Grotty

I retrained as a doctor. I did it over 6 years, which meant long university holidays, in which I worked as a medical secretary to save some money. Then when I qualified I went part-time. I now work 3 days which is 28 hours/week, occasionally that is at night or at the weekend, but when that happens it means I have extra days off in the week. I love it, and despite the amount of stuff to learn and the life-long learning including multiple exams, (and the fact that I'm not going to be a Consultant for a very long time), I have a very good work-life balance, have a job I love, earn good money and only occasionally miss out on things eg. working a Saturday means I cannot watch a swimming lesson. I would recommend it to anyone who even contemplates doing medicine. Honestly best decision I ever made. I get 6 years is a long time, but there are many 4 year courses out there and they have the major advantage that 3 of the 4 years fee's are paid for you, so much less of a financial burden!

Can you study part-time?

What kind of hours will the training involve? If its mostly 9-5 Monday to Friday then with both kids in school thats not too disruptive. Granted you will have to work in the evenings/study for exams/do occasional odd shifts over nights and weekends, but you should still get weekday mornings and evenings with your kids? I am qualified but still have continuous studying - I will be doing exams for the next 7 years, so we have many stressful periods and I miss out on things with the kids occasionally that makes me feel rubbish. But most of the mums I know who work feel like that from time to time anyway. In 5 years time you will be qualified, stimulated, rewarded and never be wondering what if. you'll also be able to be back to working part-time. Time passes so quickly that you will get there before you know it. I had an interesting conversation with a woman at work recently who has teenage children and she made the point that younger kids adapt really well, which in my experience is definitely true. But she felt that older kids often resent a parents absence more. If you are trying to decide whether to do it now or put it off until later, you may end up feeling later that its an even more difficult decision. Personally, if its something that makes you feel excited and you would do it if it wasn't for kids I say do it. There is absolutely no harm in starting it and if its disastrous then accepting its too hard, but you won't be wondering what if. It won't be easy and you definitely have to accept that your ability to study/concentrate will be markedly reduced, but if its something that you really love doing/learning about, it will be worth it. And long term it will be something your kids would surely be proud of too? Good luck - difficult decision.

I really liked Copleston playgroup on Tuesdays - very informal and always seemed to be easy to chat to other mums...

Hickory Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Seriously. This. > http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/prope > rty-29180898.html Hickory we looked at this - needs about ?100,000 spent on it before its even liveable in. For a very small 3-bed on a busy section of Bellenden Road right next to the trainline its bonkers.

And if you can't find a safari, there are penguins to mix with at Boulders Beach in Simonstown, baboons roaming free on Cape Point, and bird reserves around Cape Town where we saw a huge lake swarming with flamingoes!

2 points: 1) kids adapt and 2) trust your intution. If you think the other school is better for you go for it, sooner rather than later. He's still young and will therefore spend a good 6 years at the new school and will soon forget he was ever at a different school....

http://thebea.st/1d94BTK Well said

p.s. with no.1 we did cold turkey style when she first showed signs of being interested in the toilet, but after 3 days, there was still obviously no connection about what was needed and we were heading towards battles so we stopped, put nappies on and didn't talk about toilets again for a while. We tried again in exactly the same way 2 months later and it was a completely different process. So there is no harm in trying and having to give up for now if necessary. Just keep the process stress-free

Like people have said above - definitely go for it, especially as it wasn't a one off and he actually did a wee in the toilet both times. Little kids can show interest in toilets having seen adults/older kids do it, but it can take a while to make the connection between brain and bladder to wee in it too. He's already crossed a major hurdle. You now need to decide which way to do it, which will probably be more based on circumstance than anything: 1) cold turkey - take daytime nappies off and never look back, literally don't put a nappy on again unless they are going to nap/sleep - plan to have a few days/a week at home and then slowly venture out with travel potty's etc after that with lots of changes of clothes - we did this with no.1 and first couple of days had her on the potty/toilet once or twice and hour, then slowly through the week spaced this out. By the end of the week I could tell when she was needing to go so we would rush to the toilet, then about another 2-3 weeks for her to confidently be able to tell me most of the time when she needed to go. 2) The way most nurseries do it - keep nappies on, but do the same as above --> take them to the potty/toilet often initially and then space it out, and then once they are showing signs of needing the toilet/knowing when they want to go, the nappies can come off. 3) a mix of both, which is useful if you can't have a week off work when potty training begins (which is what we are doing now with no.2) - have nappies off at home when you're there, but at nursery they will do the keep the nappy on but regular toilet trips thing, until the time is right to get them off permananetly. It can be a gruelling process initially but always a relief when you come out the other side. We used lots of praise/chocolate buttons as rewards and the first couple of days with the cold turkey style, we employed the services of Pingu (whilst she sat on the potty!). Good luck xxxx

New Zealand...

