Renata Hamvas

I'm pretty sure that this is the first stage in works to improve drainage of this part of the park. There have been problems with waterlogging. (So it looks awful now but in the longer term will be better(tu)) I shall get more details about the schedule and post here Renata

Hi Fiona! To add to what you have said in your post, there is also a mother and toddler group on a Friday morning in Nunhead Library. This would be unaffected by the time changes. Renata

Consultation is now open on the South of the borough event Residents and local groups are being asked what kind of Council backed community event they would like to see in the south of the borough to celebrate the best of the area and bring people together. Do you want an event with music and dancing, or a Fair type event with stalls etc or a mixture of both or something totally different. Daytime or evening? Plheease let your opinion be heard by filling in the short form by 20th March>South of the Borough Event Thanks Renata

Hi Bob, have you emailed Southwark Secondaries so that they may bring this to the attention to pupils? Renata

Thanks Eddie ;-) Renata

Maybe something for Cleaner Greener Safer next year (this year's applications are under consideration at the moment). In terms of the works on the roundabout itself, I'm sure everyone agrees that it is important that the works on the roundabout are done in safe conditions for the people doing the works. This is why traffic management is required for the repairs to be implemented. Renata

Thanks Emily To remind parents who are unhappy about their allocated school, Liam White and the Team are at Cator Street from today onwards (see details above). Renata

One thing that no-one mentions above that if there is a useful public transport link, local residents will be more inclined to use it, leading to reduced pollution, congestion etc. Renata

The issue with this roundabout is that it is well used and therefore it takes careful planning as to when the repair works can be done. The traffic management plan is being agreed next week and the plan is to avoid as much disruption as possible. The repair works are likely to be done in April on a Sunday during the 2nd and if additionally required 3rd Sunday of the Month. It is timed to avoid holiday periods and busiest times. Renata

These measure were implemented in order to make safer for cyclists. The current thinking is that informal crossing points are safer than zebras (I'm not expert on this!). Renata

After reading this thread I made a few enquiries. This roundabout is NOT going. Due to it being a feature of ED the decision has been taken to repair rather than alter it. I will post when I have an update on when the works are scheduled to take place. Renata

I would like to support Gavin in saying that when I have spoken to residents from the ED side of our Ward (eg Dovedale yesterday)there has been overwhelming support of extending the 63. There are no plans for changes to the night buses in the area. We raised it initially with the current Mayor and he dismissed it saying that the fares generated wouldn't cover the cost. I think that the level of useage of an extended 63 has been underestimated as the ELL from Peckham Rye will not extend southwards. I am delighted that Ken has pledged to support the 63 extension. Renata

Dear all, all of Southwark's secondary schools are either Academies or Faith schools and therefore make their own decisions on Admissions. This means that there is a diverse range of admissions criteria in Southwark Schools. Chocolate, in you duaghter's case, it may be that your first and second choice schools may be ones that don't operate on a simple distance admissions policy. I don't know where you applied but for example, Kingsdale allocates places by lottery and Harris schools and Aske's by banding and distance (so the last place offered distance may be very different between bands). There are also selection by ability in the school's speciality coming into play in some cases eg music or sport. Heber Jumble Queen, in your case, I would chase a second place at Harris Boy's, but also to check your son's waiting list postion at the other schools that you applied to. They may be very different eg at Kingsdale as it's done on banding/lottery. If one twin secures a place at one of the other schools on your list, than the other one will jump up the waiting list. I am sorry that your sons have been so upset by the new, I hope they can forget it tomorrow and have a great birthday. As one has an SEN you may have grounds to appeal eg if one of the schools you have applied to is more suitable to address his needs than the other schools. Mrs TP, I think at position 227 you are unlikely to obtain a place at this school. Yes you sussed it correctly, you automatically go on to the waiting list of schools you applied to above your offered school. You could request to go onto the waiting list of other schools too. ED Mummy, if you get Charter or Kingsdale in the shakedown and you will need to inform Southwark that you are accepting a place at that school and turning down the place at Harris Boy's. Your chances of obtaining a place at Kingsdale or Charter are unaffected by your acceptance of a place at Harris Boys. FYI it has a mixed sixth form with Harris Girl's. MGolden, yes I agree with you there is much movement on secondary school waiting lists, all the way up until September. So those parents who are unhappy with the school their child/children have been allocated, it is early days yet! Emily, I have also replied to you on the other thread. On that thread there is information on surgeries to help and advise parents at this difficult time. Kingsdale allocates places by lottery and is very oversubscribed (It's an academy so sets it's own admissions criteria). Living near the school doesn't increase your chances to get a place. You need to be lucky and have been picked out of the hat. Having a lottery system inflates the number of applications a school receives as anyone can apply and they all have a chance. I would suggest you contact Deptford Green and visit it. It is a vibrant mixed school with new buildings, parents have likened it to Kingsdale so you and your son may like it. I know some children from the ED and Nunhead area went there last year. I don't know exactly how many children end up with a different school to the one allocated, but I do know it's a significant number. Cora-children with SEN and a statement of SEN to support this apply separately and earlier to the main application process. They do have priority in securing a place most suitable to a child's special needs. Medusa, were you applying for triplets or was this a mixture of in-year and standard year 7 application? Does your SEN child have a statement. If they are triplets and the one with SEN does not have a statement, I would suggest checking waiting list position with the schools you have applied to and if one triplet gets a place, the others would go to the top of the waiting list. Appeal may be worthwhile in this case. Please e-mail me with details. My computer decided to die last night and therefore I shall have limited access until it is (hopefully) repaired tomorrow. Therefore those of you who need help or advise, please e-mail me rather than pm me. Renata

