very far down the hill without a lot of protest.

To be honest, I had an experience of having a roofer who discouraged me from wasting my money on building regs. It was because he was doing a very poor job.

That was an interesting link Saffron - thanks. I was under the understanding that the SPF indicates how long you can stay in the sun before you need to apply some more. So if you apply a factor 50 it will last 40 times longer than a factor 10 so you have to reapply a lower SPF more often than a higher one.

I've had skin cancer and my consultant said it was very important to look at the UVA rating. She said Boots own brand Soltan has the highest 5 star rating.

I have a member of my extended family who was not dry at night until they were 15. There was nothing physically or emotionally wrong, they just wet the bed at night. They found it beneficial to give her a period of rest with padded pants for a few months and then try again. HTH

I've had very good service in HOP. If you ring during the day for support then you also get an English call centre. Very good at calling back too. This is from someone who spent seven hours on the phone to TalkTalk a few years back when their service was extremely poor - they have definitely got better. I was going to change but friends have said things are no better elsewhere, even with BT, unless you go to Plus Net and pay their higher prices.

My children are at Grammar school. I found Kumon helpful as time and speed are important in the tests. My youngest said there were questions on the maths test he would not have been able to do if he hadn't done them at Kumon, he reckons were worth 20 marks. It's worth getting a tutor for verbal reasoning though but some grammars have dropped this test.

It is difficult to protect young children as Deet, the product that is in most mozzie sprays, is really not suitable for delicate skin. Any products for children have highly diluted deet which makes them less effective. When i go abroad I take other precautions such as spraying the room regularly with mozzie killer before I go out (to avoid chocking on the fumes) and leaving the toilet light on at night to attract them away from the bedrooms. Also book air conditioning. I used to be bitten alive years ago but these precautions mean I don't even bother with the sprays much anymore.

The point of the article (I having been following this story for a while) was because Ms Truss has said nurseries here should be more like French nurseries - with more formal learning and higher adult child ratios - so Neil Leitch has visited some French nurseries to see what all the fuss is about and reported back what he found to counteract Ms Truss' ideology of what English nurseries should look like. All politics, of course, but Ms Truss clearly has no idea what good Early Years education is about.