Belle

We visited Cassis when my first was 8 months old - my brother was living in Marseilles at the time and we wanted somewhere handy for visiting him but a holiday for us too. There is a tiny little beach as I recall and it's a pretty wee town (some great restaurants) but for the ages your kids are they might get bored after a few days, depends what they are into. I still have good friends in Marseilles and can ask them where they go for beaches etc if you like?

I wasn't looking for analysis as such as realise it's way too early, particularly with effectively a bonus round in this year's applications - just looking for informal feedback as curious. Kristymac - yes, have heard similar on both counts.

Renata, have you had any feedback on where parents in the Peckham Rye area/East side of ED have been allocated? Presumably most are too far to have been offered Charter ED.

I believe the point about being able to have an offer from Charter ED and another Southwark school only applies this year? As it's its first year in existence. The same was true when e.g. Harris Ed (primary) opened and Belham.

Re single sex going co-ed: I think people would - but not all, as Landsberger says there are certainly parents who prefer single sex, in some cases because there is evidence girls perform better academically. I don't think that's by any means true of ALL parents by the way. I do think schools who already operate like this may be reluctant to change if they feel it could adversely affect their results. Harris is interesting. It's practically got a monopoly in south east london and it has a lot of detractors. So there may be parents who are desperate for a non Harris option (when I said that parents in the campaign were explicit about co-ed and not a faith school, "not Harris" came up a lot in feedback too). As I said above, I don't think 2 miles is necessarily an issue but it is not always straightforward given means of transport (i.e. no direct route) and other factors. I'm not saying let's all have high schools at the end of our road.

Hope this plug is ok but this thread which is in the What's On section may be of interest to people here. I'm going to be talking about my book on postnatal depression at Rye Books on Thurs 17th March at 7pm. Dr Helena Belgrave, a counselling psychologist who I also interviewed in my book will be joining me. Come along! http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?6,1644279

> > No, not really, but to read the middlebrows and > the tabloids, you'd think there was. Just out of interest, what other media (if that's what you're referring to) does that leave? Two miles might well be fine - a lot depends on how easy it is to actually get to. E.g. Deptford sounds great, and within reach but not particularly easily so. Loads of kids go up to Sydenham girls from Dulwich on a bus - doesn't sound like a problem. I can't speak for everyone but I do remember from the secondary school campaign that the key things people cared about were not "I only want Kingsdale/Charter" but "give me something that's co-ed and not a faith school". To conflate those things is unfair/inaccurate in my opinion. Another issue is that a lot of kids may have special needs which fall below the threshold of being able to get priority on those grounds (so for instance I've heard parents on this forum discuss dyspraxia in this context). For them, long/complicated journeys to and from school are a problem. Renata - if you're following this - would be interesting to hear your view on numbers/places once the initial offers have been made.

I think it's a bit rubbish to jump on EMC like this. It's a totally reasonable story to run, and she's not the only journalist looking for case studies in this area because it IS still an issue. Yes there is provision - but that's if you are fine with, say, single sex provision/faith schools/a long journey. Saying over 90% get one of their six preferences only tells you that those parents were being pragmatic and making sure they filled in all six choices, rather than risking their child ending up with no secondary option. It's a bit of a leap to then assume that getting one of those six places is a good outcome. Interesting figures Labour put out today from the House of Commons library - it's not rocket science. The pressure we all saw put on primary schools a few years back is now coming to bear on secondary schools. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-35671570

Oh thank you! I will contact him.

Can anyone recommend a good guitar teacher? My seven year old got a guitar for his birthday and is really keen to learn. Ideally one who comes to us would work best but we're flexible... or if anyone wants to double up on lessons that might work too.

Think there was maybe a thread about Le Nid? Little Jungle (Amott Road - so maybe 7 mins walk to station, handy for Peckham rye too) is meant to be brilliant, will doubtless be a waiting list but worth trying.

This sounds great. Do you reckon they'd take a child (7) who still hasn't mastered cycling? Or is the emphasis more on safe cycling once you've learnt the essentials?

Heber and Goodrich and Dog kennel Hill have nurseries too, most have transferred to the 2.5 day system (so two full school length days and one half day) with potential for top up (certainly Goose Green offer this, and I think Goodrich too). Re schools, I've experienced three (one just at nursery level) and would say go on a tour, as that way you'll see the kids in situ. For me, things like how engaged the Headteacher was with the children during the tour was important, and how responsive (is it just a sales pitch or do they genuinely want to answer your questions) but as many well tell you, in this area it's more about aiming to get into any local school, many are so oversubscribed that I'm afraid it's not a case of being able to choose a favourite, though anecdotally some newly opened schools have eased pressure a bit. You get six options on your application form. On Goose Green - I only have nursery experience there (excellent, I can't recommend it enough) but I do get to see quite a bit of the rest of the school in my dealings there and I have always thought it seems great.

We got our counter from the same place, super golden!

I've seen this in about 5 different places today and yesterday which means it's getting wide exposure, which is good (in relative terms - it's really awful that it had a reason to be started in the first place). Utterly horrendous for the family. Will sign.

It's great, my son only stopped last summer as he wanted to try swimming and the classes clashed. Also I wasn't totally sure he would stick at the longer sessions times RC mentioned above,and he was getting close to that age. It's really well done and the teachers are great.

