Monkey

Drewd, try The Gardens. They have shrinked their catchment area - details on their website - but well worth a try. I moved there from DMC and it's soooooo much better (they pick up their phones for a start!)

I agree there is a good range now in movies and also books (I lose count of the number of books my daughter has read which feature strong female characters: the worst princess, Maisie Hitchins, Ottoline to name just a few) and toys (Goldieblox, also check out the cool range of construction toys aimed at girls at Just Williams) We're definitely moving in the right direction. Looking back, there were few strong fictional female characters when I grew up and I spent my time playing with Barbies. But I had a strong-minded mother who never gave me long speeches on feminism but demonstrated it every day in her actions, her way of being, and I think it's had a bigger influence on me than anything else. Personally, what doesn't sit well with me is more what happens in real life: fathers "giving away" their daughters on their wedding day, the tradition - that my in-laws are so attached to - that parents should pay for their daughter's wedding, the constant references to working mums - what about the working dads?!...

No - not from what I can see. We are key stage 1.

Oh thank you, all. Lots of suggestions here, that's great.

i am lacking inspiration for my six-year-old daughter's bedtime reading. Any ideas? I am looking for books with not too many words per page so we can take turns reading. Books we've liked recently: Tom gates, Maisie Hitchins, dinosaur cove, Ottoline. Thanks in advance.

Yes, actually for me it is difficult! You don't know my life so keep your uninformed opinions to yourself.

Now that's probably not what you want to hear right now but, say you don't get in Goodrich in September, places do become available on a regular basis. When my daughter was at reception, a place became available at Christmas. So even if you get a place at a school that's too far for example, you're not stuck there for ever. Not ideal,I know, but something to bear in mind. Also new schools like Harris ed might well have a place for you. Things have markedly improved over the last few years. Wishing you all the best.

This concept of choice when it comes to schools is laughable. You don't have a choice, you get into your nearest school or if you're in a black hole, wherever the council can fit you. The only mitigating factor right now is that you have a few new schools which have just opened like Harris ed, which might have space and might be your best best if you can't get into or don't want st Anthony's. Like pickle says, the best way to judge a school is by visiting at the time of the school fetes, chat to parents and see what feeling you get. Ofsted reports and ks1 and 2 results are utterly meaningless in my opinion. I know people who have taught in local schools (All outstanding) where kids were constantly shouted at, behaviour was appalling and "sharp practice" ensured glowing ks2 results etc...but if you read the ofsted reports and look at the stats, you'd think you were in dulwich college... Don't worry about the results. Primaries are all much of a muchness in terms of what the kids get out. Personally, I think it's what you do at home that makes a huge difference. Good luck!

Please do complain: SR_VIP@postroom.com, comments@southernrailway.com, charles.horton@gtrailway.com

It's actually written by a the commercial innovations and projects manager but I do agree with you, Lowlander.

Interesting LJC56!

Here's the answer I have had from Charles Horton's assistant. Horton is CEO of Govia Thameslink Railway. Thank you for your emails dated 01st September 2015 and 03rd September 2015 to Charles Horton, CEO of Govia Thameslink Railway. Charles has reviewed your complaint and asked me to reply. I am sorry to hear that you have noticed a down turn in the performance of your regular service and I can understand this is deeply frustrating. To offer some background, we have had some challenges with our Driver numbers, and we still have some work to do in terms of recruiting to establishment levels across all our depots and then getting Driver?s fully productive across a range of routes. By April 2016 we expect to be over establishment at all depots in the metro area taking into account forecasted attrition and planned recruitment. Currently we have 76 Driver?s in training - however because Driver's take 18 months to train, there is no quicker fix to this. In addition to this we have experienced some very short notice sickness in both Driver and Conductor grades. On a daily basis our operations team are working to mitigate the impact of any known gaps in the roster, for example daily conference calls are held to identify duties that are not covered, the impact of this and then solutions are identified. This approach enables us to reduce the number of cancellations through a range of approaches. We do expect the situation to improve as we move out of the holiday season when there are a higher number of staff on annual leave. We are committed to improving our performance for customers.

Bonaome, they might just as well have told you to get lost. I would complain if I were you.

traveler2, I have sent you the details of their managing director. Please write a short email if you have a minute. I used to work in a retail bank, dealing with lots of complaints - it does make a difference! Was away abroad on Wednesday last week. Apparently the train did run according to the website but was 16mns late arriving in ED. in any event, that's poor!

Email address is correct and gets results. Also emailed comments@southernrailway.com and a bunch of other people. Thanks for the very useful link. I wasn't aware of it. I got some cancellations and delays last week but not been organised enough to keep a record. Looks like I have to aim for the earlier train.

For the past two weeks trains from London bridge to east Dulwich (the 1810 in particular) keep getting cancelled due to staff shortages. I have just sent an irate email to Southern: SR_VIP@postroom.com If you're being affected, please complain loudly so we can hope to try and avoid a repeat of the shamble from last year and early this year.

Hi sol, this staggered start really is a pain. Speak to the school first thing on Tuesday morning. If you don't get anywhere with switchboard, email the head and explain you find yourself in an impossible situation. Good luck.

Just came back from holiday and heard it this morning (I am on Dunstans)Had never heard it before. No idea what it is.

Won't be back for three hours. Not in a good mood.

Hope the lady is ok. I must say not the finest behaviours I have seen: from people beeping their horns because traffic was slow to idiots (drunken?) shouting at drivers...

Was ther some cheering too? If so, I could hear it from Dunstans Road.

I think if everything was aligned it would look boring as hell. It's looking good.

It's great to see so many nurseries opening. This one is on three floors so must have quite a few places. A big change from when my child was born! Sadly I don't think it's making childcare costs any more affordable...

What London Mix says... Some children are naughtier than others and will do things like that. I like to think my daughter wouldn't but you never know. As far as grandparents are concerned, I wouldn't put it past ours not to react in the same way as your mother. They are either too chilled out or too strict - I never know what to expect. I stopped listening to them a long time ago. You should have a word with your sister if anything.

My father ate my aunt's Easter chicken. That was a good 60 years ago! Kids will be kids. They should be told off for it and made to replace what they've taken though. On another note, my mother in law recently ate all my chocolate. Now that's a bit more worrying!