kristymac1

There are some empty units o forest Hill Road, would be great to have a business like yours occupy one of them. The current location of the French cafe will be empty soon when they move a couple of doors up to bigger premises...

He'll be sadly missed by us! First encountered PC Crust 14yrs ago, a little after we moved to the area, he was great gen and a delightful ever-present since. Would be very happy to contribute to anything organised for him, just let me know details x

Heber runs it's car boot just once a year, it's well advertised throughout the borough and well attended. Oh and the sun always shines;-) !

Agreed, the absence of a long thread of distressed parents re primary admissions 2015 is telling (in a positive way!) kudos where it's due James, you've worked hard for this community and it's paid off, thank you.

colabottle Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Come on James, get behind your East Dulwich > constituents. I'm sure most people would be 100% > behind Charter if they felt that Charter were > including them and genuinely offering a school for > East Dulwich. The people who are now concerned > that their children won't get into the new Charter > school are the same people who responded to your > initial call to action in 2013. Don't abandon them > now. Absolutely! You cannot expect people to support a school which may offer them nothing. Simon from the Charter bid has been very helpful and forthcoming with answers to lots of questions, but it's clear that the admissions policy is of huge concern to lots of East Dulwich residents and rightly so. All folk want is to know whether this is a school for them or not, if it isn't then you can't expect them to 'get behind it 100%', I'm guessing all those actively supporting it are doing so because they believe they will directly benefit....

Lordship Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Congratulations to the Charter on the new school. > I am right in thinking that both Charter schools > would need to have the same admission policy as > they belong to the same federation of schools? > If the new school moved away from the distance > based admissions policy would the orginal Charter > school also need to change it's admissions > policy? > > Edited for typo if this were to be the case, Charter 1 could simply introduce a nodal point to measure distance admissions from its front door! That said, measuring from a nodal point(s) is still distance based criteria, it simply recognises that the location of the school is governed by available space not immediate local need.

my support was always for a non-faith, co-ed local secondary school which had the vision to serve the local community - this doesn't exist to the east of Lordship Lane. There are many smart ways to consider fair admission, nodal points (or a number of nodal points) is, I believe fairer than 'as the crow flies' which would result in a number of households being covered by the distance admissions policy for both Charter schools - so yes a few children would have a legitimate choice, Charter 1 or Charter 2 or Harris' or Sydenham Girls or Forest Hill boys, however, the majority would be left with the non-choice (imo) of single sex only. The hospital site was selected as being the ONLY site possible for a new secondary school NOT because it was located in the area of greatest need. If the only available site was next door to 'Charter 1', would you advocate there being an identical 'as the crow flies' admission? it is not completely irrelevant where the school is positioned (it should still be a school serving the local community), but measuring the admissions from a point which was forced on the campaign (as the only location) rather than a location of greatest need seems to lack consideration and any creative thinking.

simonethebeaver Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Is there any chance at all that you will be > revisiting your proposed admissions policy? We > received a huge amount of feedback from parents > that were concerned at the 'crow flies' proposal. this definitely! Its difficult to get excited about a school who's proposed admissions policy will do little to fill the many black holes which exist in this area. I know this year's last place offered at Charter (in the first round) meant there was lots of disappointed people and it would be easy to say 'Yah, a new Charter school will push the catchment out a few more streets' but there are lots of us who will remain outside of the catchment completely when others will have a proper choice of two closely situated schools....... HABSED were proactive in responding to parents needs and were open to nodal point admissions - I hope Charter will be just as proactive and smart going forward. Many many thanks to all those involved in the HABSED bid, you really did a fantastic job x

Would love to know the author(s) of this report. Mostly school trips and after school clubs are not part of the curriculum are they? So why should schools have to pay? Children in homes on lower incomes are usually subsidised/paid for, personally I would rather our schools spent their (not excessive) budgets on good teachers who can provide good academic and creative opportunities within the school day.....

niwi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I asked and apparently the french cafe is staying > where it is but the owner does have the keys for > the blue/yellow place and will be opening up > something come spring time! That's great news, I thought it was a relocation but to have a new place and keep the French cafe will be fab!

No I think it's a relocation, the lease of the current French cafe gas run out so relocating a few doors up. I really like the place too, so chuffed it'll still be around

joom Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Also, that the lady that > runs French cafe is taking the building next to > the barbers and turning it into a french > restaurant. This is definitely true, current lease has run out and she's in process of sorting out the interior of the blue/yellow place (which used to be a restaurant way back when?)

voted - DWP now in the lead - keep it up good EDfers!

I'd be interested!

I thought the co-op's (numerous) planning applications had the laundrette down as part of their storage plans...

A booster seat is just that - its just to lift them up a bit so that the seat belt is in the right position across their bodies - no need to spend much at all (they all get covered in 'stuff' anyway)this will do the job as good as any http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Ride-NAR28828-Compact-Booster/dp/B000O15WO4/ref=sr_1_2s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1421874800&sr=1-2&keywords=car+booster+seat

Theatre Peckham?

The school was hired for a wedding party last night. Hope they ad a wonderful time!

We took both kids to Whippersnappers last year (6yrs and 18months at the time)and only paid for the eldest. We all went in to see Santa together and both kids got a present. There are craft activities throughout the visit, obviously my little one couldn't partake in them. I'd recommend it, it was a lovely well thought out visit, shame if their communications put people offas the people on the day were really lovely....

Melissa and Doug do a really lovely set with lots of bits, much cheaper than brio but compatible with brio, ikea etc...We bought it for our 2yr old and only use some of it at the moment but will get the rest out as he grows.

edited because my brain is in sleep mode.....

LondonMix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks for all the hard work parents group! Yes, many thanks to all on the steering group - i know there has been an awful lot of work involved and hope you know there are lots of us who are very appreciative! x

Oh No, really? Will be very sad to see it go - have always had very pleasant and helpful service from the owners.....

I'd like details on your holiday to Lefkana please! Sounds ideal - could you PM me the details please? x

James Barber wrote: > Part of creating a great school is having a local > school community. If people dip in for admissions > and then move further away they're less likely to > be able to support that wider school community. I totally agree, but whilst still in (demonstrably) walking distance of my daughter's school which is almost double the arbitrary 800m, we are still very much an active part of the school community (I'm currently Co-chair of the school's parents/friends association) . I cannot see how a council could possibly argue that it is totally justifiable to allocate children a school which is 3000m (walking) distance away but say that siblings must be housed within 800m distance. It is ridiculous.