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I'm taking a wiiiiild guess here, but maybe mothers of younger children (those under five) didn't like the big nasty boys playing their horrible loutish game and lobbied to get them put there. I do agree it is the most stupid place for a pair of benches, benches that would have been much more appreciated if they were put on the other side of the green, tastefully placed in the soon to be defunct dog free area. No one has had a good word to say about them yet

Sorry Asset, it's not a chip but a whole bag of potatoes. Your idea that the school merely needs a makeover 'like charter' is quite laughable,as just this week I've had two teachers from Charter telling me (unprompted) what a hellhole the school is and how unmanageable the classes were. A lick of paint solves nothing, and there is the old maxim to consider 'you cannot teach a child anything, only give them the opportunity to learn'. The quality of teachers and curriculum could be top notch, but if your pupils are mentally, emotionally and socially unprepared for learning then you're not going to get very far. Back in '93 or '94 a friend of mine started their children at GG along with a large group of 'middle class' parents with the idea of 'if enough of us go there it will get better'. Suffice to say not one of them lasted more than a year. If I was to be sensible and not bore you with glib cattle prod 'jokes', I would say that the way to improve GG school is... actually, I haven't got a clue beyond some sort of unfeasible and distasteful social engineering project. I do applaud any extra cash and help the school does get as I have known parents and pupils who were very happy there and I do wish it every success, but I must live in the real world and say that unless there is a shift in demographic within the school there may be little chance of improvement.

I used to get out, but not any more..............

This isn't a big shock, nor a new thing. While looking at primary schools fifteen years ago now, GG was a 'don't touch with a barge pole' school, as was (now called) Rye Oak Primary. Neither of these schools have had any real sort of improvement despite money and resources thrown at them, as shown by the recent ofsted report. GG does get raves for its preschool and reception classes though, and I have noticed as years go by there is a big exodus generally at the end of KS1 whatever the school or its standards of education. Swathes of middle classes are either leaving London completely or move with (already) and eye on that secondary school catchment area. I feel the only solution to this is, no, not bring back the cane, but to replace it with an electric cattle prod. The lets see those middle classes try to leave with 40,000 volts up the backside.

Channel 4 on demand. Desmond's series one and two,all the peep show I could want, spaaaaaaaaaaced, i could go on, but I've got some serious comedy to watch.

'And the winner is ............... Boris.'

'It's not my fault that the only thing that loves me is bleeding from its anus!' - if you've missed anything there's always the BBC i-player, and pulling does pee from a great height over the over hyped dross that is gavin and stacey. I find that bug eyed gavin a little creepy. I think one episode was filmed in the deceased Tulip cafe on LL, just to keep it ED specific. Looking forward to the equally perverse Peep Show on friday.........

We're all with you MM! I've been told a couple of stories this week of people being stopped filming near various public buildings. Is this an erosion of civil liberties or is it a case of too many people being employed to do too little? The recent explosion of PCO's on our streets to 'protect' us in this terrible terrible war on terror need something to do, and frankly out on the streets there's bugger all to do except hassle innocent people. I'm sure if you were of arabic persuasion, scoping out Whitehall with a camcorder, wearing a large sign calling for jihad and death to all westerners, you would be left well alone as to interfere would be against you're human rights. There does seem a disproportionate amount of these noddies about to tell you to get off the wall, stop filming, stop looking, stop drawing, stop talking, just shut up, go home and watch T.V.,as though we are living under the mujahideen. It reminds me of the scene in Persopolis where the grandmother has to kow tow to the man who used to be her window cleaner. A little uniform goes a long way......

I can highly recommend the new album by the Fuck Buttons on the ATP label for electronica noise stuff, for the art and soul check out he wonderful Peter Molina on Damaged Goods records, especially the first lp recorded with Billy Childish. And the new breeders album is a corker too.

Not a lot, a pair of scooters, a couple of men and some wood. Italian, yummy! That would be deliciously perfect as I don't like chinese (food, not people. Chinese people tate better than their food does).

I saw something happening in The Green today, does anyone know whats happening? Is it being refurbed, sold or new owners moving in? I'm curious.....I don't want to see it become an abandoned plot like yesteryear.....

I had an interesting experince at this junction a while ago. The lights has failed and it had turned into a free for all. As I was on foot you'd maybe expect it to be near impossible to cross, but on approaching the junction I put on my hardest 'peckham face' and walked out diagonally into the moving traffic. Because the drivers had slowed down and become more aware and less blas?, I was able to cross with ease. There have been studies showing that the removal of 'safety features' from the road have actually improved safety as motorists have greater awareness of their surroundings rather than having their 'I'm in a box and I'm going to ignore everyone else' attitude. In this particular instance, for me, it worked well and I didn't have to spend five minutes waiting for the lights, tho another poor woman I passed on the way was still stood there ten minutes later, to afraid to face down the motorist. This, though, is not a call for the lights to be removed as I'm sure within hours car drivers would be speeding through and doing handbrake turns, u-turns and probably even parking on the junction. The only way to make this junction really safe is to pedestrianise it so it can become a safe haven for mugging (please refer to another thread 'has anyone been mugged?)

A great idea,take down all the fencing. They did this to the northern triangle of peckham common and I feel it's made a tremendous difference to the feeling of the area, much more free and open, a more pleasant space in general. My only concern would be the temptation of the petrolheads to use is as an occasional car park.

Franglasia, here's something nasty about Cadburys for you (apart from the rotten quality of their product). They are in the processs of closing their only british factory, putting half the population of the west country on the dole, just so they can make a larger profit from your cocoa addiction by moving the whole shebang abroad! I'll never shop at somerfield for the same sort of reason, they have closed their main distribution centre in Bristol putting my cousin (18 years service) out of a job. Shop local, shop independant. http://www.tgwu.org.uk/Templates/News.asp?NodeID=93813&int1stParentNodeID=42516&int2ndParentNodeID=42516&Action=Display

Both my children went there and loved the place, they used to be turning kids away! What happened? Have all the nice people left the area and left us with nothing but the (shudder) foxtonites? Surely not every mother out there is working to feed their Nero addiction. It would be such a shame to lose probably the last community preschool in the area.