CityMum

Our x3 all volunteered for Parkrun & really enjoyed it - it was easy to do and they kept dojng it for a while after they had completed their DofE.

Hi, I am sure we have some non-fiction / animals nature books we could donate - suitable for that age group. Do you have a collection point?

What a completely ridiculous idea this is proving to be. Having been promised, time and time and time again, a consultation on how to relieve the congestion and polution in the Denmark Hill/Camberwell Green area, hey presto the council have come up with a scheme to force even more traffic onto Denmark Hill. The area around Kings College is already dangerously poluted as it is. We all acknowlege that air polution needs to be tackled but increasing journey times and forcing cars into even more residential roads is not the way to do this. The excuse for coninuing the banned right turn at the top of Dog Kennel Hill/Grove Lane because of the impact this would have on buses coming from Dog Kennel Hill is pathetic given that the traffic now backs up to the George Canning and even more traffic is joining Dog Kennel HIll by Sainsburys. It must be miserable for Grove Lane residents on what is already a busy road. Added to this, the Grove Lane access to the car park behind Morrisons has also been blocked off, forcing even more traffic towards the Green, where carriageways are being narrowed! I'm sure a bunch of primary school kids could have come up with a better idea than this.

Very interested in your post as we have had a very similar experience. We were with Mr Freedman and then Rashed who was brilliant and what I most liked both of them was their reluctance to do anything unless absolute necessary. We have found his replacement to be the exact opposite and have had a very bad experience so are on the hunt for a new dentist. When spoke to Rashed last he was talking about going to Germany so maybe that's what he did in the end. Good luck with finding a new one. We have a similar hunt ahead.

Hello - we are looking for a recommendations for a cleaner for regular 4 hour clean in the Camberwell area. Although we only require a fortnightly clean, we would alternate with a friend with same sized house in the next road. If you have a cleaner or cleaning company you can personally recommend do please PM me. We don't require ironing - just a straight forward clean. Happy to use a company if they can guarantee too cover absence/illness and we are flexible on days/times. Thank you.

Work on the Bridge which has been closed since last year has started. Once again, as long-time residents will remember, there is a move by well-organised minority of residents in the area to turn Camberwell Grove into some kind of exclusive gated community and keep the bridge closed at the expense of the wider surrounding community. The impact of the closure has had a huge environmental impact on many other roads which are narrower and less able to take the additional traffic. I know some people on this forum will remember the 'lively' and packed meeting a few years ago at which the message was loud and clear - the bridge should be open. So here we are, being asked the same question again. The only thing which will keep it closed is a lack of response, so have your say at https://consultations.southwark.gov.uk/ - the consultation closes on 30TH OCTOBER.

We've got a blocked gutter. I don't think its damaged unless one of the clips have come loose as a result of the little ecosystem which has built up in the corner. The house is 2.5 stories - ie it has a mezzanine floor part in the loft and part not, so its high but not 3 storeys. Could be roofer or window cleaner job - we're based in Camberwell. Can anyone help?

We don't often have people working in our house as my partner is in the trade and does a lot himself and consequently is very hard to please!! However we have had Matthew and his team building the shell of an extension for us. From start to finish we have been impressed by the hard work and skill of his team. They worked with speed, precision and consideration and the whole process has been quite painless. They gave us a very fair price, always left the site tidy and communication was very good throughout. Would definitely recommend and would use again, as indeed we intend to do, later on in the job.

Another recommendation for Dave from Down the Drain (07919 107868). We had a stubborn blockage in our main pipe. He turned up on time - early in fact - and sorted everything within the hour. He told us his charges on the phone, said there were no hidden extras and he was true to his word. Very nice man - we would have no hesitation in using him again or recommending him.

Alex has been teaching my 16 year old and my 12 year old for 9 months and we really couldn't recommend him enough. Both have made fantastic progress and most importantly they ENJOY the lessons. He has a fantastically broad knowledge of all styles of music and this is a great plus. Over the years I have come to realise that finding the right teacher with both the skill and the personality to engage the kids is vital in maintaining their interest and it has been great to see their enthusiasm for playing. Feel free to PM me for further details.

