Growlybear

The governing bodies of schools can protest as much as they like when the local authority asks them to take a bulge class, but at the end of the day, the local authority has the power to insist that they take an extra class. Lewisham has been exceptionally badly affected by the shortage in primary school places, and has to put the extra children somewhere. These decisions are often made at a very late stage, long after the original offers for September places have gone out. I can't imagine what legal grounds the OP thinks that she could base a legal challenge on. If my child's school was asked to take a bulge class at short notice, I would see it as a sign of the local authority's confidence that the school had strong enough leadership to be able to cope with an extra class at this late stage. No local authority is going to put a bulge class into a school where there is any doubt about the leadership's ability to manage the extra children without having a detrimental effect on the existing children at the school.

My daughter went to Kumon maths classes for about five years, and I think it was a wonderful system. She was bored stiff with the level of maths given to her when she was in Year 1, and wanted to do more advanced work. When she started at Kumon, she was put back to a very basic level, so that the four functions became completely automatic, but quickly moved up through the various levels. She stopped Kumon classes at the end of Year 6 when she left primary school, as she felt that it would be too tiring for her to continue after a long journey to and from secondary school. All Kumon students were expected to do between 10-30 minutes of work every day, including holidays. My daughter suited the discipline of Kumon, but several of her friends who also started dropped out because they weren't prepared to make the committment to working every day; but it's pointless doing Kumon unless you're going to do it properly. There was always an element of competition in my daughter's class, and the children were awarded stickers for achievements which could be saved up and converted to gifts from the Argos catalogue. My daughter really did benefit from Kumon classes, and by the time she left, much of the work she was doing was at GCSE level. All children have a weekly class at the local Kumon centre, and I think it's important that they gel with the tutor. for most of the time she was going to Kumon classes, my daughter really enjoyed it, and it was of huge benefit to her when she started secondary school.

I've just spent a really enjoyable half hour browsing through the website - thank you!

Whilst I commisserate with you that you've been issued with a fixed penalty notice, I don't see why the Council should be expected to add notices to explain the parking regulations. Everyone has to read the Highway Code and is tested on it as part of the driving test - the Highway Code states very clearly that you can't park partially or wholly on pavements in London unless the road markings indicate that you can do so.

We had a child at Horniman and felt that the school had very low expectations for more able children. There wasn't nearly enough differentiation in lessons, and we weren't impressed with behaviour expectations either. We lived just too far away from Fairlawn, but I have always regretted that we didn't send our our daughter to Eliot Bank. We ended up taking our child out of the school at the end of the Infants, and moving to a different school, where she really thrived in a more stimulating environment.

There has never been an automatic right of entry to the Junior School for children at the Infant School - they are completely separate schools with different admission authorities. At the time my daughter went to Dulwich Hamlet, it had been made very clear to her friends who had attended the Infant School that there was no preferential admission to the Junior School. Dulwich Village Infants is a faith school, whereas the Junior School, at the time my daughter went there, was a community school (I think it is now an academy). It has always been the case that children from the Infant School are not offered places at the Junior School, due in part because it is a faith school with different admission criteria and therefore took children from a wider geographical area than Dulwich Hamlet. In reply to the OP, my daughter was the only child from her Infant School to join Dulwich Hamlet in Year 3. The majority of the children came from two or three nearby schools, but there were a few other children who joined Year 3 without knowing anyone else. The school really couldn;t have done more to make her feel welcome and to help her to settle in quickly. Moving her from her previous school was the best thing we could have done as she had the sort of education at Dulwich Hamlet that I didn't think existed any more. It was a truly exceptional school that helped to equip her brilliantly for secondary school.

I go to St Thomas' frequently and I always go all the way on the no 12. If I'm not up to walking to the Plough, I have always been able to park my car just past either the first or second stop in Barry Road. You can always get a seat on the bus getting on so early on in the route, and the journey never takes me more than an hour. The bus stops right outside the hospital on Westminster Bridge. If you want to drive, we have never had problems getting a space in the cark park at St Thomas' at any time of day or night, and it's not particularly expensive, although the hospital is in the congestion charging zone.

