redjam

Agreed, Belle. Surely we should be supporting the fact that James is raising the issue that a school is needed before we start giving him a hard time about the choice of provider? And clearly he needs to prove the demand is there before he can start on the next step. It seems pretty straightforward to me and I, for one, am delighted he's starting the ball rolling with it. Yes, a public meeting would be useful down the line but it's still early days yet. And with 1500 views in a week on the forum, this is a pretty good way of engaging the wider community (you wouldn't get 1500 people turning up to a public meeting!).

I also recommend the Greenwich one - I've been a few times and it's usually pretty good (better than Bromley and even the much-vaunted Hackney Empire one the year I went). Not tried Catford yet.

Actually it says this: 7. Works will form part of a rolling programme and will be expected to commence on 2nd December 2013 for a maximum period of 18 months. The dates specified are for guidance and informative purposes only and works may extend outside these dates. Extraordinary.

School fairs can be a good source of unusual pressies as well as a way of supporting your local community - am I allowed a little plug for the Heber Christmas Fair on Sunday 1 December, 11.30am to 3pm? There'll be several little local businesses attending with stalls selling their products.

I also attended the meeting last night and share the dismay of the teaching staff and other parents that the school that my kids know and love was not represented accurately in the report. Of course there is room for improvement - there is always room for improvement - but I'm confident that the school is taking positive steps in these areas and I can see with my own eyes that it has steadily improved in the five years since my daughter started. I can only speak from my own experience but I have always been happy with the teaching and I think the staff there are a hardworking, dedicated bunch who really care about the children. Personally I thought the meeting was handled very well and I feel the school's approach to the report was spot on - they intend to fight vigorously what seems a strong case about the manner in which the inspection took place yet at the same time to take on board the criticisms and continue to focus on these areas (which of course they'd already been doing). They are clearly desperate to have another inspection ASAP to have a chance to show what they can do. If you are a new parent at the school I would urge you not to worry - Heber is a great school with loads going on and a warm, caring staff. I am desperately sorry for the school that this has happened but I guess one good thing to take away from it is that there will be an extra focus on the areas that appear deficient (i.e. value-added pupil progress). But I really hope this isn't at the expense of all the other wonderful things that do that make it such a happy environment - the music performances, the amazing art, the trips, the visiting authors, the kid-run fundraising projects etc. For me, those things say far more about a school than statistics.

Very disappointing. I'm stunned, actually. The school is lodging an appeal, I see.

Happy to add my name in praise of Andy. He is punctual, reliable and reasonably priced.

...then get down to the Heber Car Boot Sale this Sunday morning (28th), from 9.30am to 1pm. There are masses of car booters lined up and lots will be selling old toys, kids' clothes, bikes etc if last year's sale is anything to go by. Entry is 50p for adults (kids go free) and all the profits from the cafe and entrance fees will go to the renovation of the old caretaker's house, which is being turned into a new learning centre for the children, so it's all for a good local cause. See you there!

I'm also happy to add my name to the recommendations for Steve from D G Services. He's come round a couple of times this week with his colleague, and the two of them have worked like demons in our garden, clearing out the overgrowth. We can actually see the sky out there now! Steve was polite, hardworking and very reasonably priced. I will use his company again.

Saffron, that made me laugh out loud! And Cashewnut, yes I take your point that many girls do grow up retaining some of that childish desire for wish-fulfilment that in turn feeds into the idea that they deserve a 'fairytale ending', i.e. huge white wedding or whatever. But I would argue that all children start from that basic emotional level - whether they read Cinderella, Pippi Longstocking or never open a book in their lives - and that most of us mature and move on from that, to a greater or lesser degree. I don't think the fairytales themselves CAUSE those desires; I think they're inherent in children and fairytales appeal to them because they REFLECT their deepest wishes, i.e. that someone will wave a magic wand and 'make it all better'. We all want that, at heart, don't we? It's a basic human instinct, to yearn for a fairy godmother to look after us and make everything OK. And for little kids - who don't have the power to change much themselves - it's even more important. Anyway, that's my tuppence worth - must do some more work! And sorry for the SHOUTY CAPS - haven't figured out how to do italics on this forum.

