redjam

Just an update on the headteacher situation on Heber, for anyone interested ... It was just announced yesterday that Ms Rosenberg - who is the current acting head, was the previous co-head with Mr Block and has been at the school for thirteen years - has now agreed to take on the permanent headteacher role. This is really excellent news for the school - I think that's the outcome everyone wanted!

Oh, and I forgot to add, expressing milk into a bottle is the devil's work. I'm sure there are some women who manage it merrily; I have never met one. For me it would involve a miserable and painful 30 minutes on my own to produce maybe a quarter of a bottle - which was then a faff to store and reheat at the right temperature. So again, not a solution that works for everyone.

I don't really understand the fruit aisle example. For a start, I have literally never seen a woman breastfeed in the middle of a supermarket aisle. But if she did, it wouldn't bother me in the slightest. Why would it? Some of the views on here are breathtaking. Some facts: 1) Women have the 'breast is best' message drummed into them constantly from health visitors, medical professionals etc. 2) As other posters have said, you really can't just switch newborn babies back and forth from breast to bottle. You can when they're older, but not the first three months or so. Some babies will never accept a bottle. 3) Newborn babies need feeding every three hours or so. Night and day. It can take up to an hour to breastfeed. Very difficult to plan trips out in that small 'window', especially as babies do not always conform to schedules. 4) Most restaurants and bars do not have a room set aside for breastfeeding. In fact I would go so far as to say I have never seen such a room in any bar or restaurant I have ever been in. The most you can hope for is a chair by the communal sinks in posher establishments. The more likely scenario is that if you wanted to take yourself off to a 'private' area it would mean you were sitting for 45 minutes in a grim loo cubicle while your food got cold outside and your companion sat alone. 5) I have never met a woman who was 'exhibitionist' about breastfeeding. Though I would say that many of us (not all) get into a bit of a baby bubble and stop feeling self-conscious about it. I certainly got to the point where I could answer the door to a surprised postman with a baby latched on and not even think twice about it. That's because - surprise - feeding your hungry baby is an entirely natural behaviour. What would the anti-public-bf have mothers do? Stay inside for first six months of their baby's life? Because if you go out with a baby, there will inevitably be a time when you get 'caught short' and you are forced to feed in public. It's no one's ideal situation. But it's either that or you are literally trapped at home 24 hours a day for months on end.

We also finally bit the bullet and switched to BT a couple of months ago. Don't know why it took us so long - they rely on our inertia to get away with such crap service.

I think the good news is that you're lucky - there are lots of good primary schools round here so you're not going to make a 'wrong' choice! I can't speak for other schools and I'm sure other parents from Goose Green, Goodrich etc will come on and tell you about their USPs. But as far as Heber goes, I've been really happy with it for both my kids and I always find myself wanting to sing its praises in this kind of thread as I don't think it always does the best job at selling itself. It was sweet that they got the Year 6 kids to show round prospective parents on their recent open day but I don't think a lot of people realised that the senior teachers were available afterwards for a coffee and chat when the tours finished, so many parents left without talking to the staff. You're definitely doing the right thing going back and seeing one of the leadership team, OP. To pick up on some specific things you mention about Goose Green, which also apply to Heber - Heber also has a freeflow arrangement between Reception classes and outside space, so same as GG. It also has its own specialist music, art (and sport) teachers. It has outside space around three sides of the building so the playgrounds are divided into four - one Nursery, one Reception, and two bigger ones for Key Stages 1 and 2. The kids are divided by age range so you don't get older kids jostling little ones. The Nursery outside space has recently been refurbished with new climbing frames etc and we got a CGS grant to 'green' the rest of the playgrounds and build a greenhouse so the school now runs gardening sessions in the spring/summer. I agree the Victorian school building itself is a bit scruffy round the edges but I am always astounded at the creativity of the teachers (and kids) in the way they decorate the classrooms - you should see their World Book Day classroom doors/portals to other worlds! I could go on but you get the gist - I'm a happy customer. No school is perfect but they all seem pretty great round here so it's a good problem to have. In the end you just have to go with your gut instinct (not very helpful advice, I know). Best of luck with your choice! ETA: I wouldn't let a school's lack of marketing prowess put you off - they're about teaching, not selling, and in a background of budget cuts I'd be wary of any primary school that prioritised spending money on glossy brochures and slick sales pitches as opposed to teaching and facilities. So try not to let that put you off any school you visit...

