mayo

Any update on opening date? It is now mid June which was the delayed new opening time according to Renata's post above but still looks at least a couple of weeks away from being finished to my (admittedly untrained) eye?

I?d get the train from Peckham rye to Victoria and then walk/ one stop tube. Lots of buses to jump on to get to PR if you don?t fancy the walk

That includes your bank holiday allowance though so if you have a day off due to a bank holiday it needs to come out of those holiday days. It should work in your favour though as you don't work Mondays so you'll only need to use holiday on good friday, xmas and boxing and new years day (unless these fall on monday) so you'll actually be able to use some of what is officially your bank holiday allowance for holiday of your choice

Yes would add if you're going early / late in season or not right in the south so less guaranteed weather, is a good idea to find a site with an indoor pool as well as an outdoor one so that you can swim even if it's too cold for the outside pools (which are often unheated)

We've always found that there were lots of other children around for ours to play with but we have always chosen sites with good swimming pools as well as playground etc. so is plenty to do on the site and generally people seem to only go off for the odd day trip or to the supermarket etc. We've also always found it warm enough to sit outside all evening but we have usually been in either the Vendee, Dordogne or further south and been pretty lucky with the weather. Interesting how different people's experiences can be.

Castels are a chain of French campsites that are really good. We have stayed in several and they've all been excellent with beautiful settings and fab facilities. The Eurocamp website is good for choosing campsites as it categorises and describes them well but book direct with the campsites not through eurocamp as will be much cheaper for usually better standard accommodation. Only annoyance with booking direct is that you have to leave the place spotlessly clean or pay a high cleaning fee but we found even with cleaning fee included was still cheaper than eurocamp. There are loads of fabulous campsites in France and it's a brilliant holiday with children.

My sister has done several package holidays with Thomson with her 3 children all over the age of 10 and they have always organised a 3rd bed in the second bedroom for them (although this has always been with 2 interconnecting hotel rooms rather than an apartment.)

We also used the Quasar Elite place in Bromley which was great. The staff were brilliant, really great with the children and the children all had a fantastic time and all asking when they could go back.

Did you manage to find anything? We're looking for inspiration and sounds as though our preferences are similar to yours. We've done a lot of campsites in the past - in France but you can do in other European countries. I often use the Eurocamp website to select a site and then book direct with the campsite which is usually considerably cheaper and often nicer accommodation (we always go for a chalet type place or safari tent). It's a great holiday with children as there are other children around to make friends with and loads for everyone to do on site - pool, playgrounds, cafe etc. and so really relaxing for adults too. we had a bad experience with a shared gite type holiday with one really annoying family swiping and hiding all the best toys (when children were much younger) and spreading out over the whole pool area and never taking a turn to tidy the play barn etc argh!

Ah shame, my children have really enjoyed tours before. I couldn?t see anything on the website but will email and ask next time.

Thanks all. I did know about nimble arts but it's so expensive (and a lot more than any of the other clubs) Dulwich Hamlet don't look as though they're doing a club this half term, I did look at theirs, same for the Dog Kennel hill adventure playground which my children have enjoyed before - I think some of these places only do the longer holidays? Someone PM'd me about Alleyn's which looks brilliant though. Found out too late for my emergency which was today but will definitely look at that for next holidays. Appreciate all the replies, thanks a lot.

Thanks - never heard of that one so will have a look

Does anyone know which holiday clubs are running this week other than holiday drop off st dulwich college?

We've got one of these on the wall by the top bunk - lots of room for water, clock, books etc and have a light clipped onto it as well. https://www.tidy-books.co.uk/childrens-bunk-bed-shelf Sit / lie on the bottom bunk for stories changing sheets a total pain!

Also look at the Unicorn theatre - similar to Polka theatre as all aimed at children and much cheaper than west end. We've seen a few things there which have all been brilliant. Agree that 4 is a bit too young for west end as a lot of the shows are quite long and they cost such a lot of money (although I guess if you got kids week tickets would not be too bad.) I've seen both Wicked and Matilda, thought Matilda was a million times better but the children loved Wicked as well. (I know a few people who've seen it and all said the same, adults thought was a bit crap but children loved it!). Is not really scary although a couple of bits that a young child might find a bit frightening.

ah OK - yes you need to amend the first page to make it clear that it's asking people what their intentions were before the baby was born as it looks as though it's asking pregnant women what their plans are for when the baby is born. You do also need to say somewhere that is for women with babies up to 18 months if that is your cut off. good luck with it.

Probably worth specifying that this is for expectant mothers only. I just went to do it but is about intentions to breastfeed or not so not relevant for me as my breastfeeding experiences are in the past.

I don't think the issue is with people who sell, rent temporarily near a school and then buy a new house out of catchment although I agree that is still fairly morally objectionable. What was being discussed are people who own a home out of catchment so rent somewhere for a specific short period with the sole purpose of getting their child into the nearby school and then move back to their original out of catchment home as soon as they've secured the school place. I would say this is certainly against the rules and in fact would term it as fraud. (as well as highly morally objectionable as stated above) I do, however, sympathise with black hole and in fact have wondered about this before. Could you not ask for this school to be excluded from your options because it is a faith school and you are atheist? As people are able to select a school that they otherwise would not be in catchment for by proving they are Catholic and they want their children to go to a Catholic school, it really ought to be also possible to de select a school on the grounds that you are NOT Catholic and therefore don't want your children to go to a Catholic school.

Thanks all. We did try Lloyds as I bank with them but they said the only option was a savings account where she'd have to give something crazy like 30 days notice to take any money out when we're after a current account. Will try one of the other suggestions here, thanks

Can anyone recommend a bank that does good savings accounts for children? I asked in the post office but they will only open an account with a minimum of I think ?1000! my children don't have much money to deposit, they get the odd ?20 for birthday presents etc and saved pocket money but would rather have it in a bank than sitting around at home especially eldest who has accumulated a reasonable amount now (but nowhere near the post office requirement!) would also like to be able to get an associated debit card for my eldest. When I was a child there was a lot of advertising for children's bank accounts and I got a whole duffel bag and various other goodies with my griffin saver (!) but nobody now seems to court the business.

About 6 I think

Thanks so much for the helpful replies. Yes I'm sure an aupair would be the most efficient and cheapest option but we don't really have the space without doing lots of juggling and my husband hates the idea anyway! Will check out the other suggestions. Thanks.

I'm looking for childcare for my 3 children - 3 days a week after school only. Ideally I'd like to find someone to collect them from school and bring them back to our house (rather than after school clubs etc. which in any case don't have spaces currently). This way they can still go to their clubs / have piano lesson at home etc. I've put an ad on here but had no response apart from one person but she had young children of her own so was no good. Where else should I be looking / advertising? Is gumtree any good? Also could anyone give me an idea of roughly what I'd be paying for this? It would be from 3.30 pickup to I guess 6.30 latest on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday. Children are 4, 7 and 10 Any tips much appreciated as I'm currently a bit stumped and getting concerned that I'm not going to be able to sort anything out.

have moved it

We pay ?20 per half hour with musico south