We've just decided on a weekend in Bruges. Beautiful, canal city very much like Amsterdam, but easier to get to and cheaper. Eurostar to Brussels is 2 hours then 50 min train to Bruges. There are lots of really nice and extremely affordable properties to rent for the weekend and all seem to be kid friendly.

Got an email from featherdown farms today about their French farms. Here's the link: http://www.featherdown.co.uk/our-farms.html?country=France&gclid=CMbm-N-AgLwCFSgTwwodbwcATw#list

ha ha - finally got through to Southwarks hotline re: primary admissions!. Confirmed - no need for any supporting documents today. Once an offer is made, then supporting documents will be requested. Phew.

Thanks lightweight. I have been ringing Southwark this morning but can't get through at the moment.

sorry - very last minute question. A friend in another borough in London said they had to upload birth certificate/proof of address as part of their application. Just looking through Southwarks brochure, and apart form SIF's for certain schools (eg. faith schools) that require information sent directly to them, I can't see anything about supporting documents being part of the deadline today. Is that right? I applied in December, have a reference number etc, but have not uploaded anything - sudden panic as have no scanner at home but don't want to jeopardise application, so if this is true i'm going to have to get busy today!

I am very new to the school system so 1) know very little and 2) want to make sure that i'm not missing something when choosing a school for my child. I am directly affected and genuinely worried but felt that speaking to the school directly would surely give me a slightly biased opinion on what the future holds. I have seen the letter sent to parents about their plan and what support they are going to have. Instead I started this post, not as a thread for gossip and rumour, but I was just looking to see if anyone could offer advice on what the implications of a changing head might have on any school and whether we should be rethinking our primary choices at this late stage.

I have heard that it is directly related to the SATS results. The deputy head is definitely taking over, unsure whether it is temporary or permanent, but he will be mentored by Dame Sylvia (?) Morris who apparently has a strong background in supporting schools that need help...

I also work shifts. Options we've gone over: a) Nanny - more chance of finding a flexible option than nursery but more expensive b) Nursery with longer hours - Asquiths in Peckham did 7.30 drop-off and 6.30 pick up if pre-arranged. c) Normal nursery hours with either i) husband reluctantly arriving at work late/leaving work early on the days I couldn't pick the kids up, ii) au pair as well which we considered and interviewed for but couldn't find anyone, or iii) what we do now, which is have a local medical student who does 6 hours a week with us: 7-8am and 5.30-6.30pm the 3 days a week that I work, i.e. she gets the kids out of the house to nursery, then picks them up and brings them home - no feeding/no greater expectations, just the nursery run basically, so husband can do a full days work too. On days when neither of us can get back then if she can she stays on for a nights babysitting. Found her on this here forum, and it works really well.

I'm definitely in support of a new school in the area. I think the hospital site is actually well placed considering a) Charter is already massively oversubscribed and b) the number of little children visibly growing in East Dulwich means demand in the coming years will be greater than ever. Co-ed, non-faith, non-Harris ideally.

Thanks for the comments. I'm aware of changing catchments etc and if the catchment this coming year is the same tiny 280+m it was 3 years ago, then we wouldn't get in. However we are close and it was easily our favourite local school, so putting it first was a no-brainer - at 400m away we are hopeful that if we don't get in during the first round, we may have a chance on the waiting list. My post was just about asking for advice on whether recent events should make us re-think that. It sounds from you and from talking to other people, that Wayne Cooper is great, and therefore no reason to be concerned.

Just heard from friends whose son is at Dog Kennel Hill that they received a letter saying that for personal reasons the headteacher would not be returning in January and would be temporarily replaced by one of the deputy heads, Wayne Cooper. I'm not here to speculate on why she left and obviously hope everything is ok. We are in the process of applying for primary schools. DKH is our first choice school, for many reasons, and we assume a lot of the things we like about it are down to the headteacher. So, what does her leaving mean for the school? Should we be rethinking our choices? Is it a risk to stick with the school? or will the school most likely stick along the same lines its on now?

Not sure if you meant schools particularly or not - but there is Pexmas on in Peckham: http://pexmas.com/

DKH took a bulge this year on the agreement that they got extra funding for a new building/reception area. So schools can benefit in the long-run from a one-off bulge...

Clothkits every time: http://www.clothkits.co.uk/dolls-toys-c-27.html