Carbonara

The published 'last distance' refers to the offers made on National Offer Day, not the eventual admissions,where there is often a wider catchment. People may decide to go private, move house, or get a place at a school higher up their own list of preferences. So don't despair! Waiting lists start to move a couple of weeks after the acceptance date, and places come up even in the first week of term. Are you close enough to Bessemer? You can apply to Lambeth schools, too. (But you are probably not that direction if Fairlawn is your next nearest). "And if you don't get your first, second or third choices and get a school that you don't want then it's harder to appeal. As opposed to only putting your preferred down and not getting in and being given a school by the council, and appeal is more likely to be successful" This is total nonsense! There are very very few grounds for successful appeals to primary schools anyway , because of the adherence to PAN (published admission number).And what other schools you did or did not put down are immaterial. But you do have to have applied to a school to appeal it. Use your 6 preferences to include the least-worst school that you would definitely get into, and put them in the exact order that you prefer them. There is no way to 'game' the system. If you get a place you are less than happy with - accept it! But stay on the waiting lists for all the schools higher up your list. There is no disadvantage in accepting the place. It does not reduce your chances of a waiting list place.

Malaysia, Penang http://www.penang.ws/penang-attractions/beach.htm#

This looks lovely - from 13th Dec http://www.ovalhouse.com/whatson/detail/breaking-the-ice

The Beach coast by Hoi An is lovely, we stayed at the beach and then went into Hoi An in the evening, when the lanterns are lit and the temperature has fallen a little . If you can splash out on your budget, The Hoi An Boutique hotel is lovely, pool, right on the beach, free shuttle bus throughout the day and evening into Hoi An, and fantastic beach cafes 2 minutes from the hotel. There are good day trips from Hoi An: My Son, an eco tour of the rivers, with an opportunity to try the little coracle boats and some fishing etc. The ridiculous Ba Na hill resort with a cable car up the mountain. Vietnam is a long country. If you travel South by train I would fly back to Hanoi to meet your homeward flight. The internal flights can be very cheap. One thing: I think it is worth getting a driver to take you from Hue to Hoi An - the train does not go over the Hai Van pass! You can make a day of it - maybe stop at the Hot Springs, or Lang Co beach, or Marble Mountain. And the obligatory stop at the top of the Hai Van pass. You can get a driver from one of the travel agents in Hue, you might not get the best price from your hotel.Getting a driver is a surprisingly cheap option.

You won't stand a chance of a place at Elmgreen from Camberwell unless you have statement / EHCP surely? Are you applying under social / medical need? Are you also applying to Your closest schools?

The borough the school is in makes no difference to anything. Schools are not allowed to prioritise admissions on the basis of borough. You make your one application via the CAF and your LA does all the liaison with all the schools and the system and process is the same. Some E Dulwich families might apply to schools in 3 or 4 boroughs!

The schools do not actually know where on your list you have put them, just that you applied. They rank everyone who applies in order of how they meet the admission criteria. The admission criteria are the ONLY factors they can use to allocate places. If more than one school can offer you a place, the LA allocates the place that is highest up your list. So if (for example) Charter and Kingsdale could both offer you a place, the LA will allocate you whichever is highest up your list. So, list the schools in the genuine order in which you prefer them. It is OK to put a 'long shot' first, and even second. It will not disadvantage you in getting a place in a school you are more likely to get. But you must list a school which you should be able to get a place in. If none of the schools you list can offer you a place, the LA will offer you a place at any school that has a vacancy. It may be that your most likely / nearest school is not one you are very keen on, but unless you list it, in last place, you run the risk of getting an equally unfavourable choice but it could be miles away. If you get allocated a school you are not keen on, accept it anyway. Accepting it will not disadvantage you in getting a waiting list place. Turning it down will not act as any lever or pressure in getting a place - and you may end up with no place at all or a worse place. Lots of movement on waiiting lists over the summer.

bodsier - no there are no Community Schools - those run by the LA and with admissions criteria set by the LA - left in Southwark. As another poster said, the tests are just banding tests. They are designed to make sure that a school has a representative inclusion of all abilities of children. The tests are different from SATS and are about the child's ability, not their achievement. So puzzle type questions, rather than testing their education up until this point. There is no pass or fail, they just give an idea of ability and schools admit an equal number form 3 or 5 ability bands. Of course, if you try for selective places at one of the grammar schools then there will be a pass / fail selection, and those with the highest test scores will be let in. But that does not apply to any Southwark schools. Targets are set based on SATS because that is what provides the steady level of progress monitoring throughout the child's school career.

Dunraven: Humanities, Arts, Maths, Good extra-curricular music offer. Charter: Science. Can be hard for newcomers in sixth form because of the proportion of 'remainers' . Both these require A (presumably now 8) grades at GCSE for most academic subjects to be studies at A level. Depends on your child, predicted grades, and preferred courses for Yrs 12 and 13.

To avoid thread de-rail and to get best answers about Charter East Dulwich, start a new thread? Good for Kingsdale. Anyone in E Dulwich has exactly the same chance of getting a place as anyone in W Dulwich, due to the Lottery system. Lottery and the scholarships (music and sport) were key to getting people to consider the school as part of its transformation many years ago. I personally think it should now revert to operating as a local school with a distance catchment. But it does provide an option for people in S London who feel their local / nearest schools are not strong, and provides an alternative to what is sometimes a house-price based admissions system in our good schools.

Yes, Dunraven an excellent school. You would need to be very close for best chance of a place, but if you can move in between Dunraven and Elmgreen, you have a chance of two good schools, and still on a good transport route for a Kingsdale lottery place (maybe).

If you move right on to the doorstep of Charter you will go to the top of the list for any places that become available, but you might have to hold your nerve until into the first week of term. You would stand the same chance as everyone else in Kingsdale's lottery, and you can out yourself on as many waiting lists as you like. To be honest I think it will be the same anywhere for Yr 10.

