Amethyst

Depending on where you live in ED, The P13 bus might be an option... I know it's not the most reliable service, but it terminates at the Sainsburys in New Cross, which is a short walk away from the school.

I too, would agree that the Ofsted report is actually a very accurate reflection of the school. My son is in year 7 and happy at school. 4 other boys from his school attend HBAED, however he has made many new friends. The whole of year 7 attended a water sports trip together in the first month of starting the school, which I think really helped the children bond and establish new friendship. ( I believe this is an annual occurrence for each new year 7 intake) All tutor group consists of children from years 7,8,9. I actually think this is a great idea, as on a daily basis all years are mixing within a classroom setting and probably takes away the fear of the 'older boys' in the school. I thought my son may have struggled with the early starts, but he bounces out of the house at 8am every morning! I think a lot has been said about the discipline within the school, however I actually think that they have the balance just about right. 2 warnings regarding unacceptable behaviour, before being removed from the class seems reasonable to me. My son does not think the school is too strict either. Balancing out the discipline is the Harris Points that they are rewarded with for positive behaviour and individual pieces of outstanding work. And also the children are set a 'personal best' (end of year target) based on their SAT results and banding test results. They are rewarded with a slip/token for each subject when you achieve your personal best which gives them the chance of a Reward trip. It is also encouraging to see that the streams are by no means rigid and movement between streams is quite common, depending on their progress each term. There are a vast amount of extra curricular activities/clubs at lunchtime and after school such as debating club, film club to develop children beyond the set curriculum. My only criticism here is that I do not think lunch time clubs leave children with much time to have a proper lunch break, if they choose to attend. However I believe there maybe changes to the timings of lunch breaks, from September. While I'm on the topic of lunch - my son comes home raving everyday about the standard of food served at break and lunch. As you can tell - I could go on and on about the school, as I genuinely feel that my son is engaged and stretched and am happy to see great progress in just six short months.

From Barry Road, turn right onto Underhill Road and left on to Dunstans Road.

Apologies for the ignorance of my initial post. As stupid as it sounds, before today, I did not realise just how much the Olympics would impact my daily commute to work, through London Bridge. Chippy Minton - The TFL link proved very useful for me, thanks!

I do understand your frustrations too. It really is awful that so many residents in ED appear to find themselves living in 'black holes' when it comes to their choice of schools. Quite a few of the children in my sons primary school were without secondary school places, right up to the end of the summer term and beyond. It was heartbreaking to see 10/11 year olds trying to deal with that uncertainty, on top of the normal fears of leaving primary school. However I do not feel that taking away other parents choice in selecting a local single sex school is the solution. It is instead, for our councillors to focus on the problems surrounding the entrance policy of our existing local co-ed schools or tackling the shortage in other ways. For many years, parents did not have a choice in sending their child to a local boys(non faith)school. I think it is great that with the emergence of Harris Boys, ED are now able to offer (most) local children an outstanding standard of education regardless of whether they attend co-ed or single sex.

Or train from either ED or Peckham Rye station to London Bridge then Jubilee Line to Stratford.

My son is also in year 7 at Harris Boys. I also have a younger daughter and while it would make life easier for her to follow my son into the same secondary school (as she did with primary school); I do not believe my daughters needs should be a deciding factor of which secondary school my son attends. They are very different children and might not necessarily thrive in the same environment. The school achieved their outstanding inspection with boys only on the premises. Of course, there are no GCSE results to back up the OFSTED report as yet; but from my own personal experience, my son does not appear to be struggling academically, just because he is now in a classroom full of boys as opposed to a mixture. Although I am not actually against the idea of a co-ed school, there will be parents who chose to send their son to Harris Boys' as it is the only local boys school; and I feel it would be unfair for the school to change it's intake or any other features to satisfy those who do not already have children at the school. Especially when some of those parents campaigned against it's very existence! (This is not necessarily directed at anyone in this thread) I just feel quite passionate about the performance of the teachers, children and Parent Voice group, despite the strong opposition that it faced (and still faces, from some quarters) and do not feel that they should have to change, in order to be accepted by the majority of ED residents. The Parents and children have accepted their place there, knowing that it is an all boys school and I feel that is how it should stay; unless academic results or other matters of concern indicated a need for a drastic change. However I would happily support DenmotherSmith's proposal, of joint after school activities etc; at the parent voice group.

Hi Dulwich Jon There are lots of previous discussions on this topic. I think this may be the most recent. http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,808498 Hope that helps!