Coach Beth

Everyone is welcome to come to the second annual Goose Green Primary School Art Exhibition! The work of the children from reception to year six will be unveiled in the bottom hall at the exhibit on Thursday 16th May, from 3:30-6pm. Their will also be a short film running with the children discussing their art work. Our full-time art teacher/artist Sarah Hopkins will be on hand as well to discuss the approach to art teaching at the school. I was at the exhibition last year and I was so impressed with the children's work that I bought two items - a wonderful spin painting by a year six child and a gorgeous photo taken at Peckham Rye Park by a year four child. Hope to see you there! If you can drop in, it will be a lovely exhibition.

Yes, it is easier in year 2 and 3 as people do tend to move around quite abit - friends of mine for example wanted a bigger house and couldn't afford ED prices so moved when children were in year 2. I know at GG we have had children come from the Villa for several years now - I know of three families who have transferred their children from the Villa to GG - usually they come in at year 2 or 3.

A friend recently moved out a couple of years ago to a leafy suburb - mainly because of the impossibility of house prices in East Dulwich. Comparing notes with her, the village school her son now goes to is much more relaxed then the local school he went to here in East Dulwich. She is happy with that in many ways but notes how different the expectation are of the children in terms of academic improvement and she has found a much more laid back attitude where she now lives which surprised her. Another downside for her is that there is little diversity in the school her son goes to. In terms of focussing on the top, recent changes to Ofsted inspection means that school are now expected to be stretching more able children. As has been pointed out, there has been a strategic focus for many years in London in improving schools and raising achievement in London schools. Our children are benefitting from this which is great.

Yup. The diversity stats are true. I'm white British/American/Canadian (I have three citizenships - very difficult to pigeonhole me!) and I like the diversity. Although when you look at it year by year, you can see that more white british children are joining the schools in the early years. Anyway, it means that the parents who do choose the school are more interested in quality of education and care of children than in other factors. Making it a very interesting and stimulating parent community. Yay! Way to go GG!

No, not a sore point with me at all. I like the diversity of the school - it's great.

Yes, and a teacher friend of mine who moved her children into Goose Green said she was extremely impressed with the high quality of the teaching. Good to have national recognition to back up what we already knew!

And already we have had teachers from other schools visiting us to learn best practice in teaching - it is lovely as a school to be able to share the wonderful teaching and leadership practices with other schools.

Any parent whose child has been lucky enough to be accepted to Goose Green is welcome to join our Adult Community Choir which is made up mainly of parents of Goose Green children and Goose Green staff but other members of the community welcome. So even if your child goes to another school, you are more than welcome to come if you enjoy singing (no music reading experience necessary) We meet on Tuesday evenings 6:30-7:30pm in the middle hall of the school. Cost is ?12 per half term (i.e. 6 weeks). If you are unwaged, you have the option of paying ?2 per week. PM me for more information.

Try Dan Maitland - teaches beginners piano, guitar and sax. Email: [email protected]>

As an aside, if you are looking for a drum teacher for your son, I recommend Matt Fishwick a fantastic local drummer who has several students in the area. He has been teaching my 8 year old son drums for just over a year. His number is 07531 123437. My partner is a professional musician and knows Matt through the jazz scene and has upmost respect for his musicianship. He is also a very patient teacher as my son can be abit of a livewire (typical drummer!) to handle. His website is here http://www.mattfishwick.net/

In case you missed the news about Goose Green Primary School, here it is! Goose Green Primary & Nursery School in East Dulwich has been selected for a top role as a National Support School. Headteacher Sharron Marland has been appointed to the role of National Leader of Education after a rigorous selection process. She is one of a select few to be appointed to the role as very few headteachers and schools are selected for this prestigious designation. This builds on the success of Goose Green School's latest Ofsted inspection in 2012 which commended the leadership as being Outstanding. Headteacher Sharron Marland said: ?'The strong Leadership team (including Governors) of Goose Green School means we can offer other schools a rounded package of support from strategic planning to improving the quality of teaching and learning whilst continuing our own successes. Parents of our children are already proud of the school and now that the National College are pleased to recommend us nationally to other schools confirms that Goose Green children are receiving a high standard of education and level of care.' Tessa Jowell MP, visited the school on Friday 22nd May to observe our practice as a Chartered School for PHSE and congratulate the school on its success. ?Goose Green deserves all the plaudits and awards coming its way. The children are bursting with pride in their school community where excellent values are reflected in everything the children do. Motivation and aspiration are the hallmarks. My congratulations go to everyone at the school? Maggie Farrar, Executive Director at the National College, said: ?It?s great that heads like Sharron are willing to look beyond their own school gates to help more schools and pupils achieve. They should also be proud of their role because this scheme is at the heart of our efforts to create a self-improving, school-led education system.?

Yes, as the Head said today in assembly, this is no ordinary school play! Really looking forward to seeing the 1st performance today at 2pm - great songs, costumes and props (designed by the art teacher and made by the art club kids!)

I have just popped into the gift shop by the Tower of London & picked up a knights costume. Boy is going as a knight out of horrible histories book!

Agreed with Mrs. Lotte.

