Coach Beth

hmmm... I have to say that I did Suzuki method as well as a child... didn't get on with it either... but I think I might have been abit on the 'old' side when I started with it... I was eight and in the classes there were all these virtuso 5 year olds!! I resented as well the strict structure - at the music camp I went to in Canada all the other kids on the different instrumental music programmes got to do swimming as well as music and have longer breaks but the Suzuki kids didn't get any of that ... it was work work work and more work. AND I personally think violin is a really tricky instrument to start on, it sound horrid for ages, you don't have frets to guide you blah... having said that, a friend of mine 12 year old son in NYC totally took to violin at a young age and now has all sorts of opportunities and is studying jazz violin as well as orchestra violin. Really I preferred flute ... as I mentioned above I took that up when 11. The other point I wanted to make is that even if they drop it when they are teenagers or college age, they can always take it up again if they have had a good foundation as a child. That's what happened to me after not playing for about 12 years!

I'm glad I did music lessons - I tried violin first and hated it, never got on with violin. Had some piano lessons which I think were useful but didn't carry it on past a couple of years. I settled on flute in secondary school and joined the school band. Anyway, after I left school, I put the flute down but picked it up again in my late 20's - took a while to recover my knowledge but after a refresher course, I got back into it. I started playing jazz and also met my husband of 16 years now at a jazz summer school! Anyway, our 10 year old son now plays drum kit - he enjoys it but hasn't been particularly committed to practising - however, as he has gotton more fluent on the drums, his motivation to practice has definately improved. We find that he can be more receptive to practice in the morning before school rather than after school. We also just asked him for 5 minutes practice to begin with - now he does about 15/20 minutes about 3 or 4 times a week We also found that because he really likes his drum teacher that is a motivator - his teacher gives clear guidelines to help. He also goes to the East Dulwich Academy for Music and Performing Arts and he plays drum kit/percussion with the wind band there. I think that when they can play with other children in a band that helps them to see that it is fun to create music with other people. My husband is a professional musician and believes that people often have an affinity with particular instruments - so maybe allow them to try different instruments. We tried Sam on guitar (husband is a guitarist) but he didn't take to it. But when we went to a musicians party, the drummer let him sit on the drum kit and also play rymthm on a percussion instrument and he looked so natural and took to it like a duck to water. And, I agree with canela about choice of instrument - choosing an instrument that they can play a range of music on in the future would be good. Although, you can play jazz or rock on orchestra instruments like violin it's not so common. I'm pleased my son is doing drums (despite the volume factor of practicing in our flat!!) - every band needs a drummer! Or bass player.... you'll never go short of work as a musician if you play bass!

I'm fairly biased too as I'm the membership secretary of the goose green choir! If you can, as Hoipolloi says, try out different choirs and see what suits you in terms of song choices, sociability and also practically, i.e. rehearsal times. Good luck and hope to see you one Tuesday!

And if any of the new parents joining the school fancy trying out their singing voices (don't worry if it's been ages since you sang!) you are welcome to join the Goose Green Community Choir which meets on Tuesday evenings from 6:30-8pm. We're a fun and friendly choir - and we always go to the pub afterwards so it's a very good way to meet and get to know other people. We are open to not just paretns of children at the school but people from the local community including parents of children at other schools. You can check out our website at http://www.goosegreenchoir.com

One of my friends teenage daughter (17 years old) who lives in East Dulwich is taking a year off before university. Anyway, she will be looking for work doing after-school childcare from September 2015 as she will be free to pick up children and look after them from 3:30 - 6:30/7pmish. I spoke to her this weekend - and she also could do before school care and then dropping off at school She has babysat for my son for several years and she also babysits for several families in the area. She is very reliable and also good with kids - a fun older sister figure! If you PM me, I can give you her contact details.

I have been taking my son to the unicorn since he was 5 years old and he is 10 now and I can't recommend it highly enough! I've rarely seen a duff production - always engaging shows, appropriate for whatever age group. We saw the Chair too and it was a hit. We've also seen shows that that in a more traditional theatre might have been marketed to 'girls' primarily - like Cinderalla a couple of Christmas's ago but he enjoyed that as well and usually when there are female leads they are fun and engaging characters. In fact, I think most of the shows have been great in that they tend to have both female and male leads - the Chair is a rare exception to this I think but the girls in the audience were just as engaged as the boys. Anyway, I love the fact that as he gets older, we see productions that match where he is at and we tend to go every two months - sometimes more often if there are several plays for his age group. It's also very easy to get to!

I think it's such a complex issue and we're all just trying to do the best we can - as imperfect as that may be sometimes. Really, there needs to be a systemic change in education IMO

Me and my partner are both self-employed and have more flexibility to be around during school holidays. Although, we always used several of the holiday clubs when the boy was younger for two or three days a week as it was difficult to get any work done at home with a younger active child! Most of the clubs allow you to book anything from 1 day to a full 5 days so it's very flexible. JAGS sports clubs were very popular with him - first the multi-sport when he was in reception and year 1 and then he got into the soccer school. He has also done the Nimble Arts clubs which are very high quality - they do filmmaking, animation, theatre, rock school, etc. Now he is nearly 10, he is not so keen on organised holiday clubs but prefers to chillax around home and we organise reciprocal playdates (i.e. we have one of his mates for a day and then his parents mates reciprocate). This works very well for older children I find.

