redjam

Sol Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sydenham School > distance was shorter this year. I think the school > is gaining more popularity; It is a very good > school and the new facilities also help. I think > last year it was 2200 meters in the first round > and went up to 2743 by beginning of September. > Where did you get this info, Sol? I'd heard that last year the maximum Sydenham home-to-school distance was 2.2km but I'd assumed that was the final distance offered, not just the initial first-round offer. On the Lewisham website they phrased it as 'last place offered' (see https://www.lewisham.gov.uk/myservices/education/schools/school-admission/applying-to-start-secondary-school/Documents/SecondarySchoolAdmissionsTable1718.pdf). So I'd be interested to know if it actually ended up extending out another half a kilometre beyond that. I think we're too far away this year anyway given that the catchment has shrunk this year - and I'm not too bothered as luckily we're extremely happy with our second-place offer. But I'd be interested to calculate the likelihood that we might get offered a last-minute waiting-list place.

This is true. In addition, the people who've chosen to go private may well be on the waiting list for more than one state school (if they didn't get their first state choice). So the maths is weird - one kid moving from state to private can free up several places. I know one family who didn't get any of their state choices - they don't care because they are going private, but once they've accepted that private place then they will come off at least three state waiting lists. When you think of the number of kids who go private round here, it can make a dramatic difference to waiting lists once those kids are taken out of the system. One thing I would say that if you are reading this and planning to go private, do turn down your state place quickly so that those poor people who are desperate for that place can move up the waiting list ASAP! Huge sympathies to those of you in that position.

Surprised no one has mentioned mumsnet. Those mummies are vicious. And the language! (Clutches pearls)

Horniman Gardens has got a good slope.

I saw that enormous queue on Saturday night; it was unbelievable. Why was it so busy that particular night?

I believe 390 for Kingsdale and 180 (up from 120 last year) at Charter ED. Happy to be corrected if anyone knows better.

As Coach Beth says, there is a huge amount of movement on waiting lists over the summer each year, so try not to worry if you don't get one of your preferred choices immediately. Also bear in mind that Charter ED are taking more kids this year and also Kingsdale is taking in another bumper crop of Year 7s. So that will alleviate the pressure. Definitely don't turn down any place offered - there is no tactical advantage and if the worst came to the worst you'd end up with nothing. Good luck for Thursday, everyone! The usual nail-biting time...

Don't know the ins and outs of this as I wasn't there and I agree that on face value it doesn't seem like a very clever move to ask a mum to leave just because her baby was crying for a short while. But it's OTT to say that the Brick House's response 'compared babies to dogs' and I think getting on a high horse because they said they were happy to allow breastfeeding is a bit ridiculous. Maybe they could have phrased it better but that seems to be wilfully taking offence where none was meant. I hate these things where everyone just piles in on Twitter/Instagram to slag off an independent business and the hysteria gets whipped up amongst a load of people who weren't there when the incident happened. The Brick House may well have done a silly thing but surely the best way to deal with that is to complain to the manager direct and have it out with him/her in private? I'm old-fashioned like that...

We are thinking about just doing a very basic refurb on our basement - rubbing down the walls and treating them with varnish so they don't crumble away, fitting some new stairs, putting in new lights and moving some of the pipes that hang down low etc. So we wouldn't be able to use it as a proper room as it would still have a very low ceiling but it would be a more useful space that could be accessed much more easily (as opposed to the deathtrap it is now). We were given a rough quote of ?3k for this. We're now wondering about going a bit further and taking down the internal (non-load-bearing) wall along one side so we can use the recesses under the living room floorboards as storage (we've got a typical Victorian coal cellar - long and thin, extending under the front hallway). Anyone else done this???

Your daughter sounds bright and sensible, Shamos; I'm sure she'll get something soon as she's clearly got a good attitude. How horrible that these places have taken advantage of her. Hope it doesn't put her off and that she finds a good job soon.

Would second the Coal Rooms. Literally had one of the most delicious meals of my life there. Though you do have to practically step over lots of homeless people on the way out (it's right in the station) which makes you feel a bit wretched when you're stuffed to the gills with beautiful food...

That's amazing! Thanks for sharing.

Gerald Durrell is a great idea. Also I loved James Herriott at that age. As for memoirs - what is he into? Loads of sports star/comedian/musician autobiographies out there. For history maybe something like one of the Forgotten Voices series about the first and second world wars - lots of moving personal stories to dip in and out of. For general inspirational memoir how about something like Malala Yousafzai's I Am Malala, Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father, or Nelson Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom? On a completely different note, This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay is a recent bestseller that gives an insight into life as a junior doctor - very funny and quite rude! And for a fascinating overview of the whole of human civilisation, Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari is brilliant and not hard (though it makes you feel intelligent if you read it!).

There is/was one in Dulwich Park near the kids' playground - don't know if it's still working. I'd love to know if there's one in Peckham Rye as I don't like carrying bottles around when I go for a run but sometimes just fancy a quick drink of water midway through. I've never noticed one on my usual route but haven't properly investigated - anyone know? Not convinced there's so much of a need for one in the centre of ED. I can't think I've ever got so thirsty on a local shopping trip that I'm forced to buy bottled water. But in general it would be a great thing if there were more of them in the city centre and in parks. Really positive to see that this is being picked up as an issue at last (can't believe it's taken so long).