Renata Hamvas Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- >> Growley Bear the reason why the OP suggested the > Fairlawn and Lewisham be contacted is that both > Boroughs have to work together at this site as > it's on a Borough border. As Fairlawn haven't > raised the issue and apparently Lewisham residents > haven't complained to their Council (but I've had > complaints from Lewisham residents!), Lewisham > haven't been notified of any problems and meetings > between the two councils on this matter over the > last few years haven't progressed. I know that > legally schools have no powers against parking > infringements, however reminder letters to parents > may prevent at least some of the offending parents > parking on double yellow lines, on pavements and > at bus stops. > > Renata The problems of parking adjacent to Fairlawn Primary School have been raised repeatedly with parents over many years, and the local authority is well aware of the issues. There is little that can be done by the school when providing the means to enforce the parking and traffic restrictions is given such low priority.

I don't understand why people are being told to contact St Francesca Cabrini and Fairlawn Primary Schools? Most schools in this area face a constant battle with parents who park illegally and inconsiderately - do people really think that they aren't aware of the problem? Schools constantly remind parents of the dangers they pose to children and others by parking illegally, but there is little more that they can do. Senior staff are abused on a regular basis when they tackle people who are illegally parked, and unfortunately they have no jurisdiction outside the school premises. Some schools 'name and shame' people who are parked illegally, but they don't have the power to do anything to stop people parking. The vast majority of schools in Lewisham are constantly asking for regular visits by traffic wardens, but the number of people available to visit around 80 schools in the Borough is woefully inadequate, and most schools can only expect one visit per term. Encouraging people to contact schools is not helpful.

My daughter went to Newstead Wood and she had a wonderful education. The journey was very easy; for the first year and a half she used the coach service which was organised by the Newstead and St Olave's PTAs, and which ran from Crystal Palace to the school gates. Then when she was a bit older, she caught the train from either Penge East or West Dulwich. As Ballerina said, they make a whole set of new train or coach friends, and the journey is a very social part of the day. My daughter used to catch a train at around 7.45, so didn't have to get up incredibly early. She was usually back at the station by 4.30. The amount of homework set at Newstead seemed to be far less than friends children had at other local schools. It was a bit inconvenient at times for my daughter not to have many friends who lived close by, but by the time she was in Year 9 we were all happy with her making her own way to Bromley or friends' houses during the daytime. Also, because so many of my daughter's friends lived quite a distance from each other, they probably had more sleepovers than they would have done otherwise.

Yes, I do agree that the staff at Dulwich seem to be particularly inept at finding veins. The last two occasions I had blood taken there, the phlebotomists couldn't find a vein in my left arm after several attempts. On one of these occasions, she was quite abrupt and rolled her eyes when I told her that she couldn't use the other arm as I had had lymph nodes removed. Both times, I ended up having blood taken from my hand. I've had countless blood samples taken over the last 18 months, and the only failures have been at Dulwich.

Almost all GP requested blood tests are carried out at Dulwich. I think there is only one session now where you can get them done at King's. I've found that there is usually quite a long queue by the time Dulwich opens at 7.30 am, and it can often be much quieter by mid morning.

I live in Wood Vale, and the only network that I can get a reliable signal on at home is Orange. I've always found their customer service to be absolutely superb - they actually do what they say they will, and always understand any issues. Every phone I've ever ordered from them has arrived the next day, including the many replacement phones my daughter has had when she has lost her phone or had it stolen. I don't know if they ever use overseas call centres, but I've never spoken to anyone outside the UK at any time of the day or night. I've tried Vodaphone and 02 in the past, and apart from a near non-existant signal, I found customer care was awful, particularly 02.

Are you sure your son hasn't got acute hearing? I have always been able to hear the background buzz of electricity when I'm lying quietly in bed at night, and I can imagine that could be quite scary for a young child who doesn't realise what it is.

I assume that the photograph which had been taken would show that the person concerned was peering through the window, and I wouldn't allow a photo to be posted, for example, which showed a random person walking down the street. Whether it was a neighbour that the poster didn't like or a complete stranger who was planning to burgle the house, I can't see a valid reason for anyone to peer through someone's window on their private property. JohnL Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > But how do you know it's true? The poster may have > joined the site that day to > cause trouble. Even a regular poster can't be > trusted 100% (how do you know the > account hasn't been hacked). > > To allow the photo you would need to establish > it's true, surely, not take it on > trust. The person in the photo could be a > neighbor the poster doesn't like. > > Growlybear Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I'm an administrator on another forum, and > whilst > > I would probably remove a post with a photo > which > > said, for example, 'This is the man who was > trying > > to find out if I was home so that he could > burgle > > our house' I would have no problems with > someone > > saying 'This stranger was on my private > property, > > peering through my window last night'. If it is > a > > truthful factual statement, it isn't libellous. > > People can then draw their own conclusions > about > > his motives.

