DVnewbie

Hi Spells. We moved into the area last year and only looked at houses near what we thought were good primary schools! Totally agree with Carbonara that you have to find a primary school, or schools, you are happy with and try to buy near there. There are lots of good nurseries around and you should be ok getting a 2 1/2 year old into one without being on a waiting list for years... (I think it's the baby places that you have to sign up for as soon as you're pregnant...!) You don't have to be religious to get into most of the C of E schools. I think you do for the Catholic ones. You definitely don't have to be C of E to get into Dulwich Village Infants C of E Infant School for example (known as "DVI"!). Half the places are "open" and half are church places. But, you would have to live very close to the school to get an open place. It is very good ("outstanding", in fact) but only goes up to 7. Most people then go to Dulwich Hamlet (ages 7-11) I think - and some go into the private system at 7. Those are the primary schools in Dulwich Village. In relation to West(er) Dulwich, Rosendale is the primary school that gets the "outstanding" rating and has very impressive SATs results. East Dulwich has quite a few good primaries. I'm not familiar with all of them but pretty sure Heber is very good/popular (due to it's tiny "catchment" area) and I've heard Bessemer Grange is very good now (and getting better all the time) - there are quite a few other ones too. You can find tables of primary school SAT results on the Guardian website. (Probably look at Southwark and Lambeth - West Dulwich is Lambeth I think.) And then there is obviously the Ofsted website for reports on the schools, although some will be out of date. But the best way of getting a feel for a school is to have a look round. Just give them a ring - they should all give you a short tour. I'm sure you know how the "catchment" thing works - i.e. there isn't one, it depends on the numbers of children applying each year, but you can find out from the councils how far away children (without siblings already at the school) lived from the various schools in the last 3 years who got offers in the first round. With academies or church schools, you'll have to ask the school itself. Also, "bulge" classes can skew the catchments - as siblings of children always get priority. Re nurseries - no experience of year round ones but Nelly's is supposed to be excellent and is full time childcare too. It has 3 sites I think. (Definitely 2 anyway.) Good luck! We found it v stressful moving but are very pleased we're here now!

Hello, Just a quickie but I thought I'd add that you will need to be very careful if you are moving specifically to get into a particular school. I think you wouldn't have got in to DVI from Milo road last year, for example, unless you were going for a faith place or a sibling place? Well, if the statistics are right anyway! Distances do change a lot when there are bulge classes too (and recessions...). For example, as Sept 2011 had a bulge class at DVI, it's likely that the "catchment area" for offers to non-siblings for non-faith places will shrink in Sept 2013 and Sept 2014 because there will be more siblings applying for reception places and probably no bulge class. Good luck with the move! Or decision whether to move...

I think Dulwich Hospital sounds like a good position for a new school - if it is possible (and it sounds like it may not be). Can you look into where there are "black holes" maybe? i.e. Where families can't send their children to their nearest primary school (or even the second/third nearest) because the "catchment areas" are so small. I appreciate the distances for first round offers to non-siblings change every year but are there pockets in the area where families consistently fail to get into a "local" school and have to send their children to school a few miles away from their home. Personally, we're fortunate as we're close to a v good primary but I know it's a really frustrating issue for some families. [20-25 per class sounds great but I agree that's extremely unlikely in the current environment, especially given that it's never been that low for state schools, even with strong economies - well, not since the mid 70s at least...]

Hello - we just moved to the area at the end of the summer. After very helpful advice on here (thank you everybody!), I had a look round Half Moon Montessori - my son has been there a term now and absolutely loves it. They are really lovely there. It's in a church hall and they have to clear away all the tables etc. everyday, so it doesn't look as "smart" as some of the more expensive nurseries but the staff are really warm and energetic and there's lots of room for them to play in. Depends on where you live though - bit of a schlep from some parts of East Dulwich.

This site does it: http://www.walkjogrun.net/

Hello Jules20 - I got the distances from the school itself. If it's not a church school, you can get them from Southwark council. (The last year's distances are in the "starting primary school in Southwark" leaflet although not sure this excludes siblings so probably best to ask the council the precise question over email and then telephone to hassle for a reply if necessary...) Yup Curmudgeon - totally agree. Likely to be a smaller catchment for Sept 2013. But I know lots of families with siblings only one academic year apart. We have a 16 month gap (eldest is end of March and youngest is August). And yes, there are lots of good schools in ED, which is great. (Unlike where we moved from!) Sept 2010/Jan 2011 was as the crow flies. Sept 2009/Jan 2010 was safest walking distance.

