Kes

It got worse again, 9.01 from Nunhead was delayed 15 minutes, then phone apps started saying it was cancelled but the poor chap in the office was still being told it was coming. He was finally updated about 5 minutes after it went through, without stopping, with very few people on it. 9.14 was then delayed but luckily it was pretty quiet and everyone got on as the 9.29 was cancelled. The chap in the office was really doing his best to keep everyone informed, shame Thameslink weren't doing the same for him.

Just home from the school run to find another glossy leaflet through the door promoting Harris girls. Can't see anything in it about the admissions changes.

My expereince is similar to njc97, I usually get the 9.01 from Nunhead, which is rarely on time and recently seems much busier than normal, presmably a knock on effect of the problems with the earlier trains. I can almost always get on but I used to always get a seat and now it's standing, by the time we've been through Denmark hill it's usually packed. The way back can be pretty bad too, I recently had a train so packed that I had to get off at Denmark Hill and walk back to Nunhead as I felt so ill (and I'm a pretty sturdy type)

Thanks RahRahRah for adding that. Just a reminder the dealine is the end of the month for anyone else planning to respond. Also, to add - I have no idea if Harris is doing this because of any particular political party, and I'm not completely opposed to free schools/academies in general or Harris in particular. I'm just concerned that this specific change will make the secondary place situation worse in the area as a whole and especially for girls close to the school who will have little hope of getting into anywhere local if they don't win the Harris lottery.

tried acupuncture, it was quite nice, but expensive and did nothing! Sorry, I know that isn't much help!

Katgod it's just a proposed change at the moment so not yet. But if the random lottery system goes ahead then you could live next door, put it as your first choice and still not get a place, while another girl 10 miles away gets in! Harris is concerned that it's unfair on those wanting a single sex education that some of them can't get in as they live too far away, but as Renata points out there are quite a lot of single sex schools in Southwark, especially if you are also of the correct religion and get priority through that as well. I have to say I find it quite frustrating, where are the schools trying to make it easier for those who choose non-religious mixed education? K

Katgod - the stated aim is to make it easier for parents who want to choose a single sex school to be able to get their daughters in. Personally I'd like to be able to choose a mixed school but I don't think there are currently any that we would get into where we live and if Harris take fewer local girls then there will be even more competition for all the other schools and I doubt we'd have a chance!

SillyWoman - As far as I have been able to figure out, there is some old wives tale that the size of your hands predicts the size of your pelvis, so the NCT teacher judged that my (9lb 10oz back to back) baby couldn't really have been stuck as my hands aren't small! Sadly I didn't complain as at the time I just didn't have it in me and didn't think I would be listened to anyway. The teacher was very senior in the organisation and adamant that everything she said was evidence based and for a long time I really wondered if she was right and I was somehow to blame for what had happened. For a long time it did feel like a c section was something to confess to and make excuses for - but I did yoga and hypnobirthing so it wasn't my fault!! - Anyway, as I say that was all 5 years ago and I think I now accept that I just got unlucky in not having the birth I wanted and I'm incredibly thankful that I live in a time and place where modern medicine had my back when I needed it. Also going on to choose an elective for my second, being so well looked after by Kings and being able to feel calm, prepared and in control for that birth was a very healing experience. K

Thanks, yes it's very worrying. We also live near the school, and get regular glossy news letters through the door about them but we only found out about this indirectly so there doesn't seem to have been any effort to consult with local families. The consultation closes at the end of the month so anyone else with concerns please get in touch with them ASAP. K

Hi Mong17, it's 2 years ago now but I had an elective CS at Kings after a hideous experience else where first time. It was honestly wonderful and everyone was lovely. Goo luck! On NCT I think it is very variable. My own experience was 5 years ago now (in another area) and dreadful. We were taught everyone can and should have a natural (preferably home) birth and almost all interventions are unnecessary and hideous and only happen if you give in to fear or evil doctors. When we went back for our meet up and I had to confess to an emergency C section the teacher asked to look at my hands, raised her eyebrows, said she didn't think the c section was necessary and walked away. I think things are improving but I still have my frustrations with them. Until very recently (when I complained about it) The NCT website said that medical inductions would inevitably lead to a cascade of interventions and the complete medicalisation of the birth. It went on to list a variety of un/dis-proven alternative medicine ways to start labour. The site also had very little info on c sections and almost all of it negative and how to avoid/ refuse them. Some friends only a few months ago were also (without asking for it) given a list of alternative remedies for various labour/birth issues by their NCT teacher at their first class. As I say I think things are improving and the NCT are making much more of an effort to be evidence based but a few individuals are still passing off their personal beliefs as fact and woe betide anyone who says anything negative about them on social media! Those opinions are immediately dismissed and met with a barrage of defensiveness. sorry, pet rant! Wish I had had Sillywoman! K

Harris girls are currently consulting on changing their admissions policy from distance to a lottery. I find this quite worrying for a number of reasons: 1-As a Mum of girls in Nunhead it's probably the only local secondary we would have a chance to get into at the moment, the next nearest non-faith schools are all over subscribed so if Harris girls becomes a lottery we could end up having to accept a school place much further away. 2-If Harris girls takes fewer local children then this will have a knock on effect at other local schools whose "catchment area" could shrink even more. 3-It would result in even more crowding on roads and buses as lots of children from outside the area come in to Harris girls, while all the local girls who would have gone to Harris have to travel out. 4- We know that there is a coming shortage of secondary places, especially in this area, this change would actually make things worse, at a time when new local primaries are being set up and expanded. 5- How can the school claim to be serving the local community if it's actively seeking to take fewer children from this area? There doesn't seem to have been much publicity about this consultation but we have written to them to oppose the change and if anyone else wants to do so or find out more the info is here: http://www.harrisdulwichgirls.org.uk/4/news/article/210/admissions-policy-consultation-have-your-say-here- I know a single sex school wouldn't be first choice for a lot of people anyway (me included) But this change looks like it could be bad for lots of local families and other schools and personally I'd rather have a non-faith, local, single sex school than have to bus my kids miles and miles to wherever Southwark can find a school with spaces. K