After 5 years of trouble free heating, we recently had a lot of problems with our Remeha Avanta boiler which kept displaying various error messages and cutting out. The manual is very vague about the causes of these and the general opinion is that they are notoriously difficult to diagnose and rectify. We got in touch with John Powers (07977909339) who rose to the challenge and doggedly persisted until he got to the bottom of the problem, whilst at the same time keeping costs as low as possible. He rose to the challenge, when some would have run away and is now pretty familiar with the workings of this type of boiler!! Highly recommended.

Reading these posts brings back hideous memories of this time last year when we were in the position of having no place at any of our six schools. My son's two best friends were in exactly the same position - it does seem that boys fare worse. Of this gang of 3 one did get his 3rd choice (through the waiting list and when an admin error came to light), the second went to Deptford green and is very happy there - the school is about to move into a fab new building which is apparently very well resourced. I think the school is slightly disadvantaged by it's close proximity to Askes but it was good enough for Bill Gates to visit recently ... As for us, well we spent my redundancy money on a private school place and have since managed to move my son to the school we originally wanted. One way or another things have sorted themselves out but my heart goes out to you. There is no parental choice - or perhaps parental choice has created this chaos in the first place. In reality it is more of a lucky dip unless you live in the catchment area of a good school that allocates places by distance.

Sorry - I'm running a bit slow today. Did someone say that Ark were opening a new Boys school on the site of St Michael's and All Angels? Please don't tell me this is true? Hell's Bells! I think I might cry. Surely the need and appetite is for Co-Ed schools? We've already got an education system fragmented by faith, privilege and wildly varying admissions policies, so why are we fragmenting it further by introducing more single sex schools. How on earth can we expect to get a diverse intake from all areas of society and ability when we are immediately excluding those families with children of both sexes. We've going through this nightmare now in the hope that when my daughter gets to Yr 6 we won't have to repeat the farce. My nerves wouldn't take it, so a co-ed school is both desirable and essential. My son has been to a co-ed primary school, loves it and wants to go to a co-ed secondary school. End of story. When Tony Blair dropped in for a cuppa in Upland Road all those years ago the unequivocal message from local parents were that they wanted more co-ed schools. The huge scramble for places at Charter, Kingsdale, Bacons & Askes speaks volumes as does the fact that these schools are successful! There are enough failing all-boys schools around, doesn't that suggest that in this area at least, co-ed is the way to go??

I absolutely agree with the need for more good schools but are free schools the way to go? I have serious doubts as to whether this is just endorsing a very flawed idea. The money will come from the public purse and at what cost to the existing system? Apparently a group of city people are keen to set up a free school in the Clapham area known as b'twixt the commons'. They have stated it is to serve the community. They've identified two potential feeder schools Honeywell and Bellevue Primaries - if you know Clapham, you'll know that these are the schools that people move house to get into. Oddly enough they appear to have forgotten about the primary school closest to the planned site. Apparently the school does not have the kind of children they want in their school. I'll leave you to imagine what this means... Isn't the free school idea just like selling off different railway lines to different companies and will we not end up with a system which is even more fragmented than it is already is? The doing away with LEA admissions forums will not do anything to help. I know that in theory to get a free school plan off the ground you have to demonstrate a real and genuine need but what does that mean exactly? And will we end up, like Mr Beecham's railway system with the prosperous areas well served at the expense of less attractive areas? I find the whole prospect rather scary, to be perfectly honest.

intexasathemoment - the reason they've reduced the numbers at Peck Acadamy is because the school is preparing to open a primary phase on the same site. I believe that there is already a nursery or will be very soon. PA will then become a through-academy with children from the Primary phase automatically transferring at 11 to the main senior academy. Rather than wait for us all to throw our hats into the ring, they've decided to knit their own intake. This way they will be able to identify children who need extra help or who are showing signs of ability and nurture accordingly. The head teacher is an inner city head who has a very clear understanding of inner city schools and I'm sure in a few years time we'll all be reading threads on this forum, asking why it is impossible to get into this school and how their intake is selected!