BB100

It's a bit premature to be teaching phonics in the abstract and your child is trying to tell you that. Phase one of letters and sounds is about listening to and playing with different sounds. Try nursery ryhmes and songs; play games with sounds; use musical instruments; listen as you walk: to the birds, the beeps on the pedestrian crossing, the till in the shops, the leaves rustling.... This will train your ch's ear for listening to all those important phonics sounds when it is time to learn them in the abstract. If you are still keen to introduce the graphemes (written letters) then make sure it's playful. A tray of salt or sand and a stick or finger to explore the /s/ shape or cut out letter /a/ or a few of them and explore them by looking through the holes and tracing the shape with your finger. Stick some furry fabric onto the letters to make it more tactile and interesting. Decorate a few letter /p/ with some glitter, etc. Try to do just one letter at a time. Maybe one a week and then go back to it. Lots of ch now say their letter sounds wrong because of well-meaning parents so make sure you check you are saying the sounds correctly if you decide to teach them. This is important if your child is to use the sounds to blend the sounds (phonemes) into words.

Going back to the original reason for this thread. I looked into Grammars in Kent but I felt that they were too awkward and too long a journey to get to. It worked out about one and a half hours from where I live. I think an hour journey is long enough and anymore is really pushing it. And when it goes wrong it can really go wrong. Remember when we had sudden snow falls a while back. Well, I wanted to know how my child could get home if the trains are cancelled. I decided to go for the grammars in Sutton instead. For boys there is Wilson, Wallington and Sutton. Wallington is probably the easiest to travel to once you get off the train as the bus is right outside the station. Wilsons has a busy road to negotiate but the boys seem to manage. Sutton is a short walk from the station. For all these schools boys have to be at Honor Oak or Forest Hill station by about 7:30 to get there on time. For coming home the boys tend to get back to SE23 about 4:10 if they move quickly. For the girls there is Wallington Girls but is awkward to get to from the stations. The other problems are when there are events, meetings and parents evenings or school trip pickups, as getting to them can be tricky and make for a very long evening travelling there and back. However, you can drive into Sutton in about 35 minutes and is the best option as the trains are less frequent as the evening progresses. And don't be put off by the number of people who go for the tests. My child got in without any private tutoring or coaching at home. If your child is expected to get level 5s for maths and english the schools recommend that you enter the test, as results are given to you before you have to complete the Pan-London form. Having said all this, isn't it too late for applications this year already? Or are you planning for next year?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19911541

Hi Pondlife, I suppose we can speculate all we like but sometimes we have to accept that organisations are obligated to keep quiet until things are resolved or fully investigated. I would suggest the best way forward is to, do as you suggest and, visit the schools for yourself and ask those probing questions for yourself. If you are not satisfied with the answers you can simply walk away and choose other schools. Choosing schools is a stressful time enough so getting involved in the speculative politics of Kingsdale is not going to help. Nothing has been proven (or disproved) so it would be better if you asked the ch at the school when you visit what they think of their school and what their experiences are. If you get chatting and ask the right questions they will open up and tell you what it is really like to go to school there. All the children I know that go there absolutely love it and say their teachers can't help them enough.

Read 'Watching the English' by Kate Fox and find yourself there. I found it a very funny and thought-provoking read written by an anthropologist. She suggests that being English and a certain class has little to do with wealth or skin colour and more to do with behaviours, language and attitudes. Enjoy!

It's a very nice children's centre too. Lovely large garden area and pleasant staff.

?? Perhaps for the same reasons lots of other schools haven't.

prickle Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > According to a Guardian article, the situation is > "the departure of at least 40 teachers over this > academic year, including 15 from science alone. > The school started the year with 125 teaching > staff". > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/jul/02/sp > eed-read-academies-teachers-meals The problem with this article is that we can't be sure of the source and previous threads about Kingsdale have proved that there are some ex-staff with a grievance. I remember some Kingsdale parents coming on the forum when the article was published to say their children had the same teachers as the previous year and so were not aware any had left. And as I mentioned in my OP lots of schools are not publishing results, and neither are the LA's, which usually do, even when the school doesn't. Even lots of grammar schools have not published their GCSE results this year either, although they have published their A'level results. So I think it's a bit unfair to single Kingsdale out.

I do mine 8 times a day and inject myself as well at least 10 times a day. You get used to it but if you only do it every so often it might sting a bit. It's not unbearable - having a baby or having a skin tag burnt off is. It's the tiniest needle and doesn't go in very deep. The side of the finger hurts less, if at all, if they use an open lancet instead.

If they have asked for remarks they wouldn't have the remark information yet I don't think.

