Growlybear

Just to clarify - I said in an earlier post that I am a parent and that I have a long association with Fairlawn . I did not say that I am a current Fairlawn parent, not even an ordinary looking one.

That's probably the most sensible post in this thread. My head is hurting a bit now from being banged against a brick wall, so I think I'll take your advice, and will just sit back and point and laugh from now on!

And I'm rather puzzled as to why you think I am ignorant? Surely refusing to accept that your petition is too late and aimed at the wrong body demonstrates quite a degree of ignorance? Perhaps some of these parents at Fairlawn and Horniman Schools who supposedly support what has now become a 'campaign' rather than a petition should have voiced their views more strongly at the consultation meetings in January and put forward viable suggestions for keeping the nursery open. Or was it the case that the other parents understood and accepted the reasons for closing the nursery and the process that was followed? yas Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > This is not just a petition, it is a campaign. It > has even made it to South London Press as well as > backed by Forest Hill Society. A lot of the > parents in Fairlawn School and Horniman School > support this campaign! > > I am therefore puzzled at your ignorance, > Growlybear?

Of course I understand why the governors had to make the decision to close the nursery. I also understand the process for making such a decision, and am very much aware of the legalities of what schools can and can't do, as well as what the local authority can and can't do. It is not at all dishonest to say that the petition is useless because it will not serve it's original purpose, which was to 'save Fairlawn Nursery'. I also don't think the one or two staff who may or may not be affected by the closure really need moral support from an online petition!

And I don't think to true to say that anyone has attacked the OP's petition - people have just pointed out that it is completely pointless to start a petition after a decision has been made and to direct it to the wrong body!

Well I'm a parent, who also has a long association with Fairlawn. I was very sorry that the decision was made to close the nursery, but the governors carried out a proper consultation process and then took the final decision to close the nursery once the responses to the consultation had been received and considered by the governors. There is no right of appeal against the decision - it was for the governors of the school to make and no other body has any power to make the governors change or reconsider their decision. The school offered places at Haseltine to parents on the waiting list, and there are other excellent nurseries in the area - I find it hard to believe that Eliot Bank can be too far away for anyone who wanted a place at Fairlawn. Many of the parents on the waiting list will have found other places by now anyway. Whatever you may want to think, the final decision has been made and will not be changed.

This thread just gets funnier with every post! I was taken in for the first few pages, but realise now that this must just be a very amusing wind-up.

It really is like banging your head against a brick wall ! Once again, your petition is directed to a body that has no authority whatsoever in the decision that was made three weeks ago to close the nursery. You have sadly wasted your time in pursuing your petition - the decision has been made and can't now be reversed. As you clearly don't want to understand the decision making process involved in deciding the future of the nursery,I suppose there's really no way that you will actually accept this until September when the nursery doesn't reopen after the summer holidays.

ThAnk you penguin - that's exactly what I was trying to point out. I've always been in favour of campaigns to try to bring about change but there is no point in campaigning against a decision that has already been made and to the wrong body. Your petition might have been considered if you had presented it to the governing body of the school before the consultation period ended but you didn't do that, and have chosen to start a pointless petition aimed at the wrong body after the final decision has been made.

Actually, it has nothing to do with the local authority. The future of the nursery is up to the governing body of the school and the governing body has already carried out a consultation process and taken a final decision to close the nursery. Your petition is directed at the wrong body and is several weeks too late.

It's all rather pointless. The decision to close the nursery has been made, and there really is no possibility of changing it now.

But why are continuing with your campaign to save the nursery when the final decision was taken by the school's Governing Body over two weeks ago?

Your petition hasn't been too successful, has it! The decision has been made to close the nursery, and there really isn't anything that will change that decision now. But why are you not prepared to substantiate your rumour about these supposed 35% cuts that schools in the area have undergone? Possibly because you can't?

I'm not really interested in rumours - I prefer facts which can be substantiated. I know with 100% certainty that no school in the immediate area, or in Lewisham come to that, has had a 35% budget cut for 2015/16. As I have already said, if you are insistent in presenting misinformation, then please can you substantiate it? Perhaps you might like to provide a link to minutes from the Schools Forum meeting or various Council and Committee meetings where budgets were discussed? wote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Rumour has it that it was 35%. Satisfied? :)The > only figure I need to know is that how much the > school is having to contribute into running the > nursery!