Cashewnut - in answer to your question, I think at a young age children just see stories as make-believe - we have to be taught to analyse their 'message' as we get older, it's not something children do naturally. I would argue children are far more influenced by what they see around them in the real world than anything they find in literature - i.e. how their parents behave to each other, how they are treated in turn by their parents. Do you honestly think grown women make any life decisions based on their love of a favourite fairy tale as a child? There are far stronger forces - economic influences, peer pressure, family opinion, media commentary - that shape our adult lives. By the time we are old enough to analyse these stories and question the values at work in them, they have lost our hold over us. And before that, kids just enjoy them as wish-fulfilment fantasies and don't read deeper messages into them.

I'd be interested to know how many of the smart, feminist women writing on this thread were brought up reading the Cinderella story. I was certainly fed a diet of fairy tales, Enid Blyton and (later) Jackie magazine by my traditional, stay-at-home mum. Did I grow up loving literature in all its forms? I did. Did I grow up to become a meek, subservient little wifey who bows to my husband in every argument? I did not (ask my poor husband). In fact, isn't all this feminist analysis of Cinderella missing the point? The reason children respond to the story is precisely BECAUSE Cinderella is powerless, and all her problems are magically solved by the fairy godmother. She might technically be an adult but she functions in the story like a child. Children are powerless - all of them, girls and boys - and if bad things happen to them they mostly don't have the wherewithal to do much about it. Who hasn't, as a child, wished that they had a fairy godmother who could come and solve all their problems? That's why the story resonates so much. Certainly it's the fairy godmother scene that most entrances my younger daughter, who adores Cinderella. The prince is merely the tacked-on conventional 'happy ending' and she's not really interested in that. I suspect the reason it appeals more to girls than boys is more to do with the fact that a nice frock features heavily (and again, haven't we all wanted to be transformed into a breathtaking beauty with the swish of a wand?). But I think the basic transformation story appeals to every child - I guess the 'male' equivalent is weedy Clark Kent turning into Superman. I think to look at the story through practical adult eyes ('why doesn't she leave and get another job?') is missing the very thing that makes it appeal to a child. I discussed it with my daughters (age 5 and 8) last night and they were utterly baffled at the idea that Cinderella could have left and told the ugly sisters where to stick it. She just doesn't have that function in the story.

Heber is a lovely school - friendly atmosphere, lots of energy and loads of things going on all the time. My kids are very happy there and we're very pleased with the quality of the teaching. Music and art departments are notably good, though I do think it suffers from not having much outside space for PE (very common in London schools, unfortunately!). If you ring the office you can arrange for someone to give you a tour of the school at any time, plus they do occasional open days. Or come along to the Fun Run in Dulwich Park in May or the Summer Fair to get a feel for the school. I gather Goodrich is also a very good school, especially since the new head came, so if you are close to both these schools you are lucky (though as bonaome points out, there are no 'catchment areas' as such - they differ every year depending on siblings etc). Good luck!

It is a gamble and the only way you can be sure of 'winning' is by buying a house virtually next door to the school of your choice, as obviously catchment areas differ each year depending on number of siblings etc. But the good thing about SE22 and SE23 is that there are lots of excellent and improving schools, so if you target a neighbourhood with a few decent schools nearby, you should be OK. There are certain 'black holes' to watch out for - some streets around Peckham Rye are not very near any primary schools so I gather there have been problems getting into local schools from there - but by and large most people seem to get a decent school in the end (though be aware that you might not get given on in the first round of allocations - there's a 'shakedown' period so don't despair if you don't get offered the school of your choice immediately). As for secondary schools, that's a whole other ball game. All secondary schools set their own entrance criteria so it's fiendishly complicated and virtually impossible to work out whether you would get into one unless it's one of the schools that allocates places solely on distance (i.e. Charter), in which case, again, you'd have to live very close by to be absolutely sure of getting a place (and pay a premium for doing so). Probably best to do as we did and bury your head in the sand about secondary school places until it's time to think about them! Good luck...