We had them in our last place and had, at various times, a sofa, an armchair and our dining table right next to them. Never ever felt cold or draughty - because they are multiple-glazing I guess? And specially engineered for the space or something (I clearly have no idea but I do know they weren't cold!). As pickle says they can heat the room but the downside of that is just be aware of e.g. screens etc because of the glare - you might want to consider blinds/thin curtains depending on how the house is positioned.

That sounds horrible - a real double whammy, I would be feeling exactly the same way. I often find that bit before getting off if on the top with my 4 year old a bit stressful. It's not always possible to get down when the bus is stationary/stop before etc if they don't stop, and if you leave it till when the bus is stopped it's that mad dash which also risks drawing ire. I absolutely would report it - he shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I'm guessing you wouldn't have had a chance to get his details but if you give the time/route that might help, guess it might be the bus provider rather than TfL but try both? I think given you were with a small child it's unacceptable that he was shouting at you. I've usually had good treatment from bus drivers when I'm with the kids (not always the passengers though!) but at times the lack of regard for safety has really shocked me. Hope it's helped having a little vent and hearing some supportive messages, I'm sure a letter of complaint would be cathartic! Xx

So glad he is happier in the new setting, Midivydale! CurlyKaren - we did move our son, at the end of reception i.e. he started year 1 somewhere else. We haven't looked back - best decision we ever made. But it's very subjective and personal, isn't it? I'm sure others could have made the reverse move and be happy, but this has worked for us. Also re age, I heard this week (from another forumite!) that around 6/7 there is a big hormonal surge which can lead to this kind of behaviour... Re mindfulness, will look into it...

Totally get the stupid idiot stuff...we've had a really bad and long phase of him being physically violent to us (well mainly me) which is very hard to deal with, and destructive behaviour e.g. smashing up lego creations/tearing up drawings/breaking things in his room. As someone said above, they are still so young - they don't know how to express themselves fully yet - but what I find hard is how to deal with this behaviour. Absolutely agree it's not acceptable but it's the questions about what may be at the root of it, whether being really tough is the right approach etc that I find hard. BTW re minecraft, some teachers really rate it given the creativity it requires... we just try to set limits. Absolutely agree re encouraging any passions, and actually recently J had topic homework which was "write a report about a hobby" so I encouraged him to do it on mine craft which worked out really well! We need to have a get together and they can geek out about mine craft together while we share our sorrows! xx

Hi Lochie! As you prob know from my comments/posts/FB status updates, we have similar issues with J, who is 7 in a couple of weeks. What is changing for us is that while in the past most of this behaviour has been confined to home (which as people have said, indicates he feels it is a "safe place" in which he CAN meltdown - not that it is much fun being on the receiving end of it) - it is starting to leak out in other places and even at school now. He also really struggles to sit still so carpet time is a big problem... We started on the journey of involving the school SENCO and later Sunshine House about a year or so ago. My experience of the school help has been outstanding. Even when the problems were not manifesting particularly at school, they were sympathetic and supportive and even brought in the educational psychologist to assess him. Sunshine House, I must say we have had a less than positive experience of but I realise this may be the exception (and can explain more on PM if helpful). The trouble is that everything seems to sit in a different organisation, e.g. we were told ADHD "comes under" CAMHS, not Sunshine House, but that autism (including aspergers) comes under Sunshine House. He has now been referred to the autism clinic, though more for elimination purposes I believe. I have been getting support from the Southwark Early Help team who are excellent (but I'm aware you're in another borough - should be something similar in your area too). In short, I'd recommend pursuing help via your school SENCO, if you feel they are accessible. As others have said, I could have written your post - right down to Minecraft. One thing I've read about ADHD tendencies is that children with them may be able to focus intensively on certain things, it's called hyper focus. So it can be annoying, I find, when people (in our case, a doctor) say "oh he's concentrating on that lego therefore he can't have ADHD" - even to my non-expert mind that is a pretty narrow view. Having said all that, I still don't necessarily believe there is a diagnosis at the end of our own particular journey, but it definitely doesn't hurt to read up on these issues. I've been recommended a number of books (and do the love bombing thing, it definitely works), on here - one of which was Easier, Calmer, Happier Parenting which I really rate. Hadn't thought of meditation/mindfulness, what a great idea. Oh, one (probably obvious but I still forget it!) thought - is it related to hunger/blood sugar dips? I find that has a massive impact on J's mood. Also if your little boy is now Year 1 he's prob experiencing a big change in his day, having to sit still more etc, which is really difficult for boys especially I think. Courage...you are not alone! x

What Lochie said is very true and worth bearing in mind - and by the same token, being a SAHP now needn't be forever, I did it for a bit, then after child number 2 came along I went back to work. It used to annoy me when people said I'd "given up work", I saw it more as an extended maternity leave (albeit unpaid!). It wasn't that I was never planning on working again.

Yes, Jessica's book looks fab and there is a FB page for it if you search for it (I follow it so you could go via me if you can't find it) - which you might want to recommend to your friends. If they are local, I believe the dulwich twins/multiple births society is very good!

Our school does French after school club - might that be an option for your big one at some stage? I *think* ours kicks in around year 2.