It really is unacceptable. This was the queue at 8.40am today.

I'd assume the reason they don't use that driveway is because it looks like it's only a single-lane width, so whichever coach was at the front would block in all the others. And it would prevent emergency service access, as mentioned above. ETA: Though it wouldn't be that difficult to widen it and make it two lanes!

Well done you, Ruby. It really is a mess - I always avoid driving down Townley if I can help it as it's always so blocked (not easy when half of Dulwich Village is also in chaos with roadworks and sometimes it's the only way through). Glemham said earlier: 'All drivers are aware of the policy but enforcing it is difficult for the Coaches' small team of three as they cannot regularly be on site outside Alleyn's.' I have to say I don't really buy that - if there is a team of three surely ONE of them could simply patrol the street for an hour or so each afternoon to check their drivers are being sensible? Isn't that part of their job??? Even if they just did it once or twice a week the drivers/coach companies would surely get the message after a while.

Ha! Very true... My one bit of advice would be to self-cater and bring heaps of food with you to avoid having to do a shop onsite when you get there. We thought we'd eat out both nights when we went but it was a mistake as the food options aren't great and, as the previous poster implies, it does add to the not inconsiderable cost! Don't meant to sound negative about it on the whole - I was a bit sniffy about the idea of Centre Parcs beforehand but actually we all really enjoyed it and the kids bang on endlessly about going back again. It is wildly expensive but there is something about being in that lovely carless, natural environment - with loads of activities - that makes it a very good family destination. I came away a bit of a convert.

football fan fishfinger flamingo flapper French female (if male) film star Financial Times frogman Farrah Fawcett Father Time

Wow, the milk of human kindness dries up quite quickly on this forum. I'm sorry for your friend, betty31. That bollard looks a lot less easier to see than a human, even a small unaccompanied one.

Poor you. If it's any consolation, the second night after we moved to East Dulwich (from north London) some ars*hole broke into our car and nicked some random bits of engine from inside it. It was only a crappy Ford but they obviously needed the parts and thought they'd just help themselves! That was ten years ago and - touch everything wooden in sight - we've not suffered any more crime since. It's a nice place really. We're not *all* thieving peasants round here.

If it is a spam advert I don't think much of the level of spelling/grammar they're providing!

Re. Heber - the situation is that the headmaster retired last year and the deputy head Ms Rosenberg (who has been there for years and was co-head last year) is now acting head, with other senior teachers supporting her. She is very good and well-liked but she has a young family so didn't want to take on the full job herself. As I understand it the governors advertised the post last year but didn't find anyone quite right, and as they have the luxury of a strong 'acting' team in place they decided to re-advertise it again this year (obviously you only get one shot a year at advertising for headteachers). So although no one can say how long the process will take to find a new head, it feels like there's a secure set-up in the meantime. The senior leadership team of Ms Rosenberg, Ms Kyprios and Ms Jefford are all very popular with the parents and have lots of energy and enthusiasm, and they've appointed a new business manager to help with the admin side. Re. results - there's lots of info on the school website, link to the Ofsted etc. All seems good to me and going in the right direction (I've got two kids who've been through the whole school - youngest currently in Year 6). As I understand it you can book a tour of Heber with one of the teachers who can answer any more questions. Certainly as a parent I'm a big fan of the school and my kids have thrived there. It's always seemed like a very happy place to me. Good luck with your decision!

I have been wondering about this recently too. When I was a kid I would go to a cool (but slightly scary) youth club then from the age of about 12/13 there were regular roller discos in the local sports centre which were the highlight of my social life for years. Can't think of an equivalent in London, which is ridiculous really. My daughter goes to Guides but if anyone knows of a more social equivalent for 12/13-year-olds, I'd be interested to know of it. Something regular rather than just a one-off, ideally.