Yikes, I'm definitely not motorising her! Have gone for one of the Decathlon scooters, she's not very physical and I can't see her doing tricks so I don't think the folding will be an issue and handy to be able to stick it under little sister's buggy

Are there any group courses in the area? I've looked at Camberlou's link but can only find ones for Newham/lambeth or Westminster?

Great thanks for the advice - I think I'll look into those cheaper ones DaveR, decathlon stuff is usually good and I'm not keen to pay a lot for something she may not use much

My 5 year old daughter really wants a scooter for Christmas but is determined it should have 2 wheels, thing is she never really got to grips with the mini micro 3 wheel one that is now too small for her. Can anyone suggest a 2 wheel version that is easy to use and not too bulky? Are 2 wheel ones a lot trickier? Thanks! K

Love sing and sign, both my girls really enjoyed it and it helped them communicate, my 5 year old still occasionally says she wants to go back! The DVD is the only thing my younger one will sit still for !

In short, no, putting it second won't matter. The schools rank all applications based on the admissions criteria, where you put them in your list doesn't impact on this. They give their list to southwark who then figure out who goes where. So say there are 2 schools A is your first choice B is second choice and both take 30 kids: If you are ranked in the top 30 of A then you get into A If you are 31 in A and top 30 in B then you get into B If you are 31 in A but someone above you put another school as their first choice and gets in there instead then the other child drops out of the rankings for A and you would move up to number 30 and be offered a place I think that makes sense! Does it? It's two years since we did school applications and I still find it confusing! Can't suggest any specific school as I'm in Nunhead not ED, I've heard good things about both the ones you mention though. Also might be worth thinking if there is a backup school you would be ok with that you could put 6th? There are a couple of schools which are less popular but have very large or no last distnace at all. It might be worth putting one on the list as a back up in case you don't get anywhere else rather than risking being allocated somewhere miles away?

T2R - so on the basis something you were told by someone who got their facts wrong you are condeming a entire school on a public forum at a time when lots of anxious parents are trying to choose schools? My child is in yr 1 at Hollydale, it was quite clear at the open day we attended that it was 1.5 form entry. It was actually a great thing in reception, the 2 small reception classes had a Teacher and TA each which meant the staff could really get to know all the kids as individuals and feed back to us parents about how best to support them. Going ahead I'm quite happy for my summer born child to have a bit of flexibilty as to how she progresses.

Don't know if it helps but we had to take our daughter for a blood test at the Evalina at St Thomas' a few years ago. We had a referal note but as I remember it was just turn up and wait like the adult bloods at Dulwich hospital. We didn't wait long and the phlebotomist was wonderful, far better than the Doctor who had made a right mess of it in A and E previously. She also gave me a tip - they had given us a gel to put on my daughters arm to numb the pain of the needle but apparently this can make the vein harder to find. so after struggling we used the other arm, without the gel and it was all over in moments.

Hi Anya, Sorry to hear you've had such a bad time. For what it's worth I found the elective I had second time to be very healing both emotionally and physically. It was so much better to walk into theatre and talk calmly about what was going on rather than being wheeled in exhausted and half delirious! Kings were great about allowing it to be my choice. I know people who've had great VBACS too, but for me the elective was the right decision. K

We found Poxclin really helpful, available in sainsburys or boots, much easier to put on than calamine lotion too as it's a foam and you can just slap it all over. Oats in a pop sock in the bath certainly amused them, may have helped may just have distracted. Piriton unfortunatly seemed to upset my youngest's stomach but worth a try.

My kids had the pox recently and I ended up doing a bit of research into it and the vacination, a recent review found little evidence for it increasing shingles but this still seems to be the official reason for not giving it here. blog post with links about it here if anyone is interested (quite long I'm afraid!): http://www.southwarkbelle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/some-poxy-questions-why-doesnt-uk.html When I (alas too late) looked into clinics the one of Fleet street seemed to be about the cheapest and easieist to get to, though still pretty expensive given that a friend had it done for 24USD in a fancy New York clinic!

Hi my husband took our eldest to sing and sign classes over at Goose green, he loved it although I think he was the only dad. Assuming it's still going there is also the music session at Buchan road hall on a Tuesday morning (run by Ivydale I think) ususaly quite a few dads there.

Oh this is such a useful thread! Has anyone got a utility room in their side return? Our kitchen is a decent width and the side return is fairly narrow so it doesn't seem worth extending into it to make the kitchen bigger but a long thin utility room/storeage space would be really handy, even better if we could get a shower room in their too.

The woods one I mentioned did have a cider barn btw, no bands, it was a food festival, clues in the name When we got to the one last year (lots of beer and bands) I just realised how much stuff there is for little ones and decided I'll just focus on that for a few years. Can go back to grown up festival behaviour once they are old enough to wander off to the teen area and get drunk without me. If you have small kids and want bands, beer and no kids, perhaps just don't take the kids?