Jessie

The final part of the Anne books is about to be published by Penguin in Canada - it's meant to be a lot darker than the previous ones http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jul/10/final-anne-green-gables-book LM Montgomery lived a pretty awful life, so think it begins to seep through. I never thought of Anne as "sunshine" though, Pollyanna was guilty of that for me and I remember just wanting to tear out the pages when I read that due to her bl**dy relentless optimism.

i thought i was anne of green gables when i was about 13. Loved those books so much - lifesavers and escape from a terrible time for me. Same for Judy Blume - I once wrote her a letter and addressed it to Judy Blume, America. Never heard back, funnily enough.

Ha ha i'm not sure i'd put it in the curriculim either, but it is a good fairy tale for older kids i think

I love David Almond - I used to work with him. Lovely man, magical writer (and the builder in Skellig is based on my old neighbour and family friend in Newcastle - weird coincidence!)

Have PMed you, but am currently publicising this title for Guardian writer Grace Dent: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Diary-Snob-v-Grace-Dent/dp/0340989742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1248444298&sr=8-1 Not the height of intellectualism, but might be fun for the summer break

Why get out of London before they're 7? What will happen if you don't?

Sainsburys and also Argos in Peckham though it's a faff sometimes with horrendous queues...

If it's St Johns, maybe. Probably not for other schools though.

A family i have met who live on mundania road were given Peckham Park, and are quite low down on the waiting list for Fairlawn. Think it's arbritary which school you're given up that way.

It's a square of houses behind Peckham Rye next to the common

Hello I call it Saturday Morning Syndrome - if my son is going to act up, it's generally on a Saturday morning. I think it's partially tiredness from being at nursery all week, but I also think it's him being allowed to act up - he's in his comfort zone with me, knows he can be rude and demanding and hard to deal with and to a certain extent get away with it. Being a fairly laid-back parent, I just put up with it and allow him to get it all out. As he gets older though it's getting to be less of an issue. Jess

Also for 2010 - 6 choices (I think) but pan-London ie not 4 per separate borough - so if you're on border of boroughs, instead of choosing 4 schools in (say) Lewisham and 4 in Southwark, you'll only get 6 choices from all boroughs...if that makes sense

Yes, the school no-man's-land def seems to be Gardens, where I am on Peckham Rye, then further up Forest Hill Road. Southwark Council admitted there was no primary school catering to this area these days due to population increase, but that doesn't help us much, though they are looking at possible locations for perhaps a new primary school I hear. Not that there are any. Anyway, avoid this area if you can.

Could you talk to the workers at the One o Clock club, tell them your concerns?

though on the bright side i think the real problem is reception class, so you might be luckier with a 6 and 10 year old

There's a great place in Farringdon - a charity http://www.fpo.org.uk/index.html - helped me out when I was pregnant and unable to walk due to torn ligaments etc - a lovely place, highly recommended. My sis-in-law took my nephew recently after a traumatic birth and they helped both mum and baby a lot. No manipulation of skulls or any kind of quackery (though the results were so good for me it was kind of magical), Jess

It's an absolute tragedy. Perhaps new threads should be started about the geography of Camberwell or how smug and middle class and head-in-the-sand we are in ED (apparently)

Same goes for novels which appear in the review pages of major newspapers - if not paid for, certainly influenced by high levels of mutual back-scratching amongst the literati true, and also many literary editors on the national papers have been made redundant, with all papers cutting down on their review pages

The books marketed and paid for by publishing companies to be displayed prominently in bookshops are not usually/necessarily the best ones being currently published. All the 3 for 2 and BOGOF offers are heavily paid for by publishing companies. Loads of brilliant novels get published and ignored as there's not a substantial marketing spend behind them. And lack of time and resources too for a good PR campaign. On a personal note, I think contemporary writing in English from anywhere but the UK is of a much better standard - America (Dave Eggers), Canada (Alice Munro), Australia (Tim Winton). NZ (Lloyd Jones) - much more creative. I find Ian McEwan, Sebastian Faulks and their ilk a tad over-rated and I'm sick of reading about WW2 in English novels.

He got the 10.47 from Peckham Rye to London Bridge. Lots of bemused fellow passengers.

I expect they'd never be organised enough to.

I know a lot of parents in ED and don't know anyone who's been that manipulative of the system. It's more political than that. There are too many children in ED and not enough places; instead of providing extra classrooms it seems the council wish to send some children to further away schools which are undersubscribed.

Snorky, I'd keep off the family room section if it rankles you so much. You make massive assumptions about parents who use the EDF - I'd be happy for my son to be at ANY school within walking distance. It's not an issue of being pushy, it's an issue that we deserve a primary school place in our local community. I don't know if I'm working class or middle class, probably a bit of both, but class is irrespective to the fact my son's happiness is my main priority in life.

I spent last Tuesday in A&E - what you'd expect with waiting time and strange people in the waiting room, but the staff were kind, courteous and incredibly efficient. No complaints from me.

He did lots of freelance work for things like the Jonathan Ross show and Cheryl Cole's hair for X factor or whatever she's on. Not thst that helps. And yeah, he was a brill hairdresser Jess