The Goose Green School Community Choir is opening up to new members from the local community. You don't need to have a child at the school - just be interested in joining a choir and free on a Tuesday evening! We are a friendly choir with bags of enthusaisam - not many of us have musical or singing experience so if you are interested in joining but you haven't sung much before don't worry! You'll fit right in! We meet on Tuesday evenings at Goose Green School from 6:30-7:30pm. We sing a mix of folk, pop arrangements and world music. We have a musical director - Dan Maitland - who leads us. Fees: Sliding Scale - ?20 or ?12 (low income) per 6 week half-term We perform at school events like the summer carnival/fair and the Christmas carol service. We have alot of fun singing and although many of us started off feeling self-conscious, we soon got over that as the group is very supportive and friendly. If you are interested, send me a private message and I'll give you the details of where in the school we meet etc. etc.

Yes, Just William definately sells them.

Yes, Mrs TP is right. The primary school nurseries just offer the free 5 morning or 5 afternoon sessions and you can't purchase more hours.

We are lucky in this area in that, as Redjam says, there is not a massive disparity between primary schools and most primary schools are doing well. There are some areas which are 'black holes' and I think people living in Nunhead have had more problems due to the oversubscription of the popular school Ivydale than people living in SE22 Also, as your daughter is just 10 months old, you will find that schools will change by the time they reach primary school age - I remember about four to five years ago people were actively avoiding Ivydale it's now one of the most popular schools in the area! A school that might be your first choice now might not be in 4 years time when your child is ready to go to school I would encourage you to visit a range of schools in SE22 and SE23. Stillness in SE23 is a good school for instance that get's overlooked as Fairlawn is seen as the 'best school'. It might put your mind at rest that there are more than just 3 or 4 schools that you would be happy with. Good luck!

Yes, I raise funds from grant-making trusts for Goose Green School/PTA (my son's school) as I was (in a former life) a fundraising consultant working with charities. Examples of bids we have successfully received are ?10,000 from Awards for All (Lottery funded programme) for our Steel Pan after-school project, ?390 from Peter Minet Trust for scooters for the early years trust and ?5000 from Greener, Safer Southwark for our mini Apple Orchard (apple trees planted in planters) and our sensory garden. A good place to start is by going to the National Association for PTA groups. Your PTA should be a member of this organisation. If not, join! You will be able to access a very good online grant making trust database through them (I used this same database as a fundraising consultant). You can do searches for grant making trusts that fund schools, or trusts that fund activities that support children or that fund capital projects or that fund organisations in Southwark. If you go to this link, you can get more information. http://pta.org.uk/pta-fundraising/cash-for-grabs/trusts/ Good luck!

And in case anyone was wondering where they were going, the children were off to the theatre to see 'Room on the Broom' at the Lyric Theatre, Soho. They had a lovely time I heard!

Great to hear such positive comments about the kids behaviour! Good behaviour is a core value at the school. The teachers are committed & enthusiastic & music is used through the school (I.e whole school singing once a week) & class teaching (in addition to weekly music classes, instrumental tuition & afterschool choir/brass band etc)- I really love that enthusiasm but I can see your perspective! Will pass on this discussion to relevant people.

Hi there - I would expect the distance to be reduced from last year for the September 2013 this year due to the much increased interest since the good ofsted came out in late spring last year. It's really hard to say but I would think that at 650m you would be ok and even if you weren't successful initially, you would have a good chance for a place on the waiting list being that close. There is always much movement after the places are allocated and the closer you are to the school, the higher you will be on the waiting list. *I've come back to amend this post as I just noticed you haven't had your child yet - I assumed you were talking about next year. Five years is a long time and who knows what will happen in the area with primary school places. If the pressure on places is removed by an additional primary school built in the area (see thread on Harris), hopefully the 'catchment' areas were not be so restricted in the future. However, most primary schools in ED are good and on the up so you have picked a great area to live in!

Try Nova Scotia in Canada! http://www.novascotia.com/en/home/default.aspx A 5.5 hour flight - lovely in the summer but not the humidity you usually get down in New England. Kid friendly too. Halifax is a great harbour city and you can easily rent a car and go elsewhere in the province. Downside is that the flights can be expensive as Air Canada doesn't have alot of competition flying into Halifax.

Hiya! I sympathse as I have a tendancy for impacted ear wax this as well - (something to do with the shape of my ear canal) and it's a real drag. No amount of over the counter stuff shifts it really I find. Anyway, I have used the Medicentres in Central London http://www.medicentre.co.uk/ when my ears get impacted (usually every two years) because when it happens I just want it sorted ASAP and for some reason, my doctors surgery stopped doing it on site. It costs about ?40 and there is a Medicentre a short walk from Monument Station and also one right in Victoria Station. Whenever I've used a Medicentre, I've just walked in and not waited more than 10mins. Check the webiste for opening hours. Just make sure she is putting drops of olive oil in so that the wax will be soft enough for them to do the procedure.

Fingers crossed about the employer - really, it is not acceptable in this day and age they are being so inflexible! I'm sure that if they reject her reasonable request, she might be tempted to find work with a more family friendly employer. Th Anyway, if che can get it sorted out now with them, that would be the best solution because childcare will be an on-going issue throughout nursery years and school to as, although many schools have breakfast clubs, only a few open before 8am.