Renata Hamvas

Hi Fly, I will try and get something done about this, as it means that as well as mattresses there would be an issue with other items on the list such as doors. Renata

Hi fly, I'm sure that there isn't a size limit of 180cm. Please let me know where that figure came from. All doors, mattresses (even standard singles), wardrobes, some worktops and some bookshelves are above 180cm/5ft11 in height/length. These are all items that the bulky waste collection service will pick up. The list on their website is not exhaustive. If in doubt call 75252000 to check. If you have a number of similar items, then bundle them up, eg a bundle of bits of wood count as one item. There are items that won't be picked up as bulky waste that need to be taken to the recycling centre eg car batteries and cans of paint. Hi Mustard, I can find out for you, bulky waste costs around ?80 per collection. Renata

Hi all, the Southwark recycling centre is at Devon Street, near Carpet Right. They are open 7 days a week from 8am-6pm. You need to bring some proof of address with you. The link to more details is here: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/info/10070/recycling/1364/reuse_and_recycling_centre/1 Thanks for the info DC. The real cost to do a pick-up of bulky waste is actually even higher than the Barnet charge! If the items you are disposing of can be reused, think charity (eg for cots, chests of drawers etc), eg ALD life in Peckham will pick up donations. Furniture and similar items in good condition that are processed by the Southwark recycling centre are donated to the British Heart Foundation Shop on the Old Kent Road. Renata

Day of the week can alter cost and whether you or they pack up your belongings. Renata

It's definitely worth applying; their last place distances are likely to be a bit larger this year due to the Belham School admissions being integrated into the primary admissions system (an extra 60 places in the area, these were offered independantly to the central system last year, so increased waiting list movements post offer day). The same would also apply to other schools in the vicinity ie Bellenden and Goose Green too. Renata

Hi Fly, Southwark bulky waste refuse do pick up mattresses. The alternative is to take it/find someone who can take it for you to the recycling centre just off the old Kent Road. Renata

I'm glad that you have this sorted, Citizen. I had contacted Haberdashers and if you were unable to make alternative arrangements I had an alternative solution for you. Renata

Hi Hetty, below is the timetable for the club, if these are not running, please let me know, I haven't had any complaints about the service, so I wasn't aware of any issues that may be present. MONDAY PM Stay & Play From 1.15pm to 3.15pm Fun and learning opportunities for all children under 5. Parents can share ideas and advice in a supportive environment. TUESDAY AM Stay &Play From 10am to 12 noon Fun and learning opportunities for all children under 5. Parents can share ideas and advice in a supportive environment. TUESDAY PM Olimpikids From 22nd September to 20th October and from 10th November to 8th December 2015 For children aged 2 ? 5 years old. Sport activities and games for children. Booking only. For more information or to book a place please call 020 7639 2702 WEDNESDAY AM Southwark Adopters Group From 10am to 12 noon ? 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month Group open to everyone going through the adoption process and for those already matched with children. A great chance to chat to other families for advice support or simply to make friends. For more info e-mail to [email protected] THURSDAY PM Stay &Play From 1.15pm to 3.15pm Fun and learning opportunities for all children under 5. Parents can share ideas and advice in a supportive environment. FRIDAY AM Capoeira Play From 4th September ? 10.00am to 12.00 noon Come along with your child to experience a new way of playing together. Learn to use your body in new ways, learn new songs and capoeira rhythms - all in a fun, friendly, creative environment. You're sure to make new friends and who knows... maybe stand on your head! This group is run by a local Capoeira teacher and it is not funded by Ivydale CC therefore there is a fee of ?5 for each child. For more info call Goia at 07758224334 I take on board the comments about the fireworks display and will pass those on. This was funded prior to the current round of funding cuts. We simply have a much reduced pot of money; it has got to the stage now where savings have already been made by increased efficiency and therefore some of the 'savings' will be cuts. Overall it is a situation outside of the control of the Council as they are cuts from central Government. There are core services which can't be cut and hence the pot for everything else is even more reduced. I'm no spin doctor and basically the current funding situation is not good news for Southwark's residents. We as an administration need to establish what are the key needs and requirements of our residents, this is also at a more micromanaged level, by your ward councillors within Peckham Rye Ward. Please be assured that we do understand that the adventure playground is important to the children/teens living in our ward and the surrounding areas. Renata

Hi Brockleymum, most of the schools that used the Lewisham banding test are under Lewisham's control, ie are Lewisham secondaries so will be under the umbrella of the Lewisham's admissions system, so it is highly unlikely that there will be a mass movement towards individual banding tests. Hi CitizenED, I will make enquiries too about an alternative date in your case, good luck in finding a kind parent who can take them over to the test. I agree tomskip, the minefield of school admissions is not a user friendly one for parents to navigate through, particularly in Southwark where there is such a variation in admissions policies. Renata

Until a couple of years ago Southwark had an admissions forum. The government then decided to remove all their powers so it became pointless to have one! If a school is not administering their admissions policy propery than you can go to the school admissions ombudsman. Unfortunately Londonmix I can't see this situation improving! (to have a co-ordinated admissions system we would need to have the Southwark secondaries coming under LA control once more.) Renata