Thanks, Ilona, I've emailed them. Still interested to know if the other shoe bank is still at the Plough in case SDCAS don't want them.

Just resurrecting this thread - does anyone know if the shoe recycling box by the Plough is still there? Don't want to schlep up the hill with a huge bag of shoes unless I know it definitely exists! I just looked at the link for Sal's Shoes that bels123 posted but they are not accepting donations at the moment as they are inundated - shame, looks like a great charity.

Don't really understand what I'm meant to be vigilant about. People coming at me with crude weapons? OK, noted.

Yes, I was going to say - you don't mention how old your kids are, but surely schools will be the deciding factor? We live just off Lordship Lane by the cinema and I love being so close to everything - so easy to just pop out if you've forgotten to buy something, near to all the bars/restaurants/North X Rd market and extremely handy for buses into town. But it's horses for courses - parking is definitely harder round here and it's a ten-minute walk to either Dulwich or Peckham Rye parks. We nearly made an offer on a house in Peckham Rye when we first bought and I do think Peckham is 'cooler' than ED, but I've never regretted moving here. ETA: Ah, cross-posted - just seen you've got your secondary school sorted!

I'm not a fan either - my parents have got one and it seems ridiculously complicated to use. Even the cleaning isn't straightforward as you have to use a special cloth. And you apparently can't use it as a useful space to rest a hot baking tray you take out of the oven as it damages it (don't know if that's my Mum's paranoia but that's what she tells me). The worst thing is that you can't do what my mum calls the 'Jamie Oliver shake' when cooking, whereby you shake a stir-fry pan on the ring to turn the food - she did it one time and it short-circuited the whole thing and cost over ?200 to fix! So now my poor parents seem to live in terror of it, as do I. I stayed there recently and was very happy to come back to my battered old gas rings afterwards.

Sounds to me like she's in the wrong and you're within your rights to insist, if it's in the contract. But the nanny/employer relationship is such a tricky one - far more personal than a normal employer/employee. So I guess it depends how much you want to keep good relationships going, how strong the bond is between her and your children etc, as to whether you want to put your foot down over this. That said, I reckon it's worth broaching again - she might be a bit more reasonable once she's had time to think it over. Coming in for a couple of days to do a bit of light tidying and laundry sounds a lot easier than looking after young kids in my book - she could probably get it all done in one day and you'd be none the wiser. Maybe give her a list of the tasks you'd expect her to do so she can see for herself you're not planning to take the mickey? I guess she's worried that it'll set a precedent and she'll end up doing all the household skivvying in future, so you might need to reassure her on that point. But sounds like you've got right on your side. Good luck!

What's needed is a new doctor's surgery.

My older daughter is at Kingsdale and we are very happy with it but we have just put Sydenham Girls as our first choice for our second daughter! (Not sure she'll get in as I think we're too far but it's no. 1 on our list.) Our older daughter has a music scholarship at Kingsdale and it's been great - as well as her normal music lesson, she has a one-to-one lesson each week on her instrument, plus she's part of a weekly ensemble group, plus she has free lunchtime music theory lessons, plus they're allowed to go into the music rooms during breaks and rehearse/mess around on the instruments - really impressive provision. She also has a maths scholarship which is an extra after-school lesson each week - sounds deadly to me (extra maths!) but they make it fun and she's gained a lot from it. She's quite an outgoing child and she loves the busyness of the school and isn't phased by the size of it. Our younger daughter, however, is really into science and computer programming so Sydenham Girls seemed an obvious 'fit', plus I think she'd benefit from a slightly less overwhelming environment. From what I can see, Sydenham also has an excellent music provision though perhaps not as outstanding as the full scholarship at Kingsdale. But I was really impressed with Sydenham when I went round this year and I've got friends whose kids are happy and doing well there. So in the end I think both choices are great and you probably need to look at factors such as distance of the journey to school, whether or not your daughter would be happy in an all-girls' environment, how she feels about the size of the school etc. Ultimately I'd let your daughter choose if you can't decide! They're both great options. Good luck...

Banana bikes in Dulwich Park?