Renata Hamvas

I think this thread is going very off subject...........!

Hi Uzma, I responded to what I think is an email from your OH? That pocket of East Dulwich is very green, Peckham Rye Park, Brenchley Gardens, One Tree Hill, the Aquarius Golf Club and two cemeteries all being in the vicinity. Unfortunately you are not very near any primary school. You are near to the border with Lewisham. In 2014, you would have secured at place on first round applications at Turnham (lewisham), Kender(Lewisham)and St Francesca Cabrini (Faith school but allocation on distance after faith, several non-faith/other faith pupils particularly in infant classes). After they bulged, you would have been offered a place at Fairlawn. It is proposed that Ivydale Primary will expand from two to four form entry, onto the former Bredinghurst school site at Stuart Road (ie an extra 60 primary places per year). This would be walking distance from you and is a community school. Harris are proposing to set up a new school in the Nunhead area. From what council officers have reported, they are currently looking for a site, so location is undetermined. All of the schools in the area are good. I would suggest that when it comes to applying for your child, you put down 6 local schools in your order of preference. Good luck with the property purchase, Renata

These will be out in a few days. If you need some advice/assistance, see below: SPA Secondary Transfer 2014 Post-Offer Advice Session Would you like to discuss your child?s secondary school offer? The School Preference Advisor is on hand to offer independent, impartial support and advice to parents and carers concerning the school admissions process. Peckham One Stop Shop, Peckham Library, Ground Floor, 122 Peckham Hill Street, London, SE15 5JR. Commencing: 5th ? 12th March 2014 (excluding Thursday 6th and the weekend.) Time: 9:30am - 12:50pm and 1:50pm ? 3:30pm. ● The School Preference Adviser is part of Southwark Parent Partnership, an arms length service funded by Southwark Council. ● 20 minute slots will be available on a first come first served basis. ● Please note this is a parent only event; There are no childcare facilities. ● Parents are asked to sign in on arrival and complete the SPA referral form before the discussion begins. Alternatively you can contact Southwark Parent Partnership Tel: 0207 525 5211 Email: [email protected] (Telephone and email responses may be delayed during drop in dates.) www.southwarkparentpartnership.co.uk Follow us on Twitter: @SPASouthwark Also you can always contact me for assistance, my contact deatils are below. Good Luck Everybody, Renata

I plan to be there, I've seen bit of it unveiled, but not the whole thing yet! Renata

Hi Jolly Mummy what year are your niece and nephew going to join, is it for reception and year 7 in September or other year groups? If it's other year groups/time you will be doing in year applications and there may not be vacancies at your closest schools. Please PM me details and I will help/advice/make suggestions of possibilities of where your sister could apply. Renata

The decisions in relation to Cleaner, Greener, Safer and the Community Council Fund were presented at Community Council on Wednesday Evening. As usual there were many good applications, and commiserations to those of you who were unsuccessful this year, it is worth reapplying next time. Thank you to all of you who took the time and effort to put in applications, many congratulations to all of you who have been awarded funding. Renata CGS successful bids Restoring the River Peck ?2000 Garden at the Gardens ?980 Brenchley Gardens ?10,000 Rye Hill Hall Improvements ?2074 Recycled Arts and Crafts ?250 Peckham Rye Park Fernery ?10,000 (matched funding secured) Tree Planting Peckham Rye West/East Dulwich Road ?3000 Tree Planting, Priory Court ?750 Tree Planting Welland House ?750 Washing Line Area, 1-23 Torridge Gardens ?200 Mundania Road Garden Project ?15,000 Priory Court Greening ?6,500 Tree Planting on Shelbury Road ?5,000 Lancefield and Glover House Playground (Nunhead Estate) ?22,000 One Tree Hill erosion reduction ?10,000 Honor Oak Park (the Rec) Playground refurbishment ?20,000 Peckham Rye Skate Park improvements ?8,000 Underhill Road road signs ?1000 Community Council Fund Peckham Rye Park Fete ?1000 Aquarius Music Festival ?1000 Peckham Rye Cycleworks ?970 Inspiring New Generation, Dulwich Table Tennis Club ?950 Peckham Rye Outdoor Cinema ?980 Brenchley Gardens Summer Play Scheme ?1000 Nunhead Beats the Bounds, second annual parade around Nunhead ?500 (split between Nunhead and PR as route falls into both wards) Wrenches, Trenches and Stenches (Art project) ?1000

Hi, to confirm this is first round. Be aware that this figure can vary significantly from year to year, both upwards and downwards! Renata

Yes Dansus, you're correct, Sunday 23rd @10am. Renata

It was supposed to have been this week, but has been postponed! I will post here when I get an update. Renata

Hi Laura, call 02075252000 and ask for a bulky waste pickup booking, you'll be able to book a slot for up to 15 items or bags (you'll need to give them a bit of info on the type of items you are disposing of). Hi Nick, it sounds like for some reason your last collection was missed. You should have a recyclables collection once a fortnight. Either you could ring the same number or go via the web page (sorry it appears to be down at the moment) or pm me with you address details and I'll chase it up for you. Renata

484 bus goes close to Ivydale if you are near to GG or north end of Lordship Lane, or if closer to Honor Oak, then the P12. Renata