This has come up before, see: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,967313,967488#msg-967488 I have a July child and she was absolutely fine when she started school. Reception is very play-based - you really can't call it 'formal' education. They get to follow their own interests and any learning is done in a fun and unstructured way (songs, games etc). I was more worried about how my daughter would cope going to the loo on her own, getting her coat on and off, managing at lunchtime etc, so we made sure to role-play it all before she started. Personally I think she would have found it much harder to transition into Year 1 if she hadn't already made friends and got used to the idea of school in Reception. Year 1 really is much more formal so it would be a big jump to start there straight from nursery, imo. OP, I realise you hated being the youngest but I have a friend born on 31 August who absolutely adored it, and my own daughter also loves being the 'baby' of the class. So don't assume your child will feel the same way as you - hope not, anyway! Good luck...

Renata, very good to hear that plans are being put in place for the future squeeze on secondary school places - as the mum of a Year 3 child I'm already aware of several families planning to move out of the area due to worries over secondary schools. At the risk of hijacking the thread, can I ask what is/where will be the possible new free school that is still in the planning stage? And is it too early to reveal which of the existing secondary schools are currently in discussions about expansion? Many thanks.

The Dulwich Medical Centre on Crystal Palace has some good doctors but they are a nightmare to get an appointment at. If you want to be sure of getting an appointment on the day you have to queue outside before it opens as it's so difficult to get through on the phone. There are several threads about this on the main part of the forum if you do a search - they've clearly taken on too many patients at the moment. Such a shame as I do think the doctors are very good. I used to be a patient at the one on Melbourne Grove, but then they brought in an equally nightmareish telephone consultation system, whereby a receptionist would have to phone you back several hours after your initial call to discuss your requirements before they would make an appointment. Somehow this always seemed to result in them phoning you back when you were in the middle of a meeting - which would mean you'd have to start the whole process again - or you'd be forced to discuss your ailment on a crowded train carriage or whatever. Plus all their good doctors seemed to leave around the time we were there. This was a couple of years ago so don't know if things have improved since then. I've heard good things about the one at the Gardens and the Forest Hill Road Group Practice, and I think there's one on Lordship Lane which is meant to be good. At some point I will switch and hope for third time lucky!

Not bullying, Shinac, just pointing out that in your original post (before you edited it right down) you had exactly the same misspellings and grammatical constructions/writing style as Annaloo9. Perhaps it was just a coincidence. That aside, obviously it's a shame if a good health visitor has left and yes it sounds like you should complain, though whether or not it'd have any effect is a moot point...

I would hazard a guess and say Shinac and Annaloo9 are one and the same...

I agree with Smiler - tread very carefully or, better still, wait to be asked before venturing an opinion. My older daughter had some physical delays and I had a couple of well-meaning relatives offering me a load of 'advice' (via Dr Google, naturally) which was both worrying and - as it turned out - completely wrong. If your nephew's parents have already noticed the issue then I'm sure they are well aware they can get professional advice and wouldn't need to have it pointed out by you. I think this is rather different to your mum's case as in that instance you were her advocate whereas here the child's parents are. Unless you're v close to your brother? I just remember how upset I was when my relatives started coming up with all this well-meaning advice for my child - it was kindly meant, but left me feeling wretched. Very tricky balance to get right! Good luck...

There is a thread about it here: http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,1011903

Don't know about this particular nursery but my daughter attended an absolutely lovely Montessori (Blossoms in Dunstans Grove - and yes they did have toys and dressing-up clothes!) and a fairly rubbish one, which had better remain nameless. So I don't think whether a nursery is Montessori or not makes a difference as to whether it's good or bad per se. All you can do is visit and ask lots of questions and get a good feel for the place and judge it on that. Very hard when you don't have anything to compare it to, of course. Good luck - hope it's one of the good ones!

Nice to see Fellbrigg Road getting a namecheck (*waves to Green*)

Yes, the next Heber open morning is Wednesday 21st November, as Sunbob mentioned above, from 9.30 to 11am. No need to book and all prospective parents are welcome - tea, coffee and refreshments will be provided!

A belated thank you for these recommendations - in the end Melody from Melody's Music got back to us so we're going with her, but thanks again for the suggestions!