Sorry for not replying earlier Emily, and for the stressful time you are experiencing at the moment. You will be automatically on the waiting list for schools you applied for and were above any offer you received. One thing re Harris Boy's, did your son sit the banding test? I'm asking this as any boy who didn't sit their test automatically goes below those who have on the waiting list. You can be on several waiting lists, even for schools you didn't apply to. You don't have to accept a place at the school you have been offered, but it is the suggested move until you know whether you have been successful in securing a place elsewhere. There will be movement in the waiting lists over the next few weeks. My computer decided to die last night, so it is best to contact me via email on [email protected] rather than via pm as it's hard to read the ED forum from my Blackberry! Please let me know which schools you applied to, your son's name and address and DOB. Renata

Heber Jumble Queen, the reason this is likely to have happened is that Harris Boy's school allocates on band and distance. If your twins were in the same band, than one got the last place offered and the other is the top boy for the waiting list for that band. If they fell into different bands, than one was within the last place offered distance for his band, while your other son was in a band where the last place offered distance was smaller. The sibling not offered a place at Harris boys should as a sibling move up to the top of the waiting list. Therefore do not panic! Tatty Mum, please contact me. Something to do is to find out the place your son is on the waiting lists for the schools you applied for. Did you apply for 6? I am attending a meeting at ED Community Centre, Darrell RD tonight from 8-9pm. This is an informal meeting so if anyone wants to speak to me tonight, I am happy to leave the meeting to talk to them. I have posted on the other thread that I have a surgery at ED Community Centre on the 10th at 10-11am. One of my ward colleague, Victoria Mills or Gavin Edwards is doing a Surgery tomorrow night at The Rye Hill Tenants and Residents Hall at 6.30-7.30pm. I have posted the contact details of Liam White the School Preference Advisor and the Drop-In Sessions he is running for parents. Renata

The secondary school your child has been allocated should be available to view on-line by parents who applied on-line. Letters have been posted today and all parents who applied by post will receive a letter. Good luck to everyone at this stressful time. Every Southwark child who applied on-time for a place this year has been allocated a place at a school. Around 91% percent will receive an offer of a place of choice. (2% more than last year) 56% will receive an offer at their first choice school, 3% more than last year. Be aware that you can at this stage be added to the waiting list of any secondary school and there is usually quite a bit of shuffling going on in the first few weeks after offer day. If you are unhappy with the school you have been offered, until you have received an alternative place, please accept the one you have,you can turn it down later. Liam White, the School Preference Advisor plus other members of the Parent Partnership will be at Cator Street in Peckham from drop in surgeries for parents next week and the week after Mon-Friday, 9.30-12.30 and 13.15-15.30pm on a first come first served basis. Alternatively, you can contact Liam on 02075255211 or [email protected] You can also contact me or other local councillors. My next surgery is on Saturday 10th March at 10-11am at East Dulwich Community Centre on Darrell Rd SE22. Good Luck Renata

In response to some of the above, the reason for my vague postings about the admissions forum was in light of the changes in regulations I wanted to make sure I posted the correct information. * I have had it confirmed that Southwark has not abolished the Admissions Forum. It still exists and the next meeting is coming up shortly, at the end of February. The Admission Forum has a fixed structure of participants, representing different schools/groups within the community. * The current government has scrapped the requirement for there to be local Admissions Fora. At the next meeting, as it's no longer a statutory requirement, members will decide if they still want to have the forum in its current form (The council hopes they do). The membership of the Forum is laid out in its constitution and this its membership consists of: Representatives of the local authority (one to five) Community and voluntary controlled schools (one to three) Foundation schools (one to three) Voluntary aided schools (one to three) Church of England diocese (one to three) Roman Catholic diocese (one to three) Parent governors (one to three) Local community (up to three) Academies (one per academy) City technology colleges (one per college) * Southwark secondary schools are all academies or voluntary-aided, none of the secondaries are run by the local authority. That means these schools are their own 'admissions authority' which means that they, not Southwark, have the legal power to set their own admissions criteria (within national guidelines). Some primaries are also academies/voluntary aided and the same applies to them. Free schools are a type of academy, so they will be setting their own admissions criteria. The only schools where Southwark has direct control of admissions are community primaries (when they convert to Academies, their admissions policy is no longer under LA control). This is why there are such a wide variety of admissions policies in Southwark's secondaries! As many Southwark secondaries decided to administer their own banding tests, it became unworkable for a boroughwide banding test to be done, as why subject children to an banding exam which wouldn't be used for admissions purposes for schools they applied to? Any person or body is able to raise an objection with the Schools Adjudicator against admission arrangements they feel are unlawful or not compliant with the school admissions code. I hope this is useful, Renata