I would say go with your gut and leave it for a bit unless you have some external pressure.... like from his nursery?

Forgot to say please bring a torch so you can see the carol song sheets!

See you all this evening!

Yes, the tree does look really lovely all lit up! I'm really looking forward to singing round a proper Christmas Tree this year!

I just noticed that there is a great deal of information on the thread on the main discussion board about the idea of having temporary site.

Join the Goose Green School children's choir and Goose Green Community Choir for Christmas carol singing, mulled wine and mince pies! This family friendly event is open to all - you'll find us in the gathered around the Christmas Tree, at 6:15pm on Thursday 18th December. This year, the event is being sponsored through the generous support of local estate agent No Flies. Find out about No Flies here http://no-flies.co.uk/ Rob Parton, school music teacher and director of the East Dulwich Academy of Music and Performing Arts will be leading the festivities. The carol singing will take place around the living Christmas Tree which has just been planted. This was organised by the Goose Green Primary School PTA through Southwark Council's Adopt a Tree scheme. It has been decorated by Goose Green School children and it will be maintained by children of the school. If you have walked past the green at night, may have noticed the lights on the tree which are timed to go on every day from 3 to 9pm.

And here are the photos of the tree where we will be congregating!

Air bnb is a website where private individuals can list rooms or even whole flats they have to rent for short term, holiday lets There are plenty of people in East Dulwich on the site listing their rooms. I have used Air BNB in Paris and in Kracow and have always had good experiences. https://www.airbnb.co.uk/s/East-Dulwich--United-Kingdom?checkin=&checkout=&guests=1&ss_id=okcsbjhf#

You won't be able to miss it! This year, we are planting a living Christmas tree (with Southwarks blessing) on Goose Green. It's to be at least 6foot I believe. The planting is due to take place tomorrow on the green - in the long term goose green primary school will take responsiblity for long term upkeep of the tree. The children of the school will decorate it before Carols on the Green. I will take a photo and post it here so there is no doubt where will will meeting!

Sorry for the confusion - it's Thursday the 18th December! Here is the information on the page: Join the Goose Green School children's choir and Goose Green Community for Christmas carol singing, mulled wine and minced pies! This family friendly event is open to all - you'll find us in the gathered around the Christmas Tree, at 6pm on Thursday 18th December. This year, the event is being sponsored through the generous support of local estate agent No Flies. Find out about No Flies here http://no-flies.co.uk/ Rob Parton, school music teacher and director of the East Dulwich Academy of Music and Performing Arts will be leading the festivities. The Goose Green Adult Community Choir (led by choir director Dan Maitland local music teacher http://eazypeazymusic.com/) is open to all members of the local community - we meet on Tuesday evenings, 6:30 - 7:55pm New members welcome! Go to our website at http://www.goosegreenchoir.com/ for more info or email us at [email protected]

Carols on the Green Event on Thursday 18th December 6pm, is very child friendly - organised by Goose Green Primary School PTA, it's led by the school music teacher. Mulled wine, minced pies, carol song sheets and a brass band to accompany the carol singing round the Christmas Tree. More info here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1410373955919401

Just heard they are due to appear at 9pm on the show!

One of the teachers is doing some live tweeting - go to @ggprimaryschool

Remember to tune in!

If you are watching the Children in Need show tomorrow night on TV, keep your eyes peeled for Goose Green School! The School rang a unique challenge for students as an event for Children in Need week. Pupils were invited to develop, write and then present a persuasive argument to a panel of teachers on what changes they would make if they were to be Headteacher for a week. The winner was granted the prize of being student Headteacher for this week! This came to the attention of Children in Need who invited the young winner and the teachers supporting her to appear on the Live show tomorrow! It's all very exciting!

Rob Parton teaches trumpet locally East Dulwich. In addition to having private music students, he is also the full time music teacher at Goose Green Primary school and he is also head of the East Dulwich Academy for Music and Performing Arts where he also supervises the individual brass lessons. Very patient and experienced with working with children. His bio is here: http://www.eastdulwichacademy.org/about/ and you can contact him at: [email protected]

Sounds like you've got some great skills and ideas and contributions that you are bringing to your school bawdy-nan! Volunteering to affect change through the PTA or as school governor is a great way to have an impact although it can be frustrating and often feels like a thankless task. The other point is that schools need to show how they are distributing the pupil premium effectively to benefit students in need. This info should be availble on school websites. Governing bodies have a responsibility to ensure this done. If there is a particular issue affecting students such as prohibitive uniform costs it should be brought to the attention of the governors.