redjam

Um, no, kids can only try for a maths scholarships AFTER they have already been offered a place. Kingsdale do offer music and sports scholarships which increase your chances of getting in, but no academic ones. There are some local state schools that skew their intake by being partially selective, e.g. Graveney, and you could argue that music scholarships (such as Habs, Prendergast and Kingsdale offer) favour middle-class kids who can afford music lessons, but that's a separate discussion...

I did the NHS classes for my first child up in North London and they were pretty basic with no chance to socialise, though they did cover everything. Didn't bother with the NCT classes. However I did join the NCT tea-group for my second child when we moved here and it was a really good way to meet people as it's purely social. That said, there are heaps of similar groups if you look on here or in SE22 Magazine and other publications so you can certainly avoid paying the class fees if you're only interested in the social side of things. I don't recall paying for the tea group at all as it was just an informal group with no 'leader' - the NCT just facilitated it but then we organised the meet-ups ourselves. My understanding of the NCT classes is that they push quite a natural style of childbirth, which may or may not be your thing (I know the prevailing American trends in childbirth are more medicalised). Nothing wrong with that, of course, but just be aware there's a bit of an agenda!

Am I the only person who thinks this is utterly insane?! We also opted out of child benefit when the changes came in several years ago but luckily I am anally retentive so have hung on to the bit of paper that confirmed we'd done so. But there was no reason at the time to think I'd ever need it again so I'm sure you're not the only person who'll need to get a new letter, mrs.lotte. Talk about government departments creating paperwork for themselves! There must be so many other ways they can confirm your child is who you say they are and where you live without going via this route, given that so many people will have opted out years ago.

RoboR Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > We are really happy to be quite honest, he really > liked Kingsdale but after the incident last year > with the poor boys we are not so sure as he is > quite a wet fish as such and it looks like class > sizes will be much bigger this sept. Much to think > about. Re. Kingsdale: just heard from a friend who rang the school this morning. He was told that class sizes will not be affected in core subjects - will still be 20. There will be 2 heads of year instead of one plus extra teaching staff. And no portacabins as they have the space. So quite reassuring... See also this article in yesterday's Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/mar/01/rush-titans-supersize-secondary-schools-surging-population

Happy family here too - Charter ED and Kingsdale (our 2nd choice after Charter, which realistically we knew we wouldn't get) so we are thrilled. Now a tricky decision between a school with a 360 intake in just one year and another with 120 in the entire school! Daughter is dead keen on Kingsdale though: 'Bring on Big School,' she says...

So, landsberger, from what I can gather, those stats relate to the offers made on National Offers Day only, so presumably the percentage of kids who actually end up going to a school they want is higher once the waiting lists have shaken down - is that right? Came across this para when skimming through the link: 4.13 The Isles of Scilly LA has one school which takes pupils between the ages of 3 and 16. Parents are not required to complete an application form and there is no competition for a place at the school. Therefore this LA has been omitted from both tables as preference rates cannot be calculated. Now doesn't that sound bliss?! Good luck tomorrow, people.

My daughter has been taught by both Ben Dean and Alex Bayly, happy to recommend both: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?30,1632219,1635853#msg-1635853 www.alexbaylyguitartuition.com

Happy to add my voice to the recommendations for Steve - he treated some spots of dark grease/oil (not quite sure what it was) on our pale carpet and it came up a treat.

Mrs Robinson and Ed (North X Rd) for interesting pressies and clothes. But I couldn't live without AJ Farmers, or the Useful Shop as it's known in our house.

Signed. Thanks for sharing.

Oh, and what about the church on Barry Road - in fact there are two church halls on Barry Road, one up by the library and one opposite Silvester Road (St Clement & St Peter). I believe they're both available for private hire.

You could also try the large upstairs room at the Lordship pub (ex-Mag) on Lordship Lane, the community centre on Darrell Road or the Albrighton community centre on Dog Kennel Hill. I've used/been to all of these for parties and they've all been good (I think the Lordship is the nicest of these). I believe the Ivy House in Nunhead also has a room available for rent. Good luck!

We went on Winterville's rink last year and I agree it was really not fun to skate on. Tiny, too. Somerset House is better and very beautiful/Christmassy (but also small), as is the Winter Wonderland rink in Hyde Park, which is bigger. I've also heard good things about the one in Canary Wharf but not been. However, I agree Streatham is best if you want a really big, smooth rink, though it can get crowded in the run-up to Christmas and it's a bit municipal in atmosphere. Still love it there though!

