Belle

Anyone know where i can get air drying modelling clay (! thanks Mister Maker) locally?? Have promised oldest will help him make creepy halloween hand today...

Agree - meet and or go with word of mouth - that's how we found ours and we could not do without her! She is brilliant, capable and most important to us she really cares about the children. They love her!

I thought the Norman Foster idea was inspired: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyCycle_%28proposed_transport_project%29

Fair enough, guilty of skimming :)

Not sure how that's relevant to the op?! Cycling on pavements is a big grey area, I read something on this recently. But the issue here is motorists and their treatment if cyclists...

Agree OP with your points. I'd say some of them apply to motorists treatment of other motorists actually - hate when drivers put everyone at risk just to basically move one car in front and save, maybe, a second? And I'd add that when a driver is doing the right thing by a cyclist as you outlined , it would be helpful if other drivers did not toot/ get all aggressive because we are not overtaking the cyclist...

I know a bit about the GSG, although I do not write for them - this is how reports are written, the idea being I guess that Ofsted provides the objective view, and these are more subjective/anecdotally based - that's very clear when you read sample reports. I think writers usually go and visit the school and talk to the Head plus parents, spend time in the school too. In fairness to them, I don't think they pretend to be anything else. Not sure if it's just good/outstanding schools - not heard that before.

I think in reception/Year 1 at least, the teacher being available for the quick word the poster above describes is ideal. At pick up times that is. For families who aren't going to be there for pick up due to work, if the teacher is accessible on email that is great - I was impressed when ours replied to my email really promptly and with the info I needed when I contacted her recently.

Well, in fairness, that's part of what the free school system is for isn't it? for people to get together and say, look there is a need here and we would like to do it this way. It's the EFA's job to find the site. In the letter Harris wrote to the parent steering group which has been posted earlier in the thread they indicated that the hospital site wasn't their preference: "The EFA has told us that it is considering part of the Dulwich Hospital site for the primary school and advised us that we should keep our options open with regards to this, even though we still hope that a site closer to Nunhead can be found. I wanted to reassure you that we are conscious this is also the site you would like for the new secondary free school in East Dulwich" Either way, it's up to DfE/EFA to get the siting right. And in my view, squeezing any primary - no matter who it's meant to serve - onto that site along with a health centre AND a secondary, is madness. And compromises all three. To be clear: I'm not a fan of how this 'Nunhead' primary idea has evolved, but I think that the main issue here is what the DfE /EFA do next.

As far as I know though, free school applications don't name a site - it is for the EFA to find a site for a proposed new school. In the case of the two secondary bids, obviously there's just one site that would work - but neither bidder can lay claim to it and I'm not sure it could have been mentioned in any concrete terms as part of the proposal.

Also, ask if your daughter can have a communications book - somewhere you can exchange messages with her teacher about progress/anything concerning you - some schools do this (not all - but worth asking for it if they don't).

Also at St John's and St clement's (recently moved from another local primary) and find the communciation excellent. The newsletter comes from the head which I feel gives you a sense of who she is/what she's about, plus she does a useful summary of what bits of paper you should be getting in your bookbag - handy for the times your little one mislays letters etc. We also got a calendar a couple of weeks back to put on your fridge, with term dates and key events. The PTFA is really good at contact too, and there's a class rep system - do you have one in place? could be worth chasing that. Can you speak to the PTA and/or the Head about who is in charge of school communications? For me personally, communication is fundamental, particularly in the early years when you're new to the school environment. It's not why we moved school but it's been a huge plus to our move. I think a lot of people find reception year quite bewildering, and I can relate to Otta's experience - we definitely had times where my son missed out on something last year because we didn't get the relevant info, or something would happen at school and it would be impossible to get to the bottom of it. I don't think that experience was necessarily restricted to the school we were in, but I think parents can and should push to change it. and yes, as much info electronically as possible!

Dulwich Born & Bred - it's over to the Department for Education now to pick an appropriate provider from the two bids (if it in fact chooses one at all - that's all in their gift) - it's nothing to do with James now, so whatever you think of him (and though I'm in complete disagreement with him over this site dispute/Nunhead primary fracas, I do still give him credit for getting the secondary campaign going in the first place) - he is not 'behind' Habs as such, that would be a group of parents (of which I'm a member), who felt Habs had the best offer.

I've written to TJ now too. Thanks for the reminder.

They posted on FB to say they had some problems with the site...

Hello! I'm surprised the GP said that as thought it was around 3 they could diagnose? J was diagnosed at 4, but I suppose one clincher for us was that even the blue inhaler wasn't sufficient so he was then put on a daily steroid inhaler, which he still takes. The fact he improved on that was a fairly clear indicator. One of the things which led us to seek a diagnosis was a quite dramatic reaction to friends' cats - when staying overnight (short term exposure seems fine). I'm asthmatic and I have to say cats are one of the worst things for me... is it worth waiting a little longer or maybe staying with people with a cat/borrowing a cat to see?

