Debi

Well, now this is interesting. I've had a quick online check of the schools mentioned by Prickle and may have missed something but this is what I found when looking for a list of governors. I'm bowing out now as I don't think this is an issue specific to Kingsdale and I'm too busy to spenbd any more time on this. Harris Girls, can't find Haberdashers, can't find Bacon's, chair of govs only - contact via school Charter, full list Dunraven, can't find Elm Green, can't find Walworth, can't find Sydenham School can't find

As far as I know, no school has a publicly accessible list of governors and quite rightly so IMO.

As another parent of two very happy children at the school, I agree 100% with Oggy's excellent post. I would also like to add that the school didn't invite Cameron to visit and it was not their choice to become the focus of a wider political debate.

I presume he had manipulation under anaesthetic - and maybe also pins? My son's broken arm - also the result of a bike accident that wasn't his fault - healed much faster than we dared hope for. Hope this also applies to Ollie.

My son is at the same school and saw him being tended to. Sorry to hear he's having surgery - son thought he might have broken arm? My older son had same a few years ago so I know what you're going through. Hope he's OK and makes a speedy recovery.

Since all the parents with children at the school have said positive things on the forum about their children's experiences ... and since this is the first mention of 'troubling students' and 'lockdown' and areas not being included on the tour ... I can't help wondering where you're getting your information from, Siren. Sadly, this is exactly the kind of ridiculous and unfounded allegations that have had previous threads on Kingsdale closed down.

There's a pic on Twitter. https://twitter.com/leisa/status/236539102768549889/photo/1

This appears to be a non-issue since Kingsdale has always encouraged people to come in and see the school in action. The reason why it might be better to book in advance is so that a member of staff can be available to show prospective parents and children round.

Shared on FB and Twitter. Will also tell partner (who runs locally) and sons to look out for him. I'll also email East Dulwich Writers' Group - 250+ people on list. This must be agony for those who know and love him. Thoughts are with you and hoping for a happy resolution.

But there's no actual news in that article at all, just a 'claim' by 'critics' that the results of the investigation have been 'suppressed'. The article then just repeats the original allegations and all the parties involved have refused to comment. In other words, there's no new news, just people dragging the subject back into the public eye for reasons of their own - presumably the same reasons for it re-surfacing here. Meanwhile all last year's results came out on time and none were changed as a result of the investigation. I'm not going to comment further as anything I say will no doubt be dismissed by some as me being a 'defending parent'. I do defend the school as my children go there and attacks on the school rebound onto the pupils. At least my motives are clear.

East Dulwich Writers' Group have a stall at Goose Green and this year, we'll be selling cakes as well as books!

P1971 - you ask: 'Have any other parents of Kingsdale students been experiencing similar issues.' As a parent of students in Years 9 and 12, I can only answer 'no' to that question. I'm also not sure where this info that 12 teachers have just left has come from. I don't believe it's accurate and my children have certainly not heard this. If you are a parent with legitimate concerns, there are many people you can contact at the school: form tutor, head of year, head of lower school and so on. I'm sure a phone call or email to info@ with the name of the person you wish to speak to in the subject line will result in a very quick response. That has always been the case in my experience and that of other parents I have spoken to.

I'm there - mostly tweeting about writing, editing etc. @debialper

I can personally recommend this book. It really is a cracking read. This is an extract from my critique: Now you Know is a dense and complex novel with a number of interlinked themes running throughout, yet it is written with a subtle and light touch, in spite of the nature of the content... The writing is of a very high standard indeed, with a very fresh, unique and engaging first person voice ... some highly accomplished writing. There are some delightful moments of humour to contrast with the more sparsely written and shocking details of violence. This helps to vary the mood and increase the impact of the horrific passages... There are also moments of almost unbearable poignancy. In answer to Alan Medic's question, no, EDWG is open to everyone and has over 200+ on the email list. That's a lot of local talent and Chris is one of the best. More info at www.edwg.co.uk

As you may know, East Dulwich Writers' Group has now produced two anthologies, Hoovering the Roof 1 and 2. Last year, HtR 1 was named as runner up in the National Association of Writers' Groups' anthology award. At the NAWG Festival this weekend, it was announced that HtR 2 has won the award for 2011. This is fantastic news, both for the group as a whole and for the individual writers whose work was included in the anthology. It's taken an enormous amount of dedication, creativity and sheer hard work to produce such excellent books and this is great affirmation for us all. Many thanks to those stalwarts (you know who you are) who worked so hard in producing, distributing and publicising the anthology, as well as organising and attending events. The books are available in most local bookshops as well as on Amazon. To buy a copy at a discount, please go to the EDWG site: http://sites.google.com/site/eastdulwichwritersgroup/shop We've decided to take a break from HtR this year and will hopefully work towards another volume in 2012. Meanwhile, cunning plans are afoot to organise a flash fiction competition, which will be open to all writers. Watch this space.

Winston - I take it you haven't seen the latest posts on the Standard thread. Talk about going from the sublime to the ridiculous. Orgies? I mean, please. Is that going to be investigated too? Among the posts too stupid to comment on, there are others from staff and pupils countering all these claims. If it's true that there are pupils who have damning evidence who have contacted the exam boards, to whom of course they could not hide behind anonymity, then the truth will certainly come out. Sadly, mud has a tendency to stick and the damage to the school and all those children and staff who are innocent of any wrongdoing will have been done. If (and it's a huge 'if') it turns out that there is any truth whatsoever in any of these accusations, I would like to bet that these were isolated instances which, if the Senior Management Team had been aware of them, would have been dealt with in no uncertain terms. To suggest there was a culture of cheating at the school is utterly ridiculous. Even if, as you suggest, the staff wouldn't have told me, my son certainly would. Just look at what's at stake. They would have to be mad to allow the endemic cheating as per the accusations. And they're not. They just work incredibly hard and are utterly devoted to the children's best interests. Whatever the assertions by these whistleblowers that they care about the children, their actions clearly prove otherwise. I am saddened beyond belief that you appear not to see that.