I'm an administrator on another forum, and whilst I would probably remove a post with a photo which said, for example, 'This is the man who was trying to find out if I was home so that he could burgle our house' I would have no problems with someone saying 'This stranger was on my private property, peering through my window last night'. If it is a truthful factual statement, it isn't libellous. People can then draw their own conclusions about his motives.

The Forest Hill Road Group Practice is brilliant. We've been with them for over 30 years and have never had a complaint. It you need to be seen urgently they will always fit you in, and they've got some really excellent doctors at the practice.

A very small number of parents defer entry until the spring term in some schools, but it has only been a maximum of one or two in schools where this has happened. Apart from the fact that the children who start in January miss out on a term's education, they also then have to join an established class where friendships have already formed which makes it more difficult for them to settle in. The annual school census is now carried out in the autumn term, so schools suffer financially when children don't start until January as they don't receive any funding for those children for the whole academic year. At Horniman it used to be the case that children just went in for half days for the first two weeks to get them used to the school. I assume that is still the same. As far as I am aware, no Lewisham schools would allow half days for much longer than this.

I have to disagree, and I really dislike the way Lordship Lane has trendified over the years. I can't think of a clothing shop that I would want to buy anything from, but I would like to be able to buy clothes and get my food shopping locally. Even a branch of Next or H&M would be an improvement on what we've got. I see nothing wrong in having some chain more chain stores - as for supermarkets, in my opinion almost anything would be an improvement on the Co-op or Iceland.

Sue Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Growlybear Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I'd like to see a decent sized M&S food hall (or > a > > Waitrose), some decent, reasonably priced > clothes > > shops, and a stationers. And preferably less > > restaurants and coffee shops. > > xxxxx > > So - M&S/Waitrose, Primark and WH Smith? > > Lovely - they'll really add to the ED atmosphere > :) Primark might be your idea of a decent, reasonably priced clothes shop, but it isn't mine. There are plenty of shops offering good quality clothes at sensible prices which would probably do very well in Lordship Lane against the dire overpriced clothing shops that we have at the moment. And yes, I think a M&S and stationers would add to the area, particularly if they were to replace some of the coffee shops that have sprung up everywhere.

I'd like to see a decent sized M&S food hall (or a Waitrose), some decent, reasonably priced clothes shops, and a stationers. And preferably less restaurants and coffee shops.

I heard about this case on the radio this morning, where it was discussed for some time. From what I heard earlier, the boy has had surgery for a brain tumour, but his prognosis is apparently very poor if he does not have a course of radiotherapy, and his father wanted him to go ahead with the treatment. I don't think any parent has the right to refuse potentially life saving treatment to a child, and whilst it's very sad to think of the little boy being separated from his mother whilst he has treatment, at least he is much more likely to be alive at the end of it than if his mother was allowed to rely just on alternative therapies. Having undergone cancer treatment myself over the last year, I believe passionately that complimentary therapies can be extremely beneficial, but would never consider them as an alternative to treatment that was deemed to be essential from my doctors.

I love the smell of Lush, and I like the products I've used from there. But if I'm going to buy good quality bath and body products, I always buy Korres.

I don't think that is particularly cheap for a good steam mop. I've got one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Holme-HSM2001-Steam-Mop/dp/B005JYRNXE which is brilliant. I bought mine in Asda, and paid ?20 a few weeks ago when it was on offer.

I've had my Kindle for about 2 years and I love it. I particularly like the way that if I want to continue reading a book on my iPhone or iPad, it automatically takes me to the exact point I was up to on my Kindle. Like other posters, I like having it linked with my Amazon account. There are so many free books on offer that I don't think I've paid for a book for over a year- it's made me read loads of books that I quite probably wouldn't have tried if I'd had to pay for them.