Hi all, Southwark has made huge savings to our budget each year for several years now, and we are facing a further ?96 million in cuts to our revenue budget over 3 years. Whilst we have been successful in finding savings to date from the back office with little impact on frontline services. Now those cuts have already been made, it is getting more and more difficult to maintain things as they are with such a drastically reduced budget. Unlike many other councils, which have already taken the difficult decision of closing their youth service, we are committed to continuing to provide youth services in Southwark. We have committed to honour our existing funding arrangements for the voluntary sector. However we do need to make significant savings, which means we have to change the way we deliver our services. In Children's services funding we have to protect our children's social care budget and that results in a knock on effect in other parts of the budget area. It's all still at the proposal stage would see a youth service budget of 1.6 million, so it wouldn't go, but it would be much reduced. The Peckham Rye Adventure Playground will not close (the three Peckham Rye Councillors are committed to ensuring this essential facility remains), but the hours may change or the way it's run may be altered; different options are being investigated at the moment. There were similar concerns and posts on here a couple of years ago about the one O'clock club and it is still an active and vibrant facility with longer hours. I assured parents then and I am doing so now in this instance. My fellow Peckham Rye councillors and I all live in close proximity to Peckham Rye Park and have children of our own. I go with my own children to the adventure playground so I can relate totally to residents concerns over this. It is an important local facility for primary through to teen-aged children. I will update once the detail is sorted, either on this thread or in the Family Room. Renata

Hi all, as I mentioned above Southwark did have a similar test to Lewisham. Unlike Southwark, many of Lewisham's secondaries are under LA control. As all of Southwark's schools are either faith or academies, they all set their own admissions policies. It was absolutely pointless Southwark children sitting a banding test when the schools in the Borough were all using their own testing protocols. I do agree with your inferences that where there is a skewed examination pool that this can lead to a skewed intake, but without the admissions for Southwark secondaries being under our control, there isn't much we can do to address this. In Southwark parents can put down 6 different schools with 6 different admissions policies! Renata

Hi Citizen, I would advise that your child does take the banding tests. There may be a second date a week or so later for example for children who are sick and unable to take the test on the exam date. Most admissions policies would in theory admit children if they haven't taken the test, but if the test isn't taken they go to the end of the queue behind everyone else who has taken a banding test. This means you could only secure a place at one of the schools if they were undersubscribed. Southwark used to run a banding test for all its pupils during a school day . The problem was that all the secondaries in Southwark started to run their own tests (all of them are Academies or Voluntary Aided so run their own admissions policies) which meant the Southwark one had no use, thus it was abandoned. I would suggest that you see if any of your son's friends are taking the same tests and if their parents can take them rather than him missing the banding tests (this is quite a common practice). If not speak to his class teacher, they may know which children are doing that test. I do know of a case 3 or 4 years ago where a boy didn't get offered Harris Boys even though he lived really close to the school and should have got in, simply as he missed the banding test. In schools that have bands, the last place distances can vary greatly between bands so your child could be offered a place if they fall into band x but not y in a particular year, so you may end up with a school you didn't expect via the banding system. By not turning up, unless eg you live very close to Charter or he has an older sibling you increase your chances that Southwark finds a school place for your son! If it turns out to be impossible for your son to attend any of the banding tests, I would suggest you contact the schools as soon as possible in case they would be willing to accommodate your son on a slightly later date with eg children who were sick on banding day. Renata

two more to add to the list Hollydale Tuesday 15th December 3.30pm St Francesca Cabrini Saturday 5th December 12-3pm Renata

Amelia Jane series of books by Enid Blyton.

Agree with the above re booster seats for this age group. Argos also have some around the ?6 mark. Renata

Surrey Docks Farm is great for this age group, you can buy bags of animal feed for 50p and there is a pleasant cafe for lunch. Renata

There is still no charge at the moment Azalea.

The old speed cameras are gradually being changed over to digital ones (eg Brenchley Gardens etc will be changed too). The pair on Linden Grove in Nunhead are new digital ones (replaced an old bulky one, ie they are set for the 20mph zone). Linden Grove was part of the South Nunhead 20mph zone (Ivydale Road etc) instigated prior to the Southwark general 20mph. The old camera was installed many years ago, prior to the 20mph zone and like the others of this type within the Borough could not be set low enough for the 20mph limit (it was one designed for 30mph). The new cameras can! Southwark does not gain financially from these cameras, the 20mph limit is definitely for safety rather than revenue reasons. Renata

Hi, these are both outstanding schools, but are heavily oversubscribed. I gather from your other posts that it's an older primary school aged child you are looking to place in a local state school. It does get easier in the upper years of primary; you would need to be added to the waiting list of the schools, your chance of securing a place at either of these schools would depend on your distance from them and is reliant on a child leaving. Other schools to consider include Goodrich, St Francesca Cabrini, Dulwich Wood and Kelvin Grove if there are no spaces at Fairlawn or Eliot Bank. These are also good schools. Renata

Lego Ninjago, anything Nerf, Anthony Horowitz (Alex Rider) and Harry Potter books, Spygear (maybe check with parents to ensure you don't duplicate what they already have)