Oh, I forgot about that one! Thanks. Oh, well - I have looked on their website - cheaper in West Norwood!

Ah, thank you! Sainsbury's: Out of stock. I have found a school uniform shop in West Norwood that has some, only a hop and a skip :)

The number given on the 'net is not current If not where else can I buy teen short sleeved white shirts, today Thank you!

The advice I had was not to try when the baby is hungry, because all they know is that it is the breast that solves their hunger, and they just get upset and frustrated with something that seems like not what they know works. The advice I had was after a good amount of feed , try, and at other times let them play and experiment and discover that the teat does the same job. Having said that, one of mine was a total bottle refusenik, and eventually went straight to a cup. When is the CFS? If your baby is 6m / starting to wean by then it's possible to manage on spoonfuls of baby food heavily laced with milk. Mine managed like this during the day at nursery and caught up on his milk intake between me coming home and the next morning. But my parenting strategies are usually 'desperate contingencies' rather than a model to follow.

Glad you are OK - what Saffron said! Good afternoon. :)

Temporary renting, whilst having a permanent home in the same area IS against the rules. In primary schools, very close to east Dulwich, a few years ago, parents who pulled this stunt have had children REMOVED from the school - actually removed from the playground - and their places revoked.

I'd vote for that, in a consultation, MrsTP! Maybe if families are still in the same house, or still have the school as their nearest secondary, they should be allowed to take up a sibling place. There is a much lauded and competed over primary school near where I used to live (my children did not go to it), and every year the flats in the same road were rented out to secure a place. Then the renters would move back home and the next year a new family of temporary renters would get their eldest in, and so on. One flat could end up monopolising 9 places, over 3 years, and successive families, and so-on down the years.

3 siblings from one family is FINE if all the siblings are part of the usual area that would serve the school. I think for secondary siblings should only be allowed if they still live within a certain distance. It would help stop this rental scam, because people would have to rent for each admission, and it would be a pain, expensive, and obvious!

I would make my choice on the merits of the job and your long term employment prospects and aspirations. Is it a fantastic promotion with more money? Will it be secure as uncertain times approach? I don't think people flee ED for secondary, because the secondary offer is good and because ED offers a great opportunity for family life. IME London is "the best" for teens (I have one!) because they can be so independent, with their Zip Cards and a fantastic network of free travel. Have you seen the bus fares in other places? In most fields, London offers the greatest opportunity in the job market. Offset of course, by horrendous house prices. But if you are already on the property ladder that isn't such a consideration. I was in Brighton last week, and from the Estate Agents windows the prices were astronomical there, too. But I think if you sell in London and move out, you may never be able to move back.

"What especially annoys me is that parents don't know how lucky they are to have London schools. They all push everyone out of the way to get "the best" ones, without realising that they're all pretty bloody good." Me too. Competitive parent syndrome, causing the problem that everyone then gets hysterical about. This new Rightmove SchoolsFinder (aka Estate Agents will rake it in) will only make the problem worse. I feel for people who genuinely are in a difficult position. The government pretence of 'choice' is making things worse, as the only new schools now are Free schools and they are established with little relationship to actual need, geographical, and more often seem to answer the need of some parental bee in bonnet, and just create more segregation. Do you want to have to choose a bilingual school, a school where the kids have to walk everywhere in silence with their hands behind their backs, or where Toby Young's minions are forced to teach wearing fake University gowns? And schools that set their own admissions policies which are not in the best interests of the local community, by lottery, for example..... (Lottery could be an answer to all this if ALL schools admit by lottery, but not when it is just one school in a neighbourhood of distance admissions) The new Charter has been a great initiative. As was Elmgreen (set up by parents, with the admissions policy in line with the LA). I think it would help if secondary schools dropped the sibling priority. Families get the first child in and then move away and get another 2 kids in, thus taking places from families who live nearer. You could have 2 thirds of the school living far away simply because of the siblings policy. It isn't necessary at secondary. It's nice, families often like it, but it should be possible if people haven't 'played the system' and are accessing the school from beyond it's natural catchment.

You OK, Lavender27?

The proposed losses for Secondaries are huge. Cuts Per pupil per year: Charter ?1,216 Harris Boys ?1,107 Harris Girls ?1,375 Harris Peckham ?1,379 Sydenham ?825 Have a look at The FairFunding Campaign http://www.fairfundingforallschools.org/ . This is a parent-led campaign. These cuts are not the fault of local councils, they are government imposed. It is not the fault of the schools' management - they are ALREADT+Y cutting so-called 'back office' stuff. Plenty of schools now demand that TAs supervise lunch, for no extra money, having done away with dinner staff. Schools have cut trips out, extra curricular provision, music lessons and restricted choices available. They are already cut to the bone. These cuts represent about 18 full time teachers from these secondary schools. We cannot be complacent about this, sitting round carping about councils and how schools ought to manage better. If you want to see the level of schools finding maintained, not cut sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/stop-school-funding-cuts-all-our-children-deserve-a-great-education?source_location=petition_nav The FairFundng Campaign has a template to use for writing to your MP. Find out how much YOUR schools stands to lose here http://www.schoolcuts.org.uk./#/schools

It makes no difference to your school choices or applications if you are in Lambeth - your CAF (application form) will go to Lambeth, but they distribute your applications to all the schools, wherever they may be, and then collate the answers. You can apply to schools in which ever borough you like, and they are not allowed to prioritise borough residents. The only criteria they can use is their published admissions criteria. So if Charter is your top choice, put it down. And any other Southwark schools, like Kingsdale, Harris etc. Several faith schools in the Camberwell area - but you will need to check the faith criteria.