Emski

Yes really! Hopefully will attract a few readers - but only useful advice please! We are sleep deprived parents who are going to be treated to a day off childcare on Saturday. We want to go and do some exciting stuff in town, but also are dreaming of an hour or two's sleep... We have the builders in, so home isn't an option unfortunately. Anyone have any ideas of where we can go for a sleep?! Oh what happened to my exciting former self...? Thanks x

edhistory Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > I've not used the NLPG reference for schools. > > I'd like to know the geometry of "the visual > centre of each address". Perhaps your Southwark > contact could explain? Or perhaps not. > > A school gate example would be Goose Green School > which could use the Grove Vale or Tintagel > entrances for measurements. > > John K It literally means that they estimate the centre of the school by eye and that is then the coordinate (easting/northing) that they input into their mysterious measuring system to calculate how far away you live (using your property's NLPG reference). This is how Southwark explained it to me. I just don't understand where the school gate comes into it as I've previously heard that this is used.

edhistory Wrote: > > Each school has an official Department of > Education Ordnance Survey Grid reference. > > Each school building has an Ordnance Survey object > centroid Ordnance Survey Grid reference. > > A school can chose which school gate to measure > the catchment radius. This Ordnance Survey Grid > reference will be neither of the previous two. > > The deviation can be 100m. > > John K John K - when I queried our home-to-school measurement with Southwark, we were given the eastings/northings for the school and for our home that they use. My understanding is that they're taken from the NLPG (National land and property gazetteer) and are the visual centre of each address. Could you explain where the school gate issue comes in? Is this for non-community schools? Many thanks

Did you find anyone good, Clatter? And anyone know what's a reasonable price for, say, 3 sq metres of the back of our house? Thanks for any help

Interesting. Anyone else think they should have been offered a place based on this?!

Boots def do flu jab at some stores. You may need yr maternity exemption cert to get it for free?

Postcodes cover a few properties so you need to place a pin on the map in the centre of your property and at the school gate and then measure that distance. Southwark (if this is your borough) uses a measuring tool that is not available for public use and bears v little resemblance to results from other tools. It's a far from exact science - frustrating when every metre counts for getting a place in a primary round here!

DaveR you make a fair point, but when I asked them about risks of intervention they wouldn't give or didnt have stats. If felt bizarre when the basis of their argument to induce was stats-based. I didn't feel they were giving me a balanced view and, as Mellors puts v well, in my hormonal and defensive state, I did feel accused of putting my baby at risk. To return to the OP's original question, I'd say that you should have a firm view of what you want to do BEFORE speaking to the consultants, and be aware of the fact that they will advise you according to Kings policy - ie induction at 10 days over. It's up to you if you choose to follow their advice or not.

Thanks for all the suggestions! A sticker reward chart for finishing a meal seems to have been working too. This week we've also tried noodles/stir fry and mange tout. Mange tout she did!

Just remember it's your choice! I found they do put quite a lot of pressure on you to be induced if you're v overdue. I managed to hold out until baby arrived naturally 14 days late - and got my desired homebirth which was fantastic. But I was told by 1 consultant 'We don't let women go over 10 days'. No acknowledgement of my right to choose! I found the hospital's ethos of using all means necessary to get the baby out bizarre. They're so anxious to avoid the miniscule increase in risk for the baby the longer it stays in the womb, but they don't consider the problems that failed inductions, interventions and Csecs can cause - let alone the implications for a woman who's left feeling completely out of control of the birth experience. If there had been any sign of distress on any of the late scans I had, then I would have gone in for induction. But my first child was 12 days late and I'd had a perfectly healthy pregnancy. Happily I had a v supportive Brierley midwife, and in the end was v pleased to have stuck to my guns. Didn't stop me feeling confused and worried and upset that the consultants didn't seem to believe I was doing what was best for me & my baby though.

They sort their own tax. We paid ?5/hr a couple of years ago. You could phone up the Council for their list of Ofsted-registered childminders - this has details for all as well as prices.

I have a 4-month-old who's a very 'variable' napper, so cooking time isn't guaranteed. I should sometimes be able to knock up a ragu or fish pie filling though and freeze in ramekins - great idea. We would love her to be more adventurous with food, but she's taken to announcing that she doesnt like pasta and tomato sauce, or peas - things that were guaranteed favourites a couple of days before! It could be the new baby and starting school that are making her play up, but at the moment I don't want to turn every mealtime into a battle (more than they are already!). I figure sticking with simple stuff for now, but making sure there's a good variety, is the best way to go for now - at least til things settle down for her. As long as they're quick to make I don't mind making her supper separately.

My 4 yr old has just started school, but as they're only getting sandwiches for lunch I want to give her something hot and nutritious when she gets home (& ideally bread-free). I'm already struggling for inspiration after just a week! She's going through a picky phase so I'm keeping it pretty simple, but as my husband doesn't get home til late it doesn't need to be anything too sophisticated as we'll be eating later. Any ideas out there? So far we've had: Omelette with ham and cheese, green veg Pizza & salad Chicken goujons / fish fingers, pasta & veg Baked potato w tuna & crudit?s Salmon fillet, rice and veg Thanks!