Many local non-Catholic boys go to the school and it's doing really well. I think this is a good school for ED and Nunhead parents to visit and apply for. The parent's I've spoken to with sons at the school are happy with it and it now has a sixth form. Renata

Hi all there are a couple of reasons why GCSE results have changed. 2014 was the first year of linear GCSEs, ie no modules that could be retaken. Also winter resits except for English and Maths have been scrapped (madness, it means eg if you were unwell on the day of the exam you can't resit). Grade boundaries for several subjects have also been moved upwards in recent years eg to pass Geography or History with the Edexcel board it's not the traditional 50% but 60% to get a C grade. All first attempts are the ones used for stats, this impacted on schools that may have entered some pupils a year or 6 months early and if they didn't do well they would resit in year 11 (the first result counted in the 2014 table). Also some GCSE equivalent qualifications are no longer included in the official tables. Schools have varying results too dependent on their admission cohort 5 years previously (and how they structured their subjects and exams). 2009 was the year Kingsdale suddenly became very popular and oversubscribed and the first year that Haberdasher's Askes had an intake from poorly performing Monson primary plus distance (previously it had a lottery system). Deptford Green does IGCSE in some subjects (I think some pupils do this in English Language) and IGCSE doesn't count in the tables, I think in the tables it was much lower than 70% due to this. It was the first results for Harris Boy's Academy. St Thomas the Apostle in Nunhead has been performing well recently, 76% in GCSEs last year.This is missing off the list, note that it does take non-Catholic boys. For the reasons I've given above the results posted above for 2015 may be different in the tables published in January 2016! There are so many factors that determine a school's results. In my opinion all the local secondaries are performing well. If you're thinking where to apply, look at the Ofsted reports, visit the schools, see where their specialisations lie; and talk to current parents. Every child is different and one school that fits a child like a glove may not be the best one for another (eg is your child good at language or music or loves drama?). I suggest that in year 5 visit as many schools as you can, as well as Southwark look as schools in neighbouring boroughs too. In year 6 revisit a shortlist of schools and bring your child along too. Please try and visit all schools you put down. Please do put down 6 schools and put them in order of preference. Please do not put down only long shots, it's good to have a safety net in case you are unlucky and don't get offered a place for your child at one of your/their favourite schools. It's always better to have a place in hand at eg your 4th or 5th place school and wait to see if you get a place at your 1st choice school than to put down 3 choices and Southwark offer you a place at a school you didn't visit and is far from your home (ie where there are places left). Do check the feasibility of journeys to your 6 schools during rush hour. Bus travel is free for secondary pupils, but train/tube travel is not. This year the new Charter school will have separate admissions and therefore parents applying to Charter Hospital Site may end up with two school place offers. This means that this year there may be greater movement in local school waiting lists in the weeks after offer day (as the those holding two offers turn one down). Renata

Hi James, Kemnal Park Cemetery is not local, it's address is Sidcup By-Pass, Chislehurst, Kent BR7 6RR, it's not easy to get there via public transport, if you travel there by train it involves cab journeys from the local train stations the directions given to get there are: How to find the park We are situated directly on the A20 Sidcup Bypass heading towards London. (Off the M25 at Junction 3 follow signs for A20 Lewisham/London bound)The Park is approximately 1 mile from Frognal Corner (Queen Mary?s Hospital), just past the Virgin Active gym, the park is clearly signposted and has a private entrance on the A20. Also, nxjen and Sidhue there is an active Muslim burial area which is situated on what was the site of former plant nurseries in the centre of Nunhead Cemetery. All the Muslims burial plots appear to be aligned with each other, so I'm assuming that they are aligned to Mecca. Correct me if I'm wrong on the following, I believe that Orthodox Jewish burials traditionally are only in Orthodox Jewish burial sites. Unrelated males and females can't be buried in adjacent plots (only family members). The Peckham Rye Ward Councillors are working with groups to find the best solutions. My most recent meeting with a member of SSW was last Thursday in Camberwell new Cemetery. Renata

Hi Uzma, below is the message I posted to you around a year ago. From your posting then you live near St Anthony's. You would certainly live too far from Ivydale or Goose Green. You need to look at Southwark's Starting Primary School and Lewisham's equivalent too; these show the last place distances for most primaries. Check your distance in metres to your closest schools. You need to work out your realistic options and put 6 on your form as you risk being allocated an undersubscribed school some way from your home. Be aware that last place distances may move up or down from year to year. If you email me or pm your address details, I would be happy to advise you which are possible options for you. Renata Hi Uzma, if you are living in the area near the bottom of Lordship Lane, I would suggest Goodrich, Harris East Dulwich (which will be in the common application system next year), Horniman's bulge for this year was cancelled but may happen next year, St Francesca Cabrini (does take non-Catholics), Dulwich Wood and Heber. You may think of others depending on where exactly you live. Put your 6 schools in your true order of preference, if you put a long shot first, if you don't get this or your other top choices it won't reduce your chance to get offered a place at your lower placed school if you fulfill the criteria for this school. Renata