Hello - You can never say for sure but I think it would be very unlucky if you didn't get into DVI at 390m. Here are stats for DVI if you don't already have them: Open non sibling's distance 2009-10 854 m 2010-11 797m 2011 - 696m I thought those seemed relatively large, given that half the places are faith places and other popular schools have smaller "catchment areas". But maybe a large number of families who live in the village send their children privately. The decrease in distance combined with the 2011 bulge class is a bit unhelpful when trying to get "within catchment". I assume there could be more younger siblings applying next year for fewer places - leaving fewer places for non-siblings and therefore the distance may go down for two reasons.... (Got to consider the worst case, I suppose!) My two children are only one school year apart for example - we're applying to get the eldest into DVI for Sept 2012. I would have thought the almost-recession would effect distances too, as families who would have sent their children to private schools now can't or choose not to. However, I don't think that is such a significant factor as I had thought - I know of many families still intending to send their children to private schools despite their city professions! Don't know much about Heber I'm afraid. Although we've got that on our son's application, just in case. Think we might be close enough but we're a safer bet for DVI. Good luck! (Nightmare, isn't it? We moved house recently and proximity to a good local state primary was a prequisite...)

Hello and congratulations Verds... I agree - Sling plus light puschair sounds ideal. If you did want a double buggy, we tried the P&T (borrowed a friends) and didn't get on with it really. I know loads of people love them though so you might too! I think the P&T is great when the baby is tiny (in the cocoon - up to 3 months) but we didn't like it when they were both in the seats. So, we went for an Out N About Nipper - side by side one (that goes flat and can be used from newborn). It isn't that wide but you do need to check your door widths... Mind you, we have a 16 month gap so we did need a double buggy. You will probably be fine with a sling and a single pushchair. So, if you find you do want a double buggy later on, maybe consider a "Nipper" as well as thinking about a P&T - you can get them on ebay quite cheaply. Or maybe on here. In fact, I must think about selling ours soon... (Not yet though!)

If you are an 8/10 and it's baby number one (and you have good abs!), I reckon wear a normal one but just one that isn't fitted round the waist... As womanofdulwich suggests, and empire one should be fine. If you can get away with a "cocktail" dress, Reiss normally do lovely ones that are loose round the middle - expensive but at least you can wear it post-pregancy - not sure what they have in now though. Otherwise, maybe get a quite plain maternity dress and dress it up with jewellery and heels to make it looks smarter so you can wear it for less formal occasions? Top Shop or Dorothy Perkins (don't scoff! they have some ok bits) - even New Look - it just depends what their stock is like this season as to whether you'll find anything nice. Or get some nice/more expensive black trousers that you can wear for work/other stuff too - and a strapless top plus lots of jewellery etc. Isabella Oliver do lovely maternity tops but they are expensive (by the way, don't like the trousers at all - the ones I got went really baggy round the knees withing 2 hours of wearing them). Not sure if Zara are doing maternity stuff still but I got a lovely silk knee length black dress from them - that I have worn twice (once per pregnancy so not a great investment at ?50).

Thanks Housedad... Yes, we just drove past the other site yesterday - I didn't realise it was right next to the Hamlet (durrr - spot the non-local). I've been measuring from the newer building (next to the church hall) which is probably a little further from us anyway, so we should be fine. The school stress starts so early! I'm determined to be calm and laid-back when we have to deal with the secondaries...

Hi - both my two had it, quite badly, all over their torsos. My son had it for about 18 months in total (first spots appeared at about 15 months old - he marched into the GP in front of me, pulled up his top and rubbed his tummy saying "me spots!"). It didn't really bother them at all apart from my son's spots got infected a couple of times - once we got antibiotics for them. However, they do look particularly dreadful just before they go away. Apparently that's the body taking notice of them and starting to attack the virus properly. So, just to warn you, it will look hideous and the spots will weep/ooze probably just before they disappear. My daughter's spots were so bad for 2 days that they left little spots of blood on her white vests (not that she complained!) but then they totally disappeared within a week of that happening.