DaveR Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > By the way, don't bother with the smiley, it > doesn't make your post any less patronising. oops, obviously upset Dave. The position I took was not of my own view but a current one in general academic circles but you can believe what you like cause I can't be bothered. At the end of the day, a parent with a degree can't assume their kid will do well at school. You need to do more than that.

DJKillaQueen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Absolutely loved my day at the Excel today with my > brother....even though team GB sitting volleyball > ladies lost. Totally blown away by the power > lifting too....the lady from Nigeria took gold > with a 249kg lift!!!!! I can just about manage a > bag of shopping!!! I was there and saw that too. Was you the annoying person behind me that kept jumping up and getting over excited? :)

you can go at whatever time you like. It starts to get really busy around d lunchtime but there is still lots of room to move around and doesn't get oppressive

I was quoting from academic research. What you read in the Daily Mail isn't really credible Dave ;)

DaveR Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- statistically, the single > most reliable predictor of educational attainment > by children is educational attainment by the > parents, so it is easy to over-estimate the impact > of the 'best' schools, particulalrly st primary > level. It's what parents 'do' rather than 'who they are' that is a good predicitor of educational achievement. That's why schools and Children's Centres invest time and money in boosting parents' social capital in deprived areas. As regard Ofsted reports, Ofsted's new framework is changing 'satisfactory' to mean 'unsatisfactory'. I've worked in 'satisfactory' schools and they are graded that for good reasons. However, as mentioned, if a school has recently 'changed hands' with new management they are worth a look. Lewisham has done a rather radical shake-up of all their stalling primary schools so it's a good place to move to at the mo.

It seems really difficult to find GCSE results this year. Usually most schools post them on their websites but a lot are being a bit quiet this year. After doing a bit of searching I've found these but can anyone add to them? All below are 5 GCSE's A*-C including maths & English: Harris Crystal Palace 99.4% Sydenham High (fee paying independent) 98.7% Charter 78% Haberdasher Aske's New Cross 73% Prendergast Hilly Fields 69% Forest Hill Boys 66% Conisborough College (Catford) 58% Haberdasher Knights (Downham) 57% Harris Peckham (not east dulwich) 55%

There was another thread about this sometime ago with a few links - just do a search on here. There are quite a few home-schooled ch around here.

An elderly friend had a call from her bank saying something similar but it turned out it was a scam and not the bank. They told her to call the police which she did but they didn't hang up and then they pretended to be the police and took her name and address. I expect this may not have happened to you but thought I would mention the scam here just in case it happens to someone else.

At Danson park in Sidcup you can book watersport activities. We did a 'birthday' booking for kayaking for 12 children and got friends to pay ?10 each - the children thought it was fab as they played lots of challenge games and got to fall in a bit. It lasted around 2 hours and we had a picnic afterwards. Alternatively, you can book to walk over the top of the O2 at Greenwich, or go for a ride on the new cable car and walk around the Excel centre. You can also stand on the bridge and watch the planes leave City airport. Or Debenhams in Oxford Street have opened their rooftop for crazy golf.

Loz Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Undisputedtruth Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I love the wheelchair races. Much better than > forumula 1 racing. > > Wheelchair basketball makes rugby look tamer than > tiddlywinks. ooohhh! I've got tickets for the wheelchair basketball. They were cheaper than the value of the travelcards they sent me!

Undisputedtruth Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I love the wheelchair races. Much better than > forumula 1 racing. I've got some tickets for the athletics and didn't think about there being wheelchair races. I thought they would be more like blade runners, so it will be interesting to see what different types of disabilities the athletes have that compete. I don't rememeber ever watching a paralympics.

There is not one Gold Postbox in SE London, or East London for that matter.

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Far too much guitar? No. Emeli Sande, Pet Shop > Boys, Jessie J, Fatboy Slim, Tinie Tempa, Taio > Cruz, Spice Girls, One Direction, Take That... all > guitar-free as far as I could tell. I'm not saying > it was a complete cross-section of musical styles, > but neither was it heavily weighted towards guitar > music. I didn't really analyse it in that detail. I just remember thinking 'not more guitar' and then another 3 acts one after the other came on with a guitar. I have nothing against guitar but it just seemed too much of the same old same. I suppose they chose acts that would be popular with an international audience, hence the resurrection of the Spice Girls rather than Best of British.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that the CC was like someone had invited their old mates round for a sing song - and even resurrected some for the occasion. And far too much guitar. I think it was geared to someone's particular taste in music and wasn't representative enough. I enjoyed the Brazil show more.

Sydenham is fine until you need schools.