tomskip

Ah right. In-joke about a post from six years ago.

To use one of your favourite comments ... Eh?

Green bin means they just go to landfill, which is presumably what op wants to avoid?

Is your daughter with the childminder full time? If so, I really do think she should be prepared to take your almost three year old to either a few pre-school sessions per week, or a school nursery where children usually do 5 x 3 hour sessions (either mornings or afternoons). But I really don't think there is anything to be gained from swapping to full time nursery provision at this stage ... your daughter will be in school soon enough.

Not set in the US but my favourite book of last year was The House I Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell. A page-turning family novel (not a thriller) but just wonderfully constructed with absolutely believable characters and a fast paced storyline. Fantastic portrait of a dysfunctional family. But not depressing, just intriguing and engaging.

This is such a dangerous junction because people travelling up or down Underhill often don't take any notice of the road markings at the junction which shows they should give way, and that people travelling along Dunstans have right of way. I've often had to slam on my brakes there. Are there even any Give Way signs? I can't remember. Hope you are getting over it Amy, sounds as though Nikki was just the sort of compassionate person you need in a horrible situation like that. Very pleased to hear that the cyclist hasn't been seriously hurt too.

Honestly? If the grave houses the remains of someone who could not possibly be remembered by anyone now living (so, say, they died more than 100 years ago) then what is the harm?

LondonMix - just because I mentioned that some primary schools are doing away with siblings being an absolute priority does not mean that I agree with it! Yes, of course I can imagine the difficulties that would cause. What a patronising comment.

Are you going to wake your 2 year old up to watch the fireworks? Are you sure its worth it?!

Lotteries are ok if it is not just one school operating that system in an area where others do not. It just makes one fewer "choice" for local families. The way to expand catchments for most schools is to do away with the automatic sibling link (and Kingsdale should certainly not have this automatic link, imo, given their lottery for places). Many secondary schools and even some primary schools have changed their order of priority to put siblings lower down the list. It is such a shame, even a bit scandalous, that the new Charter school is apparently going to buck the trend and have siblings as first priority, even above children with SENs. Can you expand a bit Landsberger? How long is it since they last consulted? Do all schools have to consult on their admissions and how often?

James, I would start another thread about this entitled something like "Very important issue for anyone with children in Year 5 or below". In my experience, most parents live in blissful ignorance of the fiasco that is secondary school admissions until they are right up against it.

I found all the chatter about appearance/race and culture on that thread somehow rather offensive, in the light of the fact that we were discussing a young child being hit around the head and face by her father and pleading with him to let her go to school! THAT was the main point of the thread. I sincerely hope someone reading knew who he was and that the poor girl has not been suffering more physical abuse while the EDF was fretting about the niceties of how to describe a violent thuggish criminal.

I wonder why they are consulting now?

I agree buddug. It seems more than a bit disrespectful to this child to hitch a ride on a thread about her welfare to have your say about anything other than her welfare. I hope op has had helpful pms which move this case onwards.

And unlikely.

My nearest postbox now displays a notice saying the only Saturday collection is 7am, with the single weekday collection being at 9am! When did that change and were we given any notice?

And "I consider feeding junk food to kids is abuse" - for heaven's sake! Read the op, read the actual words he/or she posted and try to understand them. Giving a kid the occasional McDonald's isn't in the same league!

Penguin's post was irrelevant and a thread de-railer. I hope the opening post has rung bells with someone and that that poor child (or children) can be helped.

Thanks all. Seabag, I have taken your advice and ordered from Fosse Meadows Farm for collection in Brockley on Christmas Eve. Am hopeful it will be a great success.

... wwyd? I like a turkey on the 25th but I just can't get my head round ordering things for Christmas when I don't even really acknowledge Christmas is happening until about the 15th. I need a free range bird but other than that am not absolutely precious about it. No matter how hard I try I never seem to be able to hit the Sainsbury's Dog Kennel Hill tiny window of opportunity for getting the small free range ones off the shelf. Any tips on a good time to get to Sainsbos? And if not there, then were else? Does the Co-Op do them? Lidl in Peckham? Waitrose in Beckenham? Given that the weather is balmy and my fridge is quite small, I'm not going to want to store it for too long. Cheers.

I agree that the solo of Once In Royal David's City on R4 is a very significant moment, but for me Christmas starts mid-December when we put our tree up (we do have fairly young children). By then we have sent most of the Christmas cards - if not bought all the presents or the food shop and so we are starting to feel a wee bit Christmassy. It will be 12th/13th December for us this year.

Do you have a place to move to yet elln? I only ask because I am sure there are no addresses in East Dulwich which would qualify for a catchment place at all of those schools.

Ah. Habs was the one we just didn't bother with second time around.

It's infuriating all this isn't it? Most of us just want our children to go to a reasonably local school with reasonable results given their mixed intake (and most of SE London will have a mixed intake with odd unusual pockets like Dulwich Village to liven things up a bit). But NO! it seems to be impossible. And you really do have to be a clued-up, sharp-elbowed and pretty determined parent to ensure your child gets the best offer possible. Of course there are thousands of children in Southwark and Lewisham who don't have such an adult on their side.

The banding tests are a pita, and when it came to applying for our second child we certainly didn't bother with sending him for the tests at those schools where we had no chance of getting a place (utter waste of time). However, while we don't have a Schools Admissions Forum, I can't see what you hope to achieve, op, by boycotting them? In Lewisham, certainly, they are used to ensure that a school takes an even mix of abilities. Harris and Kingsdale are a law unto themselves (another reason why an Admissions Forum would be welcome) as ITATM says.