They're all good, popular, local schools. The problem with asking on a forum is that most people will only have experience of one school so it's difficult to give an overview of how they are in relation to others (and if you ask ten different people about their own child's school, you'll get ten different answers). I'm afraid, as landsberger says, you really need to visit them if you want to get more of a feel for what they are like individually, though I realise that's not very helpful to you if you're on the other side of the Atlantic! School websites can be a useful source of information, giving details of forthcoming trips and activities etc - perhaps have a browse on there? The other thing you may or may not know is that the catchment areas for some of these schools are very tiny (and fluctuate each year) so you're unlikely to be in the catchment for all four of them. There may not be quite as much 'choice' as you think. But do be reassured that these are all good schools with their own passionate supporters, so I don't think you'd go far wrong with any of them.

No one is a successful applicant yet - places aren't offered till 1 March. So people have got plenty of time to decide if they want to turn it down if they don't like the idea. As Curmudgeon says, it was an additional choice on top of the standard form this year, so people won't have lost out if they decide they don't want their child to travel at all for those two years. But I would point out that this new temporary site is still much nearer than most of the other 'local' choices, e.g. Kingsdale, Sydenham Girls etc - it's certainly much nearer than five out of the six other choices we had on our list.

Mick Mac Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > no change to the admissions policy - just a change > to where the school is going to be for two years - > that was the point - isn't that bad enough? > > I don't see this as bad news at all - I think it is excellent news. I'd far rather the kids have decent space and facilities, even if they have to travel a bit further, rather than being on a cramped and noisy building site for two years. Plus it means they can crack on with the building work on the actual site more freely.

Sounds very clear to me from their email that this new site does NOT change their admissions criteria: 'We will, of course, have to contend with a site that is slightly further away from our permanent base. The Southampton Way campus is 1.2 miles from the Dulwich Community Hospital. The Charter Schools Educational Trust recognises that parents and carers will have made applications to TCSED expecting that we would be based on the hospital site as that was the only option available to us at the time applications were made. Our occupation of the temporary site has no impact on our admissions criteria.' It sounds like buses will definitely be laid on to take them from the ED site. This is all v encouraging and interesting news - I was really concerned by the previous lack of space for a library, science and art rooms, assembly hall, sports space etc in the original temporary site (for the first two years), but this rather changes things...

I sympathise. My daughter had two lots of tests today - one in the morning for one school and another in the afternoon. She's got more coming up in a few weeks, including one for a school that is sixth on our list, which I'm not even sure I can be bothered for us to attend as she's so unlikely to get in. But ? that said, we knew about these tests from the beginning - they're all listed in each school's application criteria. So they're not a surprise - even the dates are publicised in advance. And many schools use the results from these tests to allocate their places (to make sure they get a fair mix of abilities) so I can see why they need to do them. So overall, yes, it's a pain but I think the schools hold all the cards and are well within their rights to insist your child takes them. You could try kicking up a fuss but personally I wouldn't be happy gambling with my child's prospects like that. From what I've seen so far, the banding tests are not particularly scary as they're more just to get a feel for the child's overall levels rather than anything more in-depth. You would think there would be a way that primary schools could pass on information about their children to avoid them having to take multiple tests, but sadly no. My own strategy was to bribe my daughter with chocolate and tell her not to stress about it. Seemed to work.

What time of day was this, Katnap? I'm making a mental note to keep my door latch on in future while I'm working at home during the day - I always assume no one would try to break in if I'm actually in the house, but this shows that perhaps I've been rather naive. Very sorry to hear about it and hope you're OK. It does leave you feeling very shaken and angry.

Sigh. Makes you proud.

I agree - it's not OK at all (though I admit I've occasionally been guilty of doing it myself). But if the bus stop were better situated there'd be no temptation to do it.

According to the official stats, the number of passengers using Denmark Hill has gone up from 3.7 million in 2011-12 to 5.16 million in 2013-14, plus another 100,000 using it as an interchange. No wonder it seems more overcrowded. I agree the redesign was a disaster - it was a hugely wasted opportunity not to increase the size of the entrance hall and clearly it needs several more barriers and ticket machines, judging by the queues in the morning. The new walkways and ticket hall also look unforgiveably cheap, given how much it all cost - especially sad when considering how lovely the original building was. And yes, another entrance would have been sensible, but I can't see it happening now. The other thing that seems incredibly dangerous is having the bus stop situated so far away from the crossing lights (which are further up from the station). The result is that everyone just charges over the road blindly in order to get to the station as quickly as they can. Every morning I'm amazed no one is knocked down.

You can buy Nike vouchers online and they post them.

It's an interesting point - it must be a cultural thing. I'm sure it's the norm in America but if I'd been affected by some personal tragedy, I'd be utterly baffled if a stranger rocked up offering me cooked meals or childcare, even if they lived a few doors down from me (though if it were my actual neighbours, who I know and like, that would be different). In fact, I'd find it intrusive and, yes, I'd probably suspect their motives and think they were being nosey. Isn't that awful! But I guess it's just how you're brought up - I know my parents would be exactly the same, in fact much worse.

crystalball Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Is it generally advisable to put the schools in a > genuine list of preference (regardless of > possibility of getting in)? Short answer: yes.