Gubodge

My post up thread, that Brezzo found so amusing, was posted in response to the Alleyns' supporter who thought they went over and above what other independent schools do. My personal take on the subject is much more in line with lbsmith's. And for what it's worth I am the product of an independent boarding school, which I loved, but which proved to be a very poor 'investment' for my parents. Luckily they never viewed it like that. Despite, or possibly because of, my education, I have turned out as the classic middle class leftie. I could afford to educate my children privately but have no intention of leaving the state sector.

Those who raised Eton as a comparator might want to know that Eton takes its status as a charitable institution very seriously. Their boys act as mentors to pupils in the local state schools and their teachers as governors in those schools; they are working towards having 25% of pupils receiving some fee remission with 70 pupils paying no fees at all. There is an Eton college Housing Association that provides low rent accommodation to local people and an OE Housing Association that provides loans for teachers to purchase houses and affordable housing for rent. It also allows local schools to use its facilities free of charge. They are in a partnership with some local state schools and, together with several other independent schools, sponsor a selective London free school. I was unable to read most of the chart showing Alleyn's community involvement, but, while it's possible they may be more inclusive than many independents, they fall a long way behind others. None of the bits that were legible went over and above what most independents do.

I thought there was less sexist patter from Norman this year, but maybe that depends on the performance. The Cuban acrobats were amazing; a definite improvement on the motorbikes for me. And it does amaze me that my children still find Norman and the budgies hilarious, despite having seen pretty much the same routine with the same jokes for year after year. He did look slightly more doddery this time round though.

My daughter has a sesame allergy, so our hummus is less than traditional. I whizz a tin of chickpeas in a blender, along with half a clove of garlic (used to do a whole one, but it does come out quite 'hot' and one of the children complained) a very large glug of olive oil and juice of half a lemon. If we have smooth peanut butter I'll sometimes add a large teaspoon of that to replace the forbidden tahini, but usually don't bother. Taste and add more oil/garlic/lemon as desired.

Herne Hill velodrome? Or if you're around to do stuff with him how about taking him up to the Olympic Park. The pool is open to all or you can book track sessions at the velodrome. Or you could just find out which of his friends are about and meet them down at the adventure playground with a picnic.

If it's anything like usual, which class will make no difference to starting days. Each class will stagger the children in over so you could be starting any day that week. And it will be mornings only until the end of the week and then starting full days the following Monday (even if he/she only started on Friday 12th).

I like '...to tackle illegal substances coming into East Dulwich.' It's great that they've got the station covered, but I can't help worrying that the rest of our border is a bit more porous.

Fiona Foster. Having now had experience of several local dance schools, I'd recommend Fiona every time. Her classes are fun and relaxed and all her students adore her. And you get to watch. Watching a ballet lesson for three year olds is one of the most entertaining ways you can find to spend half an hour.

My extremely musical step-mother who has quite wide experience with this has said that in her experience there is no real benefit to starting before age 7. Those who do start then soon catch up with those who began lessons earlier. From my own personal observations as a pianist whose children are currently learning the violin and flute, I'd say that the piano is one of the best to start with. Because it's so straightforward to play (all the notes are there, in the order they are on the stave with no worrying about precise finger or mouth positioning) children progress much more quickly to playing real pieces as well as learning the theory of music. There is technique to worry about, of course, but it's not too painful/frustrating for parent/child before they manage to perfect it. I know both the ukulele and the recorder are also thought of as great first instruments, but I don't really have much experience of them. (Although I could pick up a recorder after a gap of, erm, some decades and play London's Burning straight off, so take from that what you will.)

This is my route https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zAO-nFVpa-OE.kLLjx_m9on7k

You can hire a Brompton from Peckham Rye Cycle Hub for (I think) ?2.50 a day. It has the advantage that you can always bring it home on the train if the journey in is enough for you. I built up very gradually to my commute. I started by just cycling to Brixton and getting the tube from there. It was a nice, safe pootle across Dulwich Park, Brockwell Park and down a few back streets at the end. Then I did the Sky ride, including the guided ride up to town, and that gave me the confidence to know the distance was no problem. So then I plotted a very quiet back route, and would wheel the bike across the unavoidable busy junctions. It didn't take long at all to gain confidence and regard Walworth Road as just a good way of getting my adrenaline flowing in the morning. Who needs coffee! Although I've never had any problems with Elephant and Castle, there's a back route around it, up to Westminster Bridge, that is actually quicker as it avoids half the traffic lights.

Try Alhambra on Kirkdale for your tiles.