Compulsory local admissions forums were scrapped last year by Michael Gove as part of the government's simplification of the admission's code. In terms of those of you like heber jumble queen above, we won't know the effect of the adjudicator's ruling on last place offered distances until after the 1st March (less than 4 weeks to go). The people who may be affected are those who when they look at last year's figures are on the edge of the last place offered distance, which has been shrinking year on year. I am happy to try and help anyone, regardless of ward once the allocations come out on 1st March. Also to say that there is always movement on waiting lists and also after 1st March your child's name can be added to other schools you didn't apply to (a bit problematic with schools that set their own banding exams though). Renata

Well done to staff and pupils at Harris Boys Academy East Dulwich for their fantastic recent Outstanding Ofsted //http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/135816]Harris boys' Ofsted[/url] Renata

Haberdasher's Aske, Hatcham College are consulting on proposed changes to their admissions policy for 2013 onwards. I am aware that since the change of admissions from random allocation to distance three years ago, several children from the Nunhead area have gained places on distance. Currently distance is calculated from the Pepy's Rd site in Telegraph Hill. It is proposed that from 2013 distance will be calculated from both the Jerningham Rd site in New Cross and the Pepy's Rd site, and the lower distance taken. As the Jerningham Rd site is further from the boundary with Southwark than the Pepy's Rd site, this is likely to reduce the number of children from Southwark gaining places at this school. Haberdasher's Aske consultation This will not impact on people who have already applied for 2012 entry or for music scholarship candidates or siblings. Renata

The local authority's view is that the school admissions policy of the Charter School, including use of a safe walking distance oversubscription criterion, is in keeping with the School Admissions Code of Practice. Southwark Council does not provide a safe walking distance measurement service to The Charter School nor does it advise on which routes to include/exclude as ?safe routes? for school admission purposes. Our view is that this aspect of the policy is a matter for the academy to determine as it is its own admission authority. To clarify a few things: Charter is not changing it's admission policy for 2012 entry. This would require consultation and wouldn't be implemented in the same year. The problem has been how Charter has been implementing its safe walking distance admissions criteria. I was one of a handful of Councillors (also included Cabinet member Veronica Ward, this was in a letter in last week's Southwark News)who supported the parents when they went to adjudication. The police backed the complainants claim on safe walking route to school. The governing body has accepted the adjudicator's recommendations and taken steps to implement them. The disregard of the walking route to the north of the school added up to 0.7km to some applicants distance measurement. The flawed calculation of safest walking distance to school disadvantaged applicants living on two large estates and the surrounding streets in South Camberwell, particularly recently. Charter's last place offered distance has been shrinking in recent years due to a larger number of applicants, so places cannot be guaranteed as there is no fixed catchment area as such. Only after the results have been published will it become clear what the impact of the adjudicator's ruling is. Charter is an Academy, which means it is outside council control and sets its own admission policy (it became an Academy in 2010 when the current council administration gained control). All secondary schools in Southwark do so as they are either Academies or Faith schools. This is why there is such a huge variation in admission criteria amongst Southwark secondaries. Primary academies and Faith schools also set their own admissions criteria. Free schools are a type of academy. A post above mentions Harris Boys School, they recently had an Outstanding Ofsted Inspection. Renata

There have been rumours surfacing again that the One O Clock Club is about to close. I was unaware of any changes to what was said at the meeting in December, and I have posted on one of the threads that I would check the current situation and then post an update on here. As I thought, there is no change to the situation. The message sent to me by Cllr Catherine McDonald on this matter is pasted below: - rumours of the One O'Clock Club's threatened closure are entirely untrue - we're committed to continuing stay and play at lunchtimes in Peckham Rye - we are still taking forward proposals for Ivydale Children's Centre to take over the running of the lunchtime stay and play in the current site of the One O'Clock Club. Those discussions have not yet concluded. - we have allocated funding for a replacement building for this service nearby in the park; in the meantime services will continue to run out of the existing building - there is no change in the situation since the December meeting at the One O'Clock Club The club may close temporarily in April for the rebuild (the money was allocated from capital funds in last year's budget), however the timing for this has not been set. Renata

Hi Toffeeapple. The update I have from the planning department is if you repair or replace the windows with like, you won't need planning permission. If you decide to either change material or style of window you will need planning permission. You may be granted planning permission if many other houses in your vicinity replaced their windows (probably prior to the conservation area status being in place). Renata

I haven't had an update since before Xmas, but I shall chase this up and get back to you Renata

Hi Vik, letters go to all schools to find out if they are willing are bulge and then they are assessed for suitability. Not all schools are willing and some of the willing ones haven't got the capacity. There is no rule as to how frequently a school bulges, it is space/facility/demand based. Once all the number crunching is done, it is possible that more bulges are needed. One big issue is late applications. If your child is 4 by the 1st September and you haven't applied, apply NOW! If you think you have forgotten to tick the sibling box, let Southwark admissions know ASAP. Renata