I think that 'holding on' and not weeing frequently enough during the day could also be a cause of UTIs. As can not drinking enough. Also, does she know to wipe front to back, especially after a poo? Also a v common cause. It could well be one of these causing the infections rather than night nappies. Then you could hold off the nighttime toilet training till she's more ready... Sounds infuriating. We tried briefly with our 4 yr old (who was potty trained at 2 and a quarter) - after a few interrupted nights we gave up and will leave it till she's keener. For what it's worth, cranberry supplements and weak green tea always did wonders for my cystitis, but guess they're not something a 5 yr old would be keen on...

Not much help, but it wasn't on last week (we foolishly turned up!). I think most non-holiday activities seem to restart next week, so I'd suspect it's not on...

You sound like you'd be near enough to Goodrich School poss? Use a website such as walkjogrun.net to give yourself an approximate guide as to how many metres away you are. Can't remember off the top of my head what the furthest place offered this year was - think around 520m away. Have a look at the Southwark Reception places 2013 thread for more info. Just beware that Southwark's distance measuring software doesn't seem to bear much relation to many of the online tools... In our case they seem to have come up with a totally arbitrary measurement. I'm not the best person to offer much hope on this one I'm afraid - as you'll see from my ranting on that thread... You may well be in the same 'black spot' as us. I think the new Harris Primary may at least be an option for you? And prob a good idea to put down Judith Kerr school as one choice as it is unlikely to get as oversubscribed as everywhere else. Otherwise, moving house so that you're practically opposite a school appears to be the only way to guarantee a school place within walking distance. Sorry to be negative - it has been a very difficult experience for us. My advice would be to put down your nearest 4 and a couple of less popular or at least newer schools that perhaps will have shorter waiting lists.

I'd opt for the storage - life with kids certainly leads to having more STUFF!

Just a reminder now we're a bit further down the line to please reject any unwanted community schools place if you've decided on an alternative. There's a fair bit of movement in the waiting lists now (although personally we're only back to where we started!) so thanks to all who have done so. We're desperately hanging on for a place via the lists, and unfortunately because I don't know yet whether my daughter will be going to a school nearby that she knows, with her friends, or will have to travel to an entirely new area where she won't know anybody, I'm not able to do much to prepare her for the huge life change of starting school. Please make the effort if you haven't already done so!

Thanks for the advice. Is it normal for builders to expect you to enter into a contract without having agreed on plans first?

Our 4 yr old's bad behaviour seems also to have escalated recently. Altho her tantrums are short-lived, they're pretty frequent! I'm sure she's more stroppy now than when we were in the 'terrible twos'. We get lots of 'I don't like you', 'You're not my friend', 'You're not coming to my house', (which I have to try not to laugh at!)etc. In our case it's almost certainly been triggered by the arrival of a new baby. It's also more likely when tired and bored (been stuck indoors all day). I realised I was only saying negative things to her when trying to counter the bad behaviour (Don't speak to me like that, Don't be disobedient, You need to listen to me etc etc). The harder I tried to stamp out the naughtiness, the bigger the stand-off. So now we're trying the opposite - reward charts, loads of cuddles and attention. We had been giving loads of praise, but think maybe more physical attention/affection is more important. Of course tricky when there's a nearly newborn around! I think I remember someone saying that they don't really settle down until more like 6... Hmmm...!

We're in the early stages of planning a loft conversion and would really appreciate some advice on a few points: I understand you don't need planning permission for a rear dormer. But what is the likelihood of getting planning permission for a front dormer too? There's a mixture of properties along our road (ie no uniformity to housing), with a pretty ugly front dormer next door - although I don't think it got planning permission.? Our loft height is close to what I think is the minimum recommended for a conversion - 2metres. Does anyone have experience of having a low attic conversion, and does it feel cramped for a master bedroom? Any tips on maximising the space?? It's going to be very tight as to whether we can fit in exactly what we want. I'm unwilling to enter into a contract without knowing that we can achieve our wishes, but we've been told by our preferred company that although it 'should' be possible they won't provide drawings before we sign, and these wouldn't be accurate enough to provide a guarantee still anyway. Apparently they can't confirm the finished ceiling height until the suspended floor is in place. This seems a little too far down the line for my liking! It's not worth us doing this project unless we can get the layout we want. Any advice please?? Many thanks to anyone taking the time to help!

Myatts fields was on today!

Hi there, Congrats and good luck! I was with the Brierley - also fantastic. I wanted home births with both my babies. The first I ended up being transferred to Kings after 3 days of contractions and failure to progress. The second I had a 3hr waterbirth at home, which I was so pleased about - it was almost an enjoyable experience! I'd be happy to try and answer any questions that you have if you want to PM me. I also found hypnotherapy for birth v helpful. Best of luck!

Hi Monkey We've also been offered a place but would like to find out more about the school before committing. (We didn't get any of our 6 choices so are looking at other options.) it's difficult to know what to make of a place when it's a start-up and you don't have any history, results or parental experience to go on... We'll be at the 'transition event' this afternoon to try and get more of a feel for the place. Have you managed to gain any further useful info?

Thanks for the reassurance! Much appreciated. Little babies are just so perverse! Will reassess in a couple of weeks. At the moment I can't even begin to imagine persuading her to self-settle!!