Good luck with the move....! (But, b*ll*cks, where's the new school site?! Didn't base my calculations on that..! If it's nearer North Dulwich station it's further away from us... Ah well, sure it will be fine. Not much we can do now anyway. Otto - if my children get into the Hamlet, that I'll be pretty pleased even if they don't get into DVI. Not sure what other primary school they could get into though as I don't think there are any less than a 1km away the other way. We'll see I suppose!)

Actually - sorry, I had a follow-up email, giving these distances for non-sibling non-church places: "2009-10 854 m 2010-11 797m 2011 - 696m" Slightly alarming that distances shrunk for 2011 admissions even though they have doubled the number of children admitted (I think it's for this Sept 2011...) so it will almost certainly be smaller for 2012 as there are half as many places and there may be a disproportionately higher number of siblings.

Hi - we've just bought somewhere the other side of the school (2 weeks ago). Our 3 year old will be starting school then too. When I asked the school for that information, they gave me this: "The distances below are for non church places Sept2010/Jan 2011 825m (this is measure as the crow flies Sept 2009/Jan 2010 854m - this was measured the shortest safest walking distance Sept 2008/ Jan 2009 851m - this was measured the shortest safest walking distance" However - I am not convinced this is the distance for first round offers to non-siblings for non-church places. We're pretty close to the school (under 300m) so will be v disappointed if we don't get in! Also, there is a bulge class this September - so instead of only one 30 child class there are two 30 child classes for Sept 2011 (I think - somebody will correct me if I've got that wrong, I'm sure!!). It will go back down to one class for September 2012 but the number of "sibling" places being offered are bound to increase over the next few years. I think you should call the school/email them before you book in the survey! And try looking at "walkjogrun" or some similar site to work out the exact distance between the house you are thinking of buying and the school gates. Hope that helps - sorry not to be more definitive.

Not the Stokke! 2 people I know well bought it and regretted it. I'd go for a Bugaboo Chameleon again (it served my two children well and is still going strong after 3.5 years) if you have don't have a flat/have to lug it up stairs and also have room in the boot of your car. But the Bee is lovely too. The only thing with the Bee is that I often see toddlers asleep with their legs dangling off the end of it. Mind you, they are happily asleep so it can't be much of a problem. But, it probably is best to try a few out in John Lewis and see what you like the feel of (and also have a go at collapsing them!). Good luck choosing!

Toddler Taming by Christopher Green...

Brilliant - thank you everybody! And to Bea for her PM...

Hello, We moved to Dulwich this week and I'm now trying to find out what local clubs/activities are on for toddlers during the week. I realise some places will be closed for the holidays but could any mums/nannies give me a few ideas for daytime activities??! We have a son who is 3 1/2 and a daughter who is just 2. We live in Dulwich village. I've already seen some music classes on at St Barnabas church hall and am going to check out the library but any other ideas? I'll obviously do an internet trawl but thought it was probably worth asking on here! Thank you!

Thanks Smiler! I use one on the nannytax website that does something similar!!

Thanks - yes, this whole net/gross thing is a bit tricky as you have to be crystal clear when discussing salaries!

Hello, Can anybody give me a rough idea of how much the going rate in Dulwich is for nannies please? We're struggling to work it out as agencies have told us different things and the CVs I've seen have very different salary expectations. I realise it depends on experience (we've had a nanny in Islington for nearly 3 years) and whether or not it's a nanny share but a rough idea from parents in Dulwich would be really helpful.... We've got two children (3.5 and 2) and won't be doing a nanny share! Thank you!

Thank you!

Thanks Lochie - that sounds like a great recommendation. Actually, just checked their website and the road we are buying on (fingers crossed, touch wood etc. etc.) is in their "catchment".

Hello - am not actually living in the area yet myself but I've been doing lots of research for the same thing - quite a lot on here! We've gone for Half Moon Montessori. Looks really sweet. It's a little scruffier than some of the nurseries I've seen but has lovely staff and very happy children (who seem to be doing impressive things aged 4...). Our son should be going to Dulwich Village Infants too in Sept 2012 (unless they really change the entrance criteria - house we are trying to buy is v close). Half Moon Montessori is not free but very reasonable once you use the education for over-3s vouchers. (Short "school" days or half days though so not a full childcare solution if you work full time.)

Hello, Think we will be moving to Dulwich village next month and I was wondering if anybody can recommend a good family GP. We have a 3.5 year old and a nearly 2 year old who seem to go through stages of being ill all the time so thought it might be good to register as soon as we get there... Thanks!!