No yas, it is completely untrue to say that all the schools in the area have had a budget cut. Perhaps you can provide evidence of this? Possibly a comparison of the budget allocations for each of the local schools in 2014/15 and 2015/16? You will see then that they have NOT had budget cuts, let alone a 35% reduction. It's quite true to say that schools will face increasing financial pressures over the next 2-3 years, but the cuts that you have suggested simply have NOT taken place at this stage. yas Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > All the schools in the area had a budget cut! > Hence why the governing body of Fairlawn School > had to make a decision to close down the nursery > only a few weeks after of having new kids starting > at the nursery! > > Pre schools have flexiable intakes, they could > have January, April and September intakes. Or only > a September intake! So, the numbers may or may not > have been falling!

yas Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > LondonMix is not you again, is it? Honestly it is > exhausting arguing with you! All the schools in > the area had a budget cut by 35% at the beginning > of the year which meant that the school could no > longer keep the nursery! They are absolutely > devastated to make that decision! They can't offer > 30 hours of childcare! They are not a childcare > provider but an education provider! Simple enough > for you? > > Sorry to be rude but you are coming across as > being antagonistic to our petiti Sorry, but it is simply not true to say that ANY schools in Lewisham have had a 35% budget cut this year.

If Haseltine is too far away, why not apply to Eliot Bank which is also an outstanding school? It's a relatively short walk from Fairlawn and is currently advertising nursery places for September.

I'm confused about the objections to the yellow lines. All parking restrictions in the Highway Code are enforceable, and it is very clear that you can't park within 10 metres from a junction. So why would it make a difference if yellow lines are painted on the roads at junctions? You're not permitted to park near junctions - yellow lines are not needed to enforce this.

Sorry, I won't be signing the petition either. As sorry as I am that the nursery has to close and for the inconvenience to some parents, I can understand the reasons behind the decision and that the school just can't afford to keep it open in the light of the falling number of applications. If I had a child in the main school, I would not be happy at the thought of some of the money the school receives for my child's education being used to subsidise the nursery, which is not statutory provision.

Well I think I must be going to a different practice to some other people. I have always found the reception staff to be extremely pleasant, efficient, and polite, and they have always tried their very best to help me when I've needed it. I think they do an excellent job, particularly given the way that they are treated by many patients. I was in a short queue when I was at the surgery yesterday, and two of the three people in front of me were unacceptably rude to the receptionists, but as usual, they dealt with them calmly and respectfully. I would find it very difficult to do their job with so many unpleasant people to deal with, many of whom have unrealistic expectations of the practice.

Well once again, I had superb service from the practice last week. After spending a week in bed with flu, I realised that my chest didn't feel right, and I was a bit breathless. I rang the surgery at about 8.30 a.m., got through to a receptionist within two minutes. There were no routine appointments available as you would expect, and the 'on the day' appointments had all been allocated by that time. However, the receptionist put me on the list for a telephone call by the duty doctor. The doctor rang me within 10 minutes, and arranged for me to be seen by one of the doctors later the same morning who confirmed that I had a chest infection. I have always maintained that if you NEED to be seen urgently by the practice, they will always fit you in. In the 40 years I've been with the practice, I've never had difficulty getting through on the phone, and have never felt that I've had an unreasonably long wait for an appointment. If I want to see a particular doctor for a routine matter, then I'm happy to book an appointment three or four weeks ahead, but if I need to be seen more quickly, then the receptionists always do their very best to fit me in. I have always felt privileged to be a patient at Forest Hill Road.

I'm sorry to hear that your property has been damaged by this work, but should you not be making a claim from your buildings insurers rather than trying to pursue the developers yourself? It would then be up to your insurance company to sort out the cause of the damage, and to help you in getting the repair work carried out.

The catchment area for Newstead Wood is only 9 miles, so Peckham would be quite some way outside the limit.

We had TalkTalk for many years, as well as its many predecessors, and the service gradually got worse, and much more unreliable. Much as I hate to have to admit it, since we moved to Virgin the service is much faster and generally extremely reliable. However, my past experience with Virgin's telephone customer services department was so incredibly bad that I hate having any services with Virgin. They are the most callous and uncaring company on the planet.

My daughter did Kumon maths for about five years and I thought it was a really excellent system. She started when she was 7 because she was so bored with the maths she was being taught towards the end of the Infants and wasn't being stimulated or stretched at all. She complained continually about the maths at school and asked if I could find somewhere else where she could do some more challenging work, so it was entirely her choice to start Kumon. We found that Kumon was brilliant at reinforcing the basic maths functions, and gave her the building blocks to really make progress. I was shocked initially at the very low starting level after her initial Kumon assessment, but the tutor explained that they took children back to a level where the answers to questions were virtually automatic. She moved through the levels very quickly, and for most of the time, really enjoyed it. We decided from the outset that if we were going to pay for my daughter to do Kumon, we would commit to doing it seriously, and there was never a single day when she didn't do the worksheets she had been given, even on holiday. My daughter was stimulated with her maths work throughout her time with Kumon, and was doing quadratic equations by the time she was 9, and some GCSE level work when she left primary school. She only stopped Kumon because she had a long journey to and from secondary school, and it was difficult to get to the classes when she got home from school. She went on to get an A* at GCSE and an A at A Level in maths, and I've always put this down largely to Kumon. I've also always been convinced that Kumon helped her with secondary school entrance exams, and she was offered places at every school she applied to, with maximum scholarships at two public schools. I do think the individual tutor makes a huge difference, and my daughter really got on well with the staff at her Kumon centre.