chantelle

thanks anyway. I am indeed looking at the 2012/13 year, and am a bit alarmed because we are moving house specifically to get into a better catchment area, though it appears that may be a misguided effort if catchments are shrinking so dramatically from year to year.

Renata, do you have the catchment figures for all of the schools? many thanks.

try family discussion board ...

I was thinking about soaking mine in a bucket of bleachy water. best way to avoid it is to squeeze out the toys immediately after the bath but some people (ahem, HUBBY) don't always do this ...

another vote for simply childcare and definitely call all references the nanny candidate gives you. one good question is - would you hire her again - and any pause is not a good sign. Fortunately we found an amazing nanny who my son adores. She is very experienced, has a network of nanny friends and likes to be out and about nearly every day to play groups, etc.

Hi, I bought a Maclaren Twin Rally secondhand for our nanny share. The boys are 2.5 and 3 now so we don't need it anymore. It's yours for 50 quid - including raincover! It's in good condition, feel free to come have a look. I also have an extra Graco highchair if it's of any interest.

nightmare - we are looking for a house in Fairlawn catchment. It's minuscule!

Fairlawn's catchment last year pre-bulge was 377m. went to 783m with bulge.

the council can send you an updated list of CMs with vacancies. For nannies and shares I also recommend simplychildcare. Or here for finding a nanny share family ...

i got the impression it helps with the immediate weight loss after giving birth. But it seemed like it wasn't until my son was firmly on solids from around 8 months that I was able to drop the last 10 lbs or so. Of course a serious exercise program around the same time probably helped! (I started jogging almost every day rather than just a couple times a week.) I BF until 17 months but at that point it was only once a day and I didn't notice any changes when I stopped. My boobs are smaller though now, that's for sure.

i can't believe that it is official guidance to leave a locked door without the key in it. How many people have died in fires because they couldn't easily get out?

R&C - that's good to know, but it just confuses me more if Southwark publishes these lists of furthest distance that don't seem to be accurate then.

I live not far away and would say it's a very nice area for families. however you should do your research on the schools if you plan to stay for primary. Longest distance taken at Lyndhurst last year was 485 meters and I'm pretty sure Shenley is going to be further than that. Oliver Goldsmith is probably closer. Both of those schools have Stage 2 results below the Southwark and national averages. The Ofsteds are also not fabulously encouraging, but as everyone says, you have to visit the schools and develop your own opinions. Also, Villa is extremely oversubscribed and wouldn't even take babies on their waiting list last I heard. I also don't see how many children in SE5 are going to be getting into Haberdasher Aske for secondary, though the previous poster seems to have more firsthand experience. The furthest admission last year was less than 1km and the school is more than 3.2km from SE5. (though the school uses a banding system for things like music and sports ability not solely based on distance from school.)

There's an effort in SE23 to start a Montessori free school. You can find details on the SE23.com forum.

i have used it in winter hours after dark but would be cautious late at night. i doubt anyone is hanging around but it is certainly secluded if someone were...

my 2.5 year old just had it and it was incredibly mild. no fever, just 20 spots or so, many of which faded and he had only five or six scabs. I used calamine lotion on them. good luck. it was definitely worse for me when i had it at 8.

I keep pretty much all my woolens in the deep freeze, particularly over the summer. We'd just battled them at our old flat when we moved into our (rented) house that is absolutely infested. We've been sprayed three times and now it's winter so they are not apparent but I dread what will happen in springtime. all you can do is throw out the worst of it, wash everything else and freeze it. We also have hanging moth killers in the closets and traps everywhere. We've caught hundreds of moths. I don't think ironing works very well. For us, they seem to be in the carpets because they haven't even actually been eating our clothes. I've heard they can also lurk in the dust and debris under old floorboards.

yes would consider that but it seems you literally have to be on one or two streets or you are outside of catchment and in a pretty dodgy area. guess that is true almost everywhere, though HOP does seem to have a plethora of good schools.

i think it's too early in the year for clothes moths, as they don't really get going until the weather warms up. do check your grains.

can we get a good debate going? Anyone with thoughts on Bellenden, Dog Kennel Hill, Goose Green?

my favourite right now is The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr. My son (2.5) loves Dr. Seuss, also the Mr. Gumpy range and Sarah Garland's Going Shopping, Doing the Garden, etc.

i'd see if you can get her nose swabbed - sounds like maybe she's carrying staph or strep if this is recurring. i had lots of fun getting eye ointment into my 2-year old's eyes in the summer - eventually i just very quickly smeared my finger across his eye and figured something would work its way in, rather than trying to do it in a more formal fashion of trying to get him to cooperate/pinning him down.

hmmm, i'd love to stay in Peckham Rye (better rail links than anywhere else, though schools remain an issue) but most of the houses are poky and not 3 double bedrooms. Also find prices aren't looking any different from SE22 these days ... but maybe just because there is VERY LITTLE actually on the market.

If only the price difference were so much. I'm looking for a 3-4 bed house in ED, Peckham Rye, HOP or FH and maybe HOP and FH are slightly cheaper for a bit more house. Anything halfway decent seems to be minimum ?500k. Good schools are dictating our move, Fairlawn, Dalmain and Stillness look very appealing. Right now our closest school is Bellenden but we're only renting anyway. any tips appreciated!

searching this forum for "nanny share" will give you loads of info. basically it's a fantastic option if you have a good nanny and two families committed to making it work, hopefully with one child each of roughly around the same age (though I'm sure other situations can work too) and living nearby or with the share based at one house. Expect to pay a net hourly rate of ?9-?12, which one of the numerous nanny calculators online will show you what gross outgoing would be. For 10 hours/day at ?10 net per hour, you will be paying something like ?66/day gross (the total coming out of your pocket) in a 50-50 split. Additional costs include: a kitty for weekly outgoings such as meals out or pay playgroups, nanny's petrol and car insurance, nanny's Ofsted registration that makes her eligible to receive payments under your employer's childcare salary sacrifice scheme (if it has one), and any extras needed to make a nanny share work, like a double buggy. good luck!