LondonMix

Great!

Private schools are non for profit organisations. Why should they be taxed?

Yes, its not a competition. I think the transport links and housing stock are better in Sydenham. I just don't think the high street is less useful or that the food here is bad. Lordy!

Oh God, I never even thought about that... Watching to see if anyone has any advice!

Not sure when you left but there have been some good eateries that have opened in the last 12 months. I think the food offering has improved dramatically and for my sins I like the Great Exhibition and the Bishop as pubs...

Fair enough, though I suspect he's right about transport Of all the things leveled at ED though, saying the high street isn't useful doesn't ring true. I'm always shocked by how much I can actually pick up here in a pinch! I've never lived in West London but long ago convinced myself that even if I could afford a house there I wouldn't move as the people who live there are sh!t! Maybe I suffer from the same dillusion as NewDad

NewDad Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I recently moved to Sydenham after a number of > years in ED. Its highly recommended. > > Really nice area: plenty of nice parks, a more > useful high street, friendly locals and better > transport than ED (faster and more regular commute > to work, despite being further out). > > And still close to good schools in the area. > > I don't miss ED at all after moving here. ED is > very overrated. What does the highstreet in Sydenham have the East Dulwich doesn't that makes it more useful? While there are a lot of cafes, gift shops and restaurants here, I think ED actually has an abundance of useful shops. There are two DYI / general stores (Dulwich DIY and AJ Farmers), supermarkets, a good locksmith, a bathroom store, a carpet store, drycleaners, laundromats, picture framing, butchers, furniture shops, a tyre store, clothing stores, opticians, beauty places, home goods stores, kltchen supplies, etc. The only thing that's missing is a good Garden Centre but there are ones in Dulwich Village, West Dulwich and Forest Hill that are all very good. Also there aren't any big box retailers either but I'm happy about that.

Your budget might get you what you are looking for in Charlton. I have friends who lice there and love it. It's close to your work and Blackheath is very accessible. A second proper double bedroom might be tough but one big enough to rent out to an adult should be feasible! Penge makes sense to with your family in Beckenham. Good luck!

Agree with Otta. It might seem unfair that the Camberwell folks moved to Dulwich and then left though I am sure they feel it's unfair that their post code dictates the quality of their child's education. Instead of turning parents against each other, getting everyone a place in a good school should be governments goal

The fancy dog shop. I saw it seems open for business already

There are lots of good spots in SE London. I'd also recommend Crystal Palace but what do you want and what's your budget and where do you need to commute to / what's the longest you are willing to commute?

When you say they can afford to move, what on earth do you mean? Why would a family ever move in catchment and then leave if they could actually afford to live in catchment? Also, one would imagine the rights being trampled were the relatively affluent people already in the school's catchment, no? Either way, as SoulKing points out, trying to create admission policy around intentions is impossible and the bigger problem is a lack of good schools. I think the idea of a lottery within a reasonable radius makes perfect sense: 1 mile would be fair as it would still be a community school within walking distance for families. That way, living close to a specific school would stop being a way for people to buy their way into a good school.

Wow, there is so much more opening up and going on than I realised. It sounds like Peckham Rye is getting a lot of new shops and eateries which is great

I wasn't referrign to household income MikeB but rather individual income. Here are the updated government stats. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/276204/table3-1a.pdf If you make 48k gross and 40k net you are in the top 10% of earnerns in the country.

Actually it is. 40K as a salary puts you in the top 10% of all earners. That's not just richer than minimum wage but richer than that vast majority of people working in this country. The statistics for London aren not that far off the picture for the country as a whole.

Yeah, Sutton is a bit grim. Buying houses near the best state schools isn't really that different to sending your kids private in my view and I don't think either is a bad thing, just the reality we live in. I don't have an issue with private school education per se. It would be good if it were more accessible though.

Why do people think this allows wealthy people to move in and out? Wealthy people can afford to buy / live near good schools. You can't have two homes so anyone who moves near a school must already have that as their only residential address and schools already check and enforce this provision. I can only really see this rule hurting people who can't afford to live near a good school for very long and do so temporarily to get their kids in and the move some place more affordable.

I agree-- I am sympathetic to people who have done what your friend did if they couldn't afford to live near the school. I don't think its really about good people and bad people but rather a lack of public service being provided that is creating winners and losers. In those circumstances, its not really surprising that people use either their money to try to buy near a good school or move near one temporarily to get their kids into one.

How could Judith Kerr LOSE anything to Dulwich? The Dulwich estate has existed and owned its assets via the endowment for hundreds of years. Judith Kerr was set up last year so how on earth can they lose something they never had?

Quids, it depends on what you mean by working class. But in my view, anyone who makes 40k or more is not working class and with the exception of those on significant bursaries, someone making significantly less than 40k would find it a real struggle to send their kids to private school costing 12k a year. I think this is more a question of some wealthy people not realising how much better of they are than most of the population, even if 40k doesn't sound like a lot to you, its a very high relative salary for most, even in London.

Not if Harris get their way and squeeze a totally unnecessary primary school on it as they seem set to do!

That's very fair point. I meant those contemplating it without financial aid!

I can't even remember what wsa there before! What shop did it take over on North Cross Road?

I agree, that anyone who can even contemplate private school fees is wealthy. Only 10% of the working population are on the 40% and 45% tax rates. The vast majority don't make anywhere near the money to contemplate it.

The evidence I have seen suggests that private schools are at a minimum better at preparing students to do well on their A-level exams (that of course is a very narrow definition of education). The evidence comes from the fact that on average, once at university, a state school student with the exact same A-level results as a privately educated student, will outperform the privately educated student. This suggests, that the inherent intelligence a state student needs to have to achieve a certain set of results is higher than someone in private education. Once the quality of teaching both students receive is the same at university, the advantage of private tuition disappears and the more intelligent student does better. On average, your child will therefore get better A-level exam results if privately educated. Of course, this won?t hold true at every state school / private school, its just an average. For me the most polemical part of this research is that it undermines social mobility. Someone privately educated will do better than someone of equal intelligence in the state sector, and that advantage will allow them to go to better university and then get a higher paying job and then the cycle of social advantage continues.