Worth bearing in mind that the school offers non church places too.

Does anyone know if GG nursery is likely to move to the 2.5 day format like other schools in the area?

James, your option sounds fairer. Politically is this an issue which may come up for review in Southwark? Like others, it would affect us even though we have not moved, not do we want to.

Just to say, this phase of consultation is now closed (if you go on the link, it explains it on the Haberdasher's website) - because the application will be submitted early October. However, there will be further scope to share views about admissions policies - i.e. if the bid gets to the next stage - and of course there is the public meeting tomorrow night too. There is still the option to show support for the Haberdasher's bid on the link posted above. On the catchment area, I guess it is difficult for anyone to predict, though I understand why it is frustrating for you. I am (as I've previously said) on the Haberdasher's parent steering group, and part of the reason I support Habs is that is that I too live too far away to have a hope of Charter (either existing or proposed new school). I have always supported the idea of a school which offers the right admissions policy for the area. This is only anecdotal, but I have heard of a parent who attended the Charter public meeting and was told his children would have 'no chance' of entry to the new Charter if they were East of Lordship Lane (let alone East of Barry Road, which looking at the map above is where a huge section of the demand is).

Hi Verds, my son (who I think your little girl has played with once upon a time) has moved schools this year, so at the start at Year 1. It has been pretty much seamless. We were lucky in that we knew a couple of people from before, but I was expecting it to be a much bigger deal than it has been all the same. He is very outgoing but can be a bit sensitive about stuff, but it has been great. Everyone seemed to clock that he was new (and me!) and look out for him/us as a result. I think the fact that Year 1 involves some transition anyway (including a new teacher/TA for most classes) means that to an extent they are all in the same boat. And they don't really know any different at that age - in fact my son was saying the other day 'next time I move school...' to which I replied 'not until secondary!'. We actually had a bit of a last minute change of plan with schooling so didn't even tell him until the night before (!) but he took it in his stride. PM me if you want to know more. She will be fine! If you keep it matter of fact and maybe store up a list of pros to help (we had a list of advantages to the move, but we barely got past the first one - quite an arbitrary one too - which he focused in on and from then on we were off, he was happy). I also stressed that he will still obviously see old friends (we have a good precedent of this with friends from previous nurseries who didn't go on to school with him, plus friends who have moved away and cousins who live far away - he gets that friendships don't just take place within school walls).

Yup - don't read the blogs - use the time to read a book/magazine or do something similar for yourself, even if it's only 5 minutes.

Hi again, glad you are feeling a bit better. Evenings are bloody important, so it's good you're getting those, even though the nights sound bad! Your life sounds really stressful at the moment - both busy with work, lack of sleep, house move, and last but not least 2 kids who are really still quite little. I mentioned to a friend (and forumite) your post and we both agreed that the ages your kids are at, is a tough stage. So first off do not feel bad or compare yourself to others. My main bit of advice is to sort the sleep out (although I take your point that co sleeping can be nice, and lord knows we still do it in our house with a 5.5 yr old and nearly 3 yr old on occasion - but this sounds not like co-sleeping, and sleeping well, which is fine, but co-sleeping and you not getting proper rest). I have smilar age gaps to you and about the stage you're at now, when I'd just gone back to work, and my youngest had never slept through, and I was on my knees with tiredness, I enlisted the help of Nicola at child sleep solutions (http://www.childsleepsolutions.co.uk/) - recommended often on this forum. She was brilliant. I really think that when sleep problems get bad, you need a cool, clear head - and being outside the family can help with that. She outlined about 8 different approaches - from CC right down to the most gradual of gradual retreats, so I was really reassured that it didn't have to be tough love. In the end we took a very gentle no cry approach, with her help. I did find my husband had to implement it at first, which is quite common. I'm not saying he slept from then forever more - and I don't think Nicola would say that such miracles can happen. But what I do know is that within 3 nights he slept through for the first time in his life. Thereafter, up to age 2, he slept about 5/6 nights out of 7, and now it's only occasionally (due to illness etc) that he gets up at night. I think it's importance to recognise that the sleep situation doesn't stand still - so you may address a problem, and have great sleep for a year, but then another issue might arise. But sort of accepting that makes a big difference, and in my experience, having someone like Nicola who has so much experience and knowledge, to help guide you through a really bad patch and come up with a strategy to fix it, is the answer. I know it's an expense, but in my opinion it's worth every penny. Hope that helps - and in answer to your plea, it does get easier!

Will post more later as dashing off but just wanted to pick out something you said "we end up just going to the park" - I wouldn't feel bad about that! Going to the park is all they need really and it's great you're making it out the door to be honest, particularly given the sleep situation. I wouldn't add extra pressure on yourself to do all those complex parenting activities we read about /people blog about and which can make us feel bad. Fresh air, a run around, time with you - that really is pretty much all a preschooler needs. I'm over simplifying but hope you get my point. Please don't feel bad! Will post more later.

Oh Snowboarder, those pics made me nostalgic!