Carbonara

I was approached by a 'breast feeding' scammer. She actually squirted milk at me. That was in S Lambeth Rd. A thin light skinned black woman. Was it the same person?

I saw a mini-plague (in the absence of any other collective noun!) of rats from the boardwalk last week. There used to be loads round the ponds in Brockwell Park. Making ducks ill be throwing tons of white bread at them is the problem. In Brockwell Park they poisoned them - and several dogs and crows died too. The dog deaths were 'unexplained'. But small terrier type dogs dying at the same time as a mass rat-poisoning exercise? Educating folk about feeding ducks is the better way of managing rats.

Forgewood.

I think a New Charter school would be an excellent development, and am pleased to see a model of a Free school being proposed along the same lines as a successful 'more like a normal community comp' model than some of the nutty Free Schools that have emerged! As it happens, I am in favour of banded comps, and suspect that if all schools admitted on fair banding (and within each band on distance)then there would be fewer schools that parents avoid - all schools would have a reasonable spread of abilities and academic peer groups for our children. Whatever else you may or may not have to say, introducing a fair banding system was key in the Kingsdale turnaround. But no lotteries that have no relation to locality / distance, please!

Pop up tents have fly sheets and guy ropes! Decathlon staff will demonstrate and teach you how to fold your tent in the shop - and you can return for more help, I have seen people being taught how to do it, and there are videos on YouTube. http://www.bradburncamping.co.uk/vango-midas-800-tent-moss/p48?source=froogle&utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=comparison_shopping_feeds&utm_nooverride=1 This is a good brand, a good deal and suits your requirement for spaces to be a little apart.(not pop up!)

The Olympic Park is brilliant for small children and primary aged kids. Loads of excellent playgrounds and features. For older ones: take a skateboard.

Sorry to hear about this, poor boy, and it's no fun to think of your child feeling vulnerable. The school need to tackle this ferociously and head on. They should have a bullying policy, maybe you can look at it on the website before you talk to them? This is an unfashionable and often unpopular thing to say, but children can be coached in some techniques and the confidence to carry them out. Whether we like it or not, boys say things ot each other and behave with each other in ways that would not be allowed in civilised society, and that's when they are being nice to each other! Search 'bullying support' - websites like KidPower have lots of good advice.

It looks fantastic. Is it part of the Supercamps outfit? They do very good holiday day schemes. No way would I be able to fit in a return trip to Downe at the beginning and end of my working day, though! the leaflet says 'transport', I wonder what that means?

For future reference - the little Curzon cinema in Wimbledon, above HMV. Leather, high back, roomy.

Bear in mind that catchments areas will probably continue to shrink year on year, so being equidistant between two schools but on the doorstep of none may not be a smart tactic and could leave you in a so-called 'black hole'. Better to be very close to one school and had a 'dead cert' with options to try for others. Somewhere on this forum is a map showing the overlapping circles of catchments for all the schools.

"The adults claimed not to understand any english so weren't able to explain what had happened." What? And the Aquarium staff and the father just let them go before calling the police?

The Section 8 report from November details what improvements have been made. Ofsted is only one way of judgng a school, and can give a completely different picture from what parents say about their child's experience and progress. The page for Heber on the Dept of Education website shows that achievement in the school is above the national average and above the average for the LA. Also that the high attainers do well and meet expected targets. Though it is notable that no children on FSM achived level 5 SATS and that middle and low attainers do less well, relatively, than high attainers. My children are not at Heber, but I am sure some who are will be along soon.

The Herne Hill one is very good, the yellow one on the corner opposite Pizza Express. They might still be using another denstis's premises after the flood, but the phone number will be the same.

BBelle: don't worry, my post was far from offered as serious investment advice, and came delivered with tongue in cheek! Though to be fair I only know the borough of Sutton as a traffic jam on the way to ghastly theme parks.

How old is your daughter? Heads do still have some discretion, and they have discretion as to whether they report you and you get fined. Good luck, and whatever happens, the main thing is that your continued good health be celebrated every day.

Beware the Sutton Grammars though, they are the so-called super-selectives that have no distance criteria so take competitive applications from all over S London and beyond. Children travel for miles! So only the tiny top percentage of ability gets in. The place has no charisma, does it? Perhaps it will be the ED of the next decade! Buy now.

The Gowlett? A bit further away in Herne Hill the Florence has a children's playroom out the back, but you would need to be in the beer garden.

All the places suggested on acb's post, plus Carluccio's Covent Garden. Patisserie Valerie opposite Leicester Sq tube on Charing X Rd does Ice cream sundaes etc, and towering cakes.

RE IS compulsory in state schools, but it is education ABOUT religion, not encouraging them to be religious. An act of daily worship is also required in state schools, but it is widely flouted. As you are not a member of any religious congregation your chances of getting a place in a faith school in ED are nil while in many areas your choice of community primaries is quite high.. If you move to some rural area you might find that all the nearby village schools are CoE, with various degrees of religious practice from negligible to very active.

John Lewis.

You can choose to only out one school on the form, but that would be a risk. You should be a dead cert for DVIS, but you never know how many siblings will be taking up all the places, or how many 'Looked After' kids, especially as that category will expand now to include all children who were adopted from care. Have a look at Bessemer and Rosendale. All good options :)

Take the pedals off and let her try it as a balance bike for a few days. When she can scoot along with her feet up and maybe use her weight to turn put the pedals back on. A slight (SLIGHT!) downhill slope on grass is good, as the momentum of the slope helps them keep their balance. You are right to ditch the stabilisers, they encourage a use of body weight that is counter-productive for actual balancing.

The Supercamps childcare holiday clubs are great. The closest is based at Clapham and Streatham Girls school in Streatham Hill. They do Mon-Fri, 9-5, or from 8 am and until 6pm if you need to extend. You can use childcare vouchers to pay. I have used them - the care is good and the activities fun. You can book a whole week or individual days. The leaders are great.

Charter a powder keg of race and class? None of the good state schools in S London are any such thing these days, don't be so sensationalist! In 2012 17.4% of Charter students were on FSM,32.3% at Harris ED. Harris ED has 24% and 17% of children with SEN and EAL respectively, compared with Charter's 7.5% and 7.6% In comparison with other co-ed comps which are oversubscribed and have a comparable reputation, Kingsdale has 18% on FSM, 8.6% SEN and 36.8 EAL. Dunraven in Lambeth has 24.45 on FSM, 11% with SEN, 24% EAL. So claims that Charter reflects a s London demography beyond it's actual catchment are somewhat ludicous. I'm not saying it isn't a good school - it is!

I may be wrong but I thought that the published distances referred to those withon the first round of offers, not those who got in from waiting lists or once the second round offers start coming? Are you sure your friend got in straight away as the very first offer they received? And also that the published distance refers to that year?