Anyone looking to buy Minecraft for a laptop/desktop, please PM me. My husband spent most of the last week trying unsuccessfully to purchase it through the Mojang website, so I went and bought it in Smiths yesterday instead. Despite my daughter knowing why we were going to Smiths, watching as I searched the shop for it and standing next to me while I paid for it, she waited until we were on our way home before telling me that she thought Daddy had finally managed to buy it the evening before. Gah, hopeless pair. So if anyone wants to buy it off me, please get in contact. It comes as a code that you then (presumably, I never got that far) enter to register your account.

Damn, we have a horribly busy weekend ahead of us and won't be able to squeeze it in. We went to this last year though and would thoroughly recommend it; the kids made jelly worms, held clouds in their hands and still talk about it now.

Divine do dark chocolate mini-eggs, but I can't remember where I got them this year. Sorry! You can also usually get marshmallow easter shapes at most supermarkets and I spotted plastic eggs at DKH Sainsburys which you could fill with dairy free buttons, haribo...or raisins and stickers if you'd prefer not to go down the sugar route.

I was sorting through outgrown clothes at the weekend and came across my youngest daughter's first halloween costume. I dyed an old, stained baby vest black, attached a tail made from plaited black wool and she wore it with an ikea cat eye mask and ears. She was Mog to her big sisters Meg. There's no way I was going to get rid of that so it's gone back in the wardrobe.

Stories from victims of vaccine-preventable diseases: http://shotbyshot.org/

I'd be very surprised if Goodrich didn't have a space in Yr2, although reception might be trickier, but that's likely to be the same at every local school. I would have thought DVI would have been one of the least likely to have a reception vacancy, though. According to the Southwark Admissions Guide it had the highest number of applicants for any primary school in Southwark last year. I imagine that a good number of the unsuccesful ones would have remained on the waiting list to take up places as they become available. The same would probably apply to Fairlawn/Horniman. I think your best option would be to contact the relevant LAs (Southwark, Lewisham, Bromley...) to find out which schools might be able to accomodate you and take it from there.

Both my daughters were more than happy with a very basic doll. I don't think I even coughed up for a Baby Annabell. The girls are now 9 and 7 and the dolls are still played with and I don't think they'd have got any more out of one that weed or cried, and certainly not when they were 2.

My 7 year old asked for the Science Boffins telephone number after seeing the show at the goodrich Winter Fair; and is planning on having them for her next birthday. Nothing like getting organised well in advance; I'm sure the 7 months will fly by. But both of mine (7 and 9) have asked for and had traditional parties recently and they've gone down a storm. It doesn't work if you have too many kids there, as some will decide not to join in and you may need to designate teams and there'll be tears and upset. Ten or twelve works very well though. Surprisingly few knew about the chocolate game, though so the more widespread it becomes the better. We've also done pin the something on the something (eyepatch/pirate, star/fairy wand, etc), treasure hunts, musical bumps, pass the parcel with forfeits rather than a gift in between the layers... They love it.

I have children in both years 3 & 4 and have emailed James. That we need another secondary school is a no-brainer, but I would have reservations with my children being the guinea pigs for a totally new enterprise. I am fundamentally opposed to the Harris ethos, but would be very happy to see a successful local school such as Charter take the site on. I agree with Marfisa; I'm not looking for choice, I'm looking for quality, but Charter expanding would in fact increase the choice for all those local children who live beyond it's current tiny catchment.

There's this: http://www.rollerdisco.com/showevents/5/eventdetail but I'm afraid it's for 5 years and up only.

Normally I'd agree with Lyndhurst. It's my usual commute and it's terrible. I tend to be returning to ED at around 3pm, when the dodgy road surface is enhanced by dozy, oblivious teenagers wandering (or sometime cycling) down the wrong side of the road because they're too cool to walk on the pavement. Grrr. But this morning I decided to vary my route and went up the Walworth Road. Bloody hell, Mic88, you're not wrong! That stretch up past the end of Burgess Park is shocking!

Dulwich fox - community shares are a way for social enterprises (businesses with a charitable or community purpose) to raise money and for people to invest in this sort of enterprise. Sometimes community shares don't pay a dividend, but they do offer part ownership and voting rights - usually one shareholder-one-vote as opposed to one-share-one vote so are very democratic. You can generally withdraw your money and, depending on the success of the enterprise, get a dividend. So they are a way to support good causes but rather different to donating money. They help social ventures access start up capital, which can be hard to get otherwise. see link below http://www.communityshares.org.uk/sites/default/files/resources/investing_in_community_shares.pdf

I didn't realise any local schools offered it. I'm quite jealous on behalf of my children!