Winston - you clearly know who I am, but I'm struggling to identify you. You are suggesting when you describe me as 'useful as a PR device', that my loyalty to my children's school means I have opened myself up to being manipulated. To be honest, if you knew me at all well, you would know that I'm far too canny to be manipulated by anyone. I perceive your post as a way of undermining my credibility. Maybe it will work, I don't know. I hope that most parents will go by their own overwhelmingly positive experience of the school to come to their own conclusions about these allegations and the motives of those making them. One last point a propos of nothing other than clarity: neither I nor any member of our family would ever describe ourselves as middle class. You seem to be assuming that anyone who is articulate and educated couldn't possibly be working class. In this, as, I believe on other matters, you are mistaken.

Grame - I don't think I have got hold of the wrong end of the stick. I maintain my belief that this is malicious and that the people who will suffer most are the children whose future has been thrown into chaos as the result of this action. Nice way to show gratitude for them being 'wonderful'.

So the children at the school deserve bad karma? Those kids who have slogged for years and taken their exams with no hint of cheating deserve bad karma? Those staff who are loyal and who would never seek revenge for perceived hurt at the expense of their colleagues and the pupils deserve bad karma?

Full disclosure: I am a parent of a child in Year 11 and one in Year 8. I am also the secretary of the parents' forum. To take one small point: in the comments on the article, Ms Integrity (sic) says parents of older children rarely attend the forum. This is one point which I can categorically deny. Unfortunately, I don't have the evidence needed to prove that all these allegations are vicious and malicious in my opinion. I am absolutely confident that the investigation will exonerate the school. I have complete and utter faith in the school and its management team who have been subjected to despicable personal attacks in the comments on the Standard article. If this alleged cheating was going on, I would have known about it from my son. I expect there will now be a flood of posts telling me I'm being naive or worse. Time will tell but I do believe justice will prevail.

There seems to be some misunderstandings about the wide spectrum of racism and the forms it can take. There's the extreme, unapologetic racism of the KKK et al, and there's no suggestion that exists in this thread. But there's also the more subtle form, whereby the person doesn't even recognise their perceptions and assumptions as racist. The stall holder (and many of the posters here) falls into the latter category and, I'm sorry, but it is ignorant. She was told the golliwogs were racist and offensive, but didn't acknowledge this as valid by engaging in a dialogue. She also didn't remove them. This is not a perceived issue but a real one, so it's really important that it's debated since some people seem to lack a deeper understanding of the subtle ways in which racism operates.

Do you know that we already have a local and very active writers' group in the area? East Dulwich Writers' Group has been going for about 12 yrs and we have well over 200 people on the mailing list. We've managed to keep meetings small and informal and have people on the list who are at every stage of the writing process, from people just starting out to published authors and competition winners. See www.edwg.co.uk for details.

I have to admit I'm really shocked that anyone can fail to understand that golliwogs are deeply offensive. I don't care who's writing the post and their identity and ethnicity are not the point here. Having 'toys' of this nature on sale at a community event is what needs to be talked about. I really enjoyed the fair and didn't know these things were on sale until I saw the post here. I feel sure (and certainly hope) the organisers would agree that golliwogs are unacceptable at an event of this nature, which is supposed to be inclusive of the whole community. Edited to add they would be offensive at any event, unless it was one that highlighted the history and symbolism of golliwogs.

East Dulwich Writers' Group have a stall at the fair tomorrow. Hope lots of people will come along and say hello. And ... um ... buy books.

Schools liaison police officers have a duty to remain impartial and objective (as has any police officer). I know from my own experiences (completely unconnected with anything talked about here) that schools officers have to take great care to be seen to maintain this impartiality. Thankfully, we don't live in a police state. We live in a country where people are innocent until proved guilty. It is absolutely fine for the officer involved to talk in the context of that meeting about specific problems faced by Harris boys. It is quite another thing to make specific allegations about children at another school. In any case, the fact that at least a part of what this officer said has turned out to be inaccurate (ie that there had been arrests and that Kingsdale had been involved with identifying pupils and providing their addresses) has to also cast doubt on anything else he said at the same time in my opinion. Father Jack - you said '... this doesn't mean that Kingsdale tell you all you want to know, especially if it doesn't involve your children directly'. Absolutely right. I wouldn't expect them to. However, what I was categorically told was that there was no truth whatsoever in the allegations made at that meeting and subsequently reported here and that this had been checked with the Schools Liaison Inspector. This was general info, not pertaining to any named children. It's not a matter of me being told 'what I want to know'. I honestly don't get why people are focusing on this instead of on the other part of my comment that has been quoted ie 'It's clear that there is a need for more than one or two good secondary schools in the area. And it seems we DO have more than that. So let's all celebrate that and stop building up one school at the expense of another. As I've said before - we're not in competition with each other.' I'm not going to comment any further on the issue re this officer. The matter will be dealt with on an official level, by the people and institutions directly involved.