Monkey

Last time I used John Lewis, it took an angry email to the chief exec to get my washing machine delivered. Never used them since!

?8 for the evening plus taxi fare plus dinner

Yes and a ten year spending spree during which the rich have been allowed to do what they want

Unfortunately renata there is very little money left. And I don't remember labour being very supportive of working parents. Remember when Gordon brown decided to get rid of childcare vouchers?

If you mean private, most of the schools in the area are selective so not waiting list based. For pre prep, I only know ducks where my daughter is and that is indeed based on a waiting list and you'd need to apply ASAP. For state, what the other posters said.

My daughter has been full time at nursery since she was four months. She's now two, a lovely little girl, very happy, confident and busy. Loves going to nursery, loves the ladies looking after her and is also delighted when I pick her up (thank goodness) although she's been known to push my husband out of the room in the morning. Nurseries are fun and nurturing. Do not listen to a word of all the silly scare mongering. Another plus is that We also got to know lots of parents and it's lovely bumping into them at the weekend and seeing our children greet each other. I have read that kids don't socialise until they 're three but my daughter definitely has her little clique of friends. Lots of people were surprised that I put her in nursery at such a young age but I never worried about it and I was right! we've never had any problems. Stop worrying and enjoy your lovely son. Which nursery have you chosen? right!

You should apply to your local schools' nurseries. All you need to do is ring them up or visit them, fill in the form and wait to see if they have a space for you in September. I think you need to do that now. The other options is private nurseries: asquiths, mother goose, gumboots and the likes. I too have heard good things about magic moments. I also heard good things about the Montessori nursery in dulwich. Forgot what it's called, sorry. I personally think that school nurseries are good especially if you don't work full time and can do the pick up and drop offs. I hope this helps!

Probably bcs they have so few places! I tried to call them a year ago, left messages but never heard back.

So sorry Busymum and tks for posting your story. Pse do report it to the police and let the shop know so they watch out for them in future. They could have been caught on CCTV. Hope you get your money back.

Maternity nurses only do what a lot of our mothers and grandmothers would do: structured feeds during the day and routines. Aren't they just an expensive luxury for people who have forgotten how to raise babies?

Hi new mother, Where did you get the DUCKS stats? I did have a look but could not find them anywhere. I am not from this country so this is all a bit alien to me. Any help appreciated. Tks.

My daughter starts at DUCKS in September. From what I understand, DUCKS prepares the children for the entrance exams of the schools they are targeting but there is no "natural progression".

They can't pressurise you to take a year off. I work as part of a small team where we try to manage our costs so what I did is that I worked out how long I wanted to take off from the start and stuck to it. It helped that I could not afford to take more than four months off in any event!:))

There is a lot on offer to youths these days in terms of after school clubs, youth clubs, school buildings which are out of this work (just look at Kingsdale's auditorium just as an example) I grew up on a council estate, went to an average school and managed to go to uni and get myself a job in a foreign country. Not been easy but I did it and I have my parents to thank for that. My point is: can we really undo the harm that bad parenting does? Isn't it all about the parents?

You seem to have a lot of time on your hands...

Errr... Summer probably thinks of her children first with other people's children coming close second. That makes her a good parent. The tone of the responses here to someone who has legitimate concerns about her children's safety shows that it is next to impossible to have a constructive debate on this forum.

Those free nursery places are about education not childcare. The activities being planned over the course of the week, children must attend everyday to get the most out of what the school has to offer. A lot of people would love to get five full days a week for free. My local school only offers 5 mornings or afternoons a week which is completely impractical. You should consider private nurseries which offer free places for 15 hours a week after a child turns three.

Don't have a pb with academy status and certainly no problem with goodrich teaming up with an outstanding school. Goodrich is now below national and Southwark average so something needs to be done.

oooh sounds nasty. Hope he's ok. Whistling man turned up quickly and started to misdirect traffic.

Don't rely on nurseries to run their waiting lists efficiently? Keep pushing!

Good to hear. I was already very impressed with the care I got in August 2009 in the labour ward. Unfortunately all these good feelings were promptly wiped away by appalling level of care or shall I say absence of care on the post natal ward. And it was not due to lack of staff or a busy ward...far from that.

It could be that you're just not used to nurseries! I cried all night the first time I went to visit one. Less than a year later, I happily sent my daughter there. And they looked after her brilliantly. Now I did visit mother goose on upland road. Thought downstairs was great compared to other nurseries I saw but did not like the baby room which I thought was very bare, not very stimulating. Manager agreed with me and said transforming the room was his next priority after the garden. And considering what an amazing job he did with the garden, I think the baby room could become fab. That said, try Asquith Peckham rye. That's where my daughter is now and I have only good things to say about it.

Asquith Peckham rye is excellent.

My daughter has been at nursery full time since she was four months old. She is now 21 months old and a lovely, healthy, balanced child (though we are approaching the terrible twos!). I really think nurseries are great places for little ones. They do so much there: singing, dancing, mark making, "art"... We go to Asquith Peckham Rye: great, happy, energetic and caring staff, lovely children, fantastic food (the other day my daughter had fish pie for lunch and butternut squash soup for dinner), really nice outdoor space. To answer your questions: most nurseries have got waiting lists (although some operate them very inefficiently such as Bright Horizons), none of the ones I saw required a 12-month commitment or any time commitment at all expect for one month's notice when you want to leave.

helena handbasket Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Monkey Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > For goodness sake, James. I now really regret > > voting Lib Dem. As you know, headteachers are > > extremely well paid and there are no > > violence/discipline problems at the school as > per > > the Ofsted report (apart from people reading a > > tiny bit too much into school posters). There > are > > many worse schools out there and many heads > would > > like their biggest problem to be pushy > parents.I > > am sure that should the position become vacant, > > we'll have lots of applicants. All we're asking > is > > for results to go up and not down. And no I > don't > > care about value added. I am talking about the > > cold , hard facts: percentage of pupils > > achievieving level 4 in maths, English and > > science. > > > Honestly, most educators I know would be much > happier taking "complex" students and social > issues than pushy parents. I've never seen > anything like this, it's just so ugly. If you > think well educated adults will be lining up to > take on this position, you are breathing rarified > air. Any sane teacher will think twice as well, I > should think. Who needs this? Honestly, if you > read these threads and knew you were the next > thread, would you sign up? Fat chance! The > school will suffer, the children will suffer, the > community will suffer. Can you imagine what > anyone would think if they google ED as a > potential place to move to and this comes up? > > Frankly, every time I feel sad to have left I read > a thread on this poor school and feel like I've > dodged a bullet. It's absolutely shocking. No bullet to dodge if you do not call the police unecessarily on a governor who's giving his time to the school. Lots of gratitude to be gained if you do a good job. For the teachers who want "complex" students, there are lots of jobs available in more deprived areas than ED. My friend who had a ruler stuck down her pants in full view of all her pupils would much rather deal with pushy parents. And I actually think that a large majority of parents in ED are committed rather than pushy. I am sure lots of headteachers are highly able but saying they would be earning much more elsewhere is debatable. They do make A LOT of money. They certainly would not get the same amount of time off, that's for sure.