To update it is now complete and will be unveiled soon Renata

Hi all, there was another thread on this before, and I checked then, definitely no supporting documentation needed with the application to Southwark. Be aware however, if you applied to any faith schools, they may require supplementary forms to be submitted to them. The post allocation proof of address information is normally handled by the schools themselves. Southwark do get notified of possibly fraudulent applications and they are investigated. Renata

Hello everybody. I'm happy to get involved with looking into this. The legislation is linked to term dates. The start of the summer term is usually at the end of April, so loosely, summer born children for admissions would be those born in May to end of August. The child is supposed to be in school/full-time education from the start of the term after their fifth birthday. This is very woolly as term dates vary between LAs, from year to year and free schools/academies can set their own dates! The previous system (in operation until January 2011) meant that most Southwark schools had two entries, September for Sept-Feb birthdays and January for March to August birthdays. I think the legislation was changed to give younger children more time in school ie a full reception year. The majority of children now start in September in Southwark, some do defer, usually until January. This can be if the parents feel their child is not ready to go to reception or occasionally, as they are high up on the waiting list for a preferred primary and hope a place comes up by Xmas. I don't know of any child who has deferred a year within Southwark. Children who have arrived from overseas with different school start ages, and have missed reception eg Ireland have gone straight into Year 1. Reception, like nursery is "Foundation Stage". Year One and Year Two form the first formal stage in education, Key Stage 1. From my experience over the last couple of deferred entries, that there is usually no problem with deferring and starting reception later, this needs to be sorted out with the school directly. The problem with deferring for a year is that this would certainly involve a re-application with no guarantee of a place. From what I know, a child applying for a September entry would be considered by Southwark to be an in-year application for year 1. There could be exceptions eg the very premature child mentioned by Kes, on a case-by-case basis, similarly to a child who due to illness misses the best part of a year of school. I think the legislation isn't clear-cut enough and is open to different interpretations! We do start our formal education very young, in most of Europe, 6-7 is more of the norm. Renata

They had junior Kwells in Krystal pharmacy in Nunhead a couple of weeks ago, so definitely worth trying there. Renata

sorry Buggie if my post is confusing, to confirm this is happening at the moment and the works are scheduled to take a week Renata

Hello, just to report that for the next week these two bus routes are being diverted south of Merttin's Road due to closure of St Norbert's Road due to roadworks. The diversions are in place between 9.30am-4pm, weekdays only. This means that the 484 is diverted along the P12 route past HOP station and then goes on to Lewisham. Renata

I'm meeting up with one of the Council Officers tomorrow and we will be discussing the flooding and if anything can be done about it, in light of the extremely high levels of rainfall we have experienced recently. Please note I'm having problems with my Blackberry and therefore can't currently respond to emails. Renata

Hi all, I have checked with one of the Council officers. Southwark parents applying to Lewisham schools will be treated as out of borough applicants by Lewisham LA. Therefore, they will aim to gather proof of address from any Southwark residents that they offer Lewisham school places to after the offer day. This will have no impact on the chance of success in your application as the admissions criteria will always be the deciding factor. Good Luck everyone Renata ps my Blackberry is out of action so I'm not currently able to answer emails, please PM me if you have any questions.

Hi Ingridcjones. Yes, what Sunbob says is correct. You don't need proof of address etc at this stage for Southwark applications, this is done once offers are issued. Renata

Hi Akc74. The people who suggested that putting a school second jeopardises your chance to get a place at that school are definitely wrong; unless you get offered a place at your first choice school! (you are no longer considered for schools lower on your list). The allocation process is done by computer. The Council Officers only see the final lists so have no influence on what happens (except if you are one of a small proportion who allocated a school not on your list). You would be higher up on priority than someone (also non-faith) living further from the school. This is why some applicants may be allocated a school they put fourth on the form, whilst other people who put the same school first, don't get it. Renata

To confirm the above, definitely put the schools in your order of preference. The schools do not know which order you have put them. Do use all your six choices and do investigate some of the less popular schools too. It's not worth eg putting a very oversubscribed school you like that's a mile away 6th choice. Do be realistic and realise that last place offered distances can vary greatly from year to year. Also check on the school's admissions criteria. LA primaries (after siblings SEN etc) offer places by distance as the crow flies; C of E primaries tend to offer 50% of their places like this with the other 50% being offered on faith; Catholic primaries tend to offer on Faith and then remaining places after siblings etc on distance. Local Academies and Free School primaries currently tend to use similar criteria to the LA schools except Judith Kerr which offers 50% on distance and 50% by random allocation (lottery). Renata

Some Open days that are coming up before the 15th January deadline: St Francesca Cabrini, this Thursday, 28th November 10am Rye Oak, Tuesday 3rd December 9.30am Ivydale, Tuesday 10th December 10am Hollydale, Friday 10th January 2pm Goodrich, Monday 13th January 9.30am

Hollydale Friday 6th 3.30-5.30pm St Francesca Cabrini Saturday 7th December 12-2.30pm Goodrich Saturday 7th December 2-5pm

I have been in contact with the Office at Ivydale School, Ivydale Rd SE15 (in Nunhead Ward). If you have missed there open morning today, there is an additional date, Tuesday 10th December at 10am. The school was rated good by Ofsted. This school allocated places on an as the crow flies distance basis from the school. Around half of the 2014 places are expected to be filled by siblings. Renata