Dorothy

Its lovely this lying in business, isn't it? 8.15am for me today and that was only because husband was off to work and wanted to say goodbye :-S

But then, but then ... something deeply odd and masochistic in me has a hankering for those 6am starts.. You had an excuse to go to bed at 10pm, plus dawn is very lovely. Even in Lunnun.

I went to Surrey Docks farm this week for the first time.

Have never been to Vauxhall, but am very much a veteran of Christmas Tree Farm. However, Xmas Tree Farm is in no stretch of the imagination a London farm.

Surrey Docks: cute but small. Not much to see or do, in all honesty, but it is free to enter and you could probably spend an hour or so there. Beware the very hungry and greedy goats in the main feeding area. The cafe menu looked lovely (we only had icecreams) ...

BUT

the big plus about it is being right on the Thames footpath. So you can go for an interesting wander up or down the river to supplement your visit.

Unless you have a really unusual property, its pretty easy to value it diy. Just be honest with yourself.

Best way to sell a property is 1. value it realistically 2. get as many items as you possibly can off the floor (think bins, baskets of toys, bathroom scales, pot plants), just get as much floor visible as possible 3. clean and tidy thoroughly.

Do not cycle up on the inside (left hand side) of large vehicles like buses or trucks.

Prepare to fall in love with your daily cycle rides and even become a bit addicted to them.

I've noticed graffiti about the place recently. Never seen it much in SE22 before. Bit sad about it, tbh.

Well ... your son did say they were for charity. Why did he do that?

Whoever it was who took them (and of course they could have been thieving bastards) took his word for it that you, as a household, no longer wanted them. At least he knocked on the door and asked :)

Yes, quite, Curmudgeon. Was not aware that Lambeth had a problem such as the one we have in Southwark, and it does have a very new school in Evelyn Grace.

I thought we were hoping for/campaigning for more places, or rather more suitable places, for Southwark children.

But hey - good luck with it all Mark.

Toast: surely this thread, the facebook idea, and skyblue's suggestion that our local councillors try and set up a meeting with Harris, is just the start of trying to get a full picture of local demand. Of course there are going to be people against the idea. I'm not certain I'm 100% for it, I need to find out more. But we do need to get the ball rolling somehow. Otherwise this will be just another wasted opportunity to actually do something about the terrible lack of choice in state secondary education locally.

Babur.

Ted - I would like to hear more about your "natural accomplishments".

Skyblue - I would like to be involved in any campaign you get off the ground. Will pm you. I have a girl and boy, in years 5 and 2, and don't live within spitting distance of Charter. I very much doubt I am even going to bother applying to Kingsdale next year - it seems like an utter waste of time. I would be ok with single sex education for my daughter, but NOT for my son; it would not suit him. It seems to me your proposal is emminently sensible. I would be happy to put time and effort in to campaigning for this.

Incidentally, I think in your 11.12 post you meant to say "Did the parents choose these schools because they are single sex or because there was no co-ed available to them?" ?

I had exactly this age gap. We didn't go down the double buggy route. So it was sling for littl'un for several months, then biggun on buggy board or walking. I didn't particularly like the buggy board because I am very short, but we got through.

However, I would probably double buggy it if you don't have a car and thus walk everywhere. My excursions were always fairly local.

Chicken fat is completely vile. Absolutely not worth saving for any purpose. Throw it away in an old yogurt pot, or scrape on to newspaper, wrap, and put in your food recycling bin.

Sue: tenants don't pay a fee to register with an agent to find a property (I think thats the law you are referring to and it still stands) but they do pay quite hefty "admin" fees nowadays. All legal.

I would Mark, me me me!

But, actually, I think you only need to put CityMum's two posts in a letter for a perfect summing up of the problem.

Remind me again, what are the arguments in favour of the banding tests?

Until last year, I naievely thought that state comprehensive schools did no testing or jiggling or setting up a lottery at all.

I think most parents would like their children to go to schools 1 and 2 on their list, 3 at a push.

Which leaves choices 4, 5 and 6 ... where exactly?

Is there really any point to having 6 "choices" other than to make it possible for the statistics to show "90% (or whatever) got a secondary school of their choice".

EDMummy - I'd like my children (girl then boy) to go to their nearest co-ed comprehensive school. For me that is Charter or Kingsdale, but I live outside the miniscule Charter catchment area ...

I am not interested in scholarships or banding or even particularly results and league tables. I just want them to go to school locally.

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/1153209-Kingsdale-vs-Dunraven

ggrrrrr

[[http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/1153209-Kingsdale-vs-Dunraven]] sorry here.

Here is an interesting thread on another forum where you can see parents from Lambeth and Wandsworth discussing how to get their children in to Kingsdale. Towards the end of the thread there are further very interesting links showing how Wandsworth parents lobbied to change the admissions policies of two of their local schools (due to lack of local places) and were apparently partly successful.

Have a look on the property section of this very forum!

All of the High Street agencies will charge an admin fee but I think Dulwich & Village Residential's fees are among the lowest.

I would, Mark, and have been thinking along the same lines as you. My oldest child is in Year 5, so it is a subject close to my heart, even though she has not failed to get a place yet. But, if you would like my invovlement, then yes.

For me it was the rocky chair thingy. Not sure how to describe it - it was more substantial than a bouncy chair, nice and comfy and padded. It could lie pretty much flat, and had rockers on the bottom, so you could lie baby in it and rock it with your foot whilst watching the tv and drinking a well deserved hot cup of tea. If baby fell asleep in it during the evening you could carry it up to the bedroom and leave him/her be for a few hours until the inevitable wakeup. But you could also sit baby up in it, from 3 or 4 months up to 6 months. Incredibly handy. More useful than a bumbo because it could be used from birth.

What a girl! And she sounds young, too (I don't know if she is). Am full of admiration for her.

Hedrin is the best of the treatments.

Conditioner and nitty gritty comb are also essential and you have to do a lot of combing, every three days at least.

I am veteran of 5 years and counting of having to deal with lice (have an affectionate daughter with amazingly thick hair).

Also, tying hair back, using headbands, or those little scarves - even on a 3 year old - will all help.