Curmudgeon

Anecdotally I was not overly impressed with the maths provision at my son's primary school and whilst he tested well I have seen his maths improve 2 levels within a term and a half in year 7 at secondary school. This alongside an offering of 2 London university based programmes to extend maths skills and encourage secondary school students to consider maths in higher education.

I thought Chinese New Year started Sunday?

Thank you pondlife

You get the phone call the day before to ensure SMT are available. The new OFSTED is much more rigorous

The results are bad, extremely bad but I'm not surprised after the hellish couple of years they've had. Actually I am a little. Not all schools suit all families, seems you made a good choice to discount it pondlife, although I'm not sure why you seem so vehement here. My child is at Kingsdale, in year 7, doing extremely well in a supportive and happy environment with lots of academic and other extra-curricular activities. I'm upset at these results for the cohort but pleased that OFSTED in full recognition of the issues, background and privy to lots more info on the school that can be garnered here, judged it as good in current teaching and achievement. Seems a good thing there's been a high turnover of staff to me. As a family at the school I'm impressed at the work, marking, involvement of teachers, care and happiness of my somewhat shy child. I will watch the next couple of years carefully and try to involve myself more with the school. Hopefully we can all become reassured over time that this is an aberration and that we have a decent choice of schools for our families in the area. I'm sure that's all that everyone here wants

Also Woodcraft is a good inclusive group and active in ed

Michael Rosen Sad Book It's about feelings, mainly sadness very simplistic and deep. Might not be appropriate here though but I do think its a book worth having

ennevive Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Corner of Whateley Road and Landcroft Road?? > > With music that loud they should have put a > 'polite notice' through the door of anyone living > within a 1/2 mile radius. I live on Lordship Lane > near Heber Road and could hear the music word for > word in my bedroom. I suppose I should be grateful > I don't live closer! PlanetSally - I admire your > patience! Gosh, really? I think you may need to look at your insulation and windows if you have that much noise pollution

BB100 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I started off by agreeing that they would wipe > first then I would finish the job. Then one day I > would walk away and leave them and pretend to be > busy doing something. If they called me I would > say I was coming. In the end they got fed up > waiting and did it themselves. Having an > attractive wipe box also helped. This Plus there is no need for the bum presentation that seems so prevalent, tell them to wiggle and see if it feels clean Bum wiping should be part of potty training really, once using the toilet is established and within a week or so they can start wiping for themselves so it never becomes such an issue. My favourite ever comment was a friends child who reliably informed me he couldn't wipe his own bum, because his arms were too short :D

The zafira isn't wider so I think you might struggle to fit child's seats in the back if that's what you need When its set for 7 seats you have almost no boot. You can't put child seats in the boot seats but possibly a booster but its not the safest I would say gor children under 8 I love the flexibility of mine and would recommend it but if you need to accommodate more than 2 in proper child seats I'd check it with your seats first

Brilliant news. The Harris federation seems to run outstanding schools and serve the community very well indeed. I was impressed when I visited their boys school in east dulwich by the staff, students and ethos.

State nursery tends to be 2.5 hours a day and you will get 5 sessions free a week, you can't pay for more. It is not appropriate if you need childcare

Waitrose/Iceland debate

IMO If the childminder is open for business and you choose not to send your child you pay If the childminder is closed for business and you cannot send your child you don't pay They are self employed and offering a service that you pay for.

Really? Was open last weekend What a shame... They were a little hit and miss but pleasant

Please consider kids company, a local charity that does amazing work http://www.kidsco.org.uk/ They even have a Christmas list and your family can choose which items to buy to support children and families in need this Christmas, many of whom live 10 mins away from us

To read to her of for her to read to herself We liked books with a little humour / bite like The rascally cake http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Rascally-Cake-Jeanne-Willis/dp/1842707175/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355670859&sr=8-1 And the great dog bottom swap http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Dog-Bottom-Swap/dp/1842709887/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355670924&sr=1-1 Ronald Dahl are great

I would doubt there will be playground talk about this to be honest, not at that age

John Adams toys are generally good value, their Hot Wires for example is brilliant but I wouldn't give it to anyone under 8

boleto Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks for the replies. If kids aren't offered > their first choice such as Charter, where do they > end up? Do they still stand a chance of getting > into their second choice if it was another popular > school like Harris Academy? The way it works is that you rank your orders in preference, schools don't know the order. If you are offered a place at say your 3rd choice, then you automatically go on the waiting list for choices 1 and 2, there is a lot of movement as people refuse places, some may be moving area, or choosing private, this movement continues through the first term. You will not automatically be placed on the waiting list of choices below your ranking but you can call them and ask to be placed on their waiting list.

Scruffy Mummy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Not anymore - if you check out the lastest > admission policy, it explicitly states that 15% of > applicants will be those who are awarded > music/sports scholarships. Applicable to the next > lot of entrants for 2013. Yes its been like that for a number of years, but they give out more scholarships than 15% places so there's still a lottery element. Their admissions policy seriously needs clarity

Although even with a scholarship it's still a lottery Agree with the list although I think Harris girls might be more appropriate

I returned to my senior level job when my first child was 6 months old, left when he was 18 months old, spent 7 years as a SAHM then went to work in a support position in a school term time only which works for my family and work life balance.

Kids Company are an amazing charity and I have been fortunate enough to work closely with some of their extremely committed staff who really do reach out and make a practical difference to children's lives. Really worth supporting and I love their Christmas list at John Lewis idea

http://www.kidsco.org.uk/ Kids company