tomskip

Bus from Lordship Lane to Forest Hill station then a 12-15 minute walk. It takes about 35 minutes door to door.

All the reports I've had about the school are pretty positive. I know quite a few people with children currently there and some who have been all the way through and on to 6th form. I quizzed them fairly closely about their experiences. No school is perfect and so you will never get a consensus, obviously, but a good inclusive properly comprehensive education is what I always wanted for my children. It was our first choice for our son - I was so impressed at the open day that I came away truly excited about the prospect of him starting secondary! But then we failed to get a place (on distance), which was a terrible blow. It has become another oversubscribed school. Our son went on the waiting list and got a place on the first day of term. It has only been a few weeks but he goes off happily, comes home full of enthusiasm for his lessons (particularly maths and art) and is coping with the amount of homework they give him.

Is Barry Road exempt from the 20 mph limit?

No, I understand that the first gcse result of any individual student is now the one that "counts" in the stats. But I can't compute how that makes the results of an individual school drop by, say, 10% from September 2014 to January 2015. Are we saying that (for example and I am just picking one reasonably local school randomly here) in September 2014 Habs said 70% of their pupils got 5 gcses A-C including English and Maths. But in January 2015 those results had been adjusted to 64% because 6% of the previous result was made up of gcses taken for a second time? But then if they were taken in year 11 then surely they SHOULD count as the school's Year 11 gcse results? I suppose it's just me, but I really don't find this really simple.

Thanks for replying Renata. I'm still not sure I understand about the early entry results and re-sitting. But thank you anyway.

Yes, and you can't see that until January - am I correct? Any explanation for why most schools saw quite a large dip in their results from 2013-2014 LondonMix? I know you are very clued up on all things education. And why some schools didn't seem to be affected?

Yes, extremely confusing. Because last year the actual results (according to D Of E) were Harris Boys 71% Harris Girls 56% Charter 67% Kingsdale 76% Sydenham Girls 56% Forest Hill Boys 58% Habs 64% Prendergast 77% All schools had quite a significant dip in their results compared to 2013 - except for Kingsdale who went up from 60% to 76% (?) and Prendergast who went up from 74% to 77%. All in all, I wonder how useful these figures really are.

Last year a helpful poster put up a list of local GCSE results at about this time. Is there a single source for this sort of information that I can look at, does anyone know, or is it a case of looking at all the individual school websites? I know there is a limit to how helpful this information can be as the results (from last year at least) were very different on the D of E table come January. However, I'd still like to have a look if it is relatively easy to find?

I thought they'd stopped the maths scholarship?

"And What about all those bloody stay at home mums bringing their work into the cafe?" What a charming comment that is.

Yes, the concept of choice is laughable. Or it would be if it weren't such a serious matter and didn't involve parents in wasting massive amounts of their valuable time.

Hi all, thanks for your replies. My son isn't at Kingsdale (he wasn't one of the lucky 10% in the lottery or whatever the tiny number is these days), he has had to start his secondary life at Elmgreen in Lambeth. I just said "Kingsdale and beyond" in the op because not many people in ED will be familiar with the experience of getting all the way to Elmgreen and thought I could work out a rough journey time by adding on 10 minutes to the Kingsdale journey via the P13. Anyway, that's a waffly way of saying it has been most helpful and he got to school on time today!

Say a person caught the bus on Underhill Road at 7.45ish, would they get to Tulse Hill by 8.30? Roughly.

Thanks. Yes, I know it doesn't go past Kingsdale. I was really looking for information on how crowded it gets, how reliable it is, and how long to allow for the journey. From Underhill Road in particular.

Can anyone tell me how long it takes for the school run to Kingsdale and beyond on this bus, and does it run reliably and on time? Many thanks.

When prices are rising very fast, the sellers looking to buy (your colleague Alan Medic) can find themselves priced out of the market during the course of their search. So while they might want to honour the original price agreed with their buyers, they could then find that they simply don't have the money they need for their next purchase. It's a reason for gazumping and no, to the vast majority of estate agents the loss of that sale is simply not worth it in terms of the extra ?50 or whatever. So in a rising market, beware of the seller who does not have their onward move sorted. If you have a choice of two properties, always favour the one at the end of a chain if you possibly can.

I've got a feeling Farmers sell those weighing hook things, if you have time tomorrow. I have a vague memory that that's where ours came from.

Sorry Bellenden Belle, I seem to have been completely misled by your post on this thread at 4.57 today "We moved from Southwark to Bromley Council last year".

Surely the advantage of Bromley is that housing is much cheaper. Otherwise why would you move there?

It seems a bit retro to put the sibling link higher than other admissions criteria when so many other schools, even primaries, have acknowledged that the sibling priority is not the best way of ensuring that school places go to local children.

How horrible that this politicking and posturing is going on when all the children of SE22/SE15 just need another secondary school. Imo the loss of Local Authority involvement has been a terrible mistake. A teacher from Waltham Forest makes a strong argument against the major changes in our education system that have been made under our noses http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/wfnews/10881721.Speaking_Out__Kiri_Tunks_on_free_schools_and_academies/ here

Forest Hill Boys had very nearly 3 times as many applicants in Band 1A than in Band 3 this year. Our son is on the waiting list and we live in a road very close to Goodrich School where there has been no problem in getting a place at FHB or Sydenham Girls before. Goodrich children have had a particularly bad year for getting a secondary school of their choice this year, lots of very disappointed pupils. Hopefully the new Charter School will change things for future leavers.

Fervently hoping for price drops across the board in London, not just three bed terraces in SE22. But fear it is wishful thinking.

Down with that sort of thing.

I just think its a shame that we are seemingly unable to discuss secondary schools on the ED Forum (any secondary school it now appears) without being shut down or told to shut up. I sincerely doubt many parents in this neighbourhood have a purely hostile or aggressive starting point. They just want opinions and honest discussion.