Result! Well done you. Definitely worth shopping around and kicking up a bit of a fuss if need be. These companies rely on our inertia.

Tim Peake has just recently published a book called Ask an Astronaut which is not specifically aimed at kids though there's a lot in it that kids would enjoy (including the perennial favourite: 'how do you go to the loo in space?'). I'm not particularly sciencey but I thought it was fascinating and very easy to dip in and out of.

I agree with Mick Mac - I'd like to see the end of NCR fully pedestrianised. I live on one of the roads off it so it would affect me negatively in terms of driving/parking but I think it would benefit the overall area so I'd absolutely support it. I also think the area round the back of Londis (with all the bins) needs prettifying/hiding in some way as it's such an ugly first impression of the street as you come into it. I don't see the point of charging stations on the pavement or much in the way of other street furniture as the pavements already get crowded at weekends, especially with all the buggies round here - it would just create more pinch points (I'm a bit baffled by the idea of suggesting charging points when most people who visit NCR live locally anyway). I'm not sure what you mean by making the street more 'child-friendly' but certainly pedestrianising the end would make it easier to navigate with prams and young children. Nxjen - yes, I remember that consultation too - it's a shame it wasn't followed up.

Ours is ?230 for a 4-bed family terraced house, insured with Sainsburys Bank. Covers subsidence, rebuild cost, personal possessions including cycles and laptop outside the home etc. Single article limit of ?2k (I don't have expensive jewellery or anything like that so I can't think of anything in the house that costs more than that). I know all this as it was just up for renewal so the letter is sitting right here on my desk! Our house insurance used to cost a lot more as we did that thing of just staying with the same company and accepting that our premium crept up and up each year. Then a few years ago I gripped it and shopped around and saved about ?350/yr by swapping policies. So far Sainsburys have been good to deal with, though (touching wood frantically) I've not had to claim yet. Definitely worth shopping around though as the previous poster says, you do have to compare like-for-like. I also saved a fortune by gripping my gas/electricity supply and swapping from NPower to a company I'd never heard of (Flow), which has been absolutely fine and again well worth doing. God, though, it's boring being a grown-up, isn't it?

I assumed it was a Chinese takeaway.

I think one drink night/week is very sensible - and certainly more of a long-term proposition than complete abstinence. But I'm killing two birds with one stone here - if I swear off alcohol for most of the month, I also limit my nights out, which benefits my pitiful post-Christmas bank balance as well as my liver! And as you say, the other main benefit is it 'resets' your system - it gets you out the habit of mindlessly pouring a glass of wine in the evening when you're at home and don't really need it. That's got to be a good thing.

Fill your diary: book some events; plan a holiday; arrange a night out with old friends. Buy a book you've always wanted to read. Wrap up warm and take a walk in the park when the sun comes out, however briefly. Buy a new item of clothing/get a haircut. Keep away from the news/social media for a bit. All trite solutions, I know, but they work for me if I'm feeling down. (Personally self-help books make me feel worse but maybe that's just me.) Hope you feel better soon x

How are you doing, Tosca? Did you get through the second weekend? I reckon I'm on the home straight as I've only got one more weekend to get through (I will definitely drink the final weekend as I've got a lovely birthday meal planned - though ironically I know I will suffer from a worse-than-usual hangover afterwards now I've lost all my tolerance). It's been fine for me actually - mainly if I'm honest because I haven't been out much. Though I've had a couple of wavers at my 'weak time' (just after wrestling the kids to bed) when a glass of cold, crisp white wine never seemed more inviting...

I did Dry January last year, but sort of by mistake - I didn't fancy a drink in the first week as I'd overdone it on NYE, then in the second week I got a heavy cold and cancelled all social nights out (and again didn't really fancy alcohol), by which point I was already on around 20 January so I thought I might as well keep going till my birthday, which is the end of Jan. Although I'd not really set off to do it at the start, I did feel better for a month off (slept better, more energy etc), and interestingly for the rest of last year I felt like I cut down a lot on alcohol as a result, as I'd got out of the habit of automatically pouring a glass or two of wine when at home midweek. I was also more conscious of how even just a couple of glasses affects my sleep. So I'm taking the same approach this year - I'm aiming to cut it out in January (at least until my birthday) but I'm not going to beat myself up if I fail. But I do want to reset my habits again after the booze levels inevitably crept up over Christmas. Anyway, good luck Tosca - I'm off to the cinema tonight, and plan to be on the elderflower!

Don't think people are generally uncaring round here, lavender27; there are often posts on here thanking people after someone has been picked up and helped after a fall. However, I do have a bugbear about those long extendable leads, especially when they're on small dogs. Twice while running in Peckham Rye I've nearly come a cropper when a dog owner was standing on one side of the path chatting to a friend and not paying any attention, and their dog was right over the other side of the path on a long lead. I don't think owners realise that when the leads are thin and black they're virtually invisible, like a tripwire. If I hadn't managed to pull up just in time in both cases, I'd have gone absolutely flying and taken the dog with me. That said, yesterday while I was running along that narrow path by the old cafe (near the building works), a man stood to one side and made his dog sit at his feet as I ran past. I was impressed - both by his courtesy and his control over his dog. So there are 'good' dog owners too. Sorry to hear about your partner's fall, OP.

Quiet corner/room in a pub? Take turns at each other's houses? (Though I realise those options might not be possible depending on the nature of the mental illnesses the members are recovering from...)