carebear

If you are expecting a baby in the autumn months, this is your thread, use it as you wish. Please, no advertising. Congratulations to you all! Family Room Moderator

We had this problem at DVIS two years ago and started the term with two days after school club per week. Cobbled things together through a variety of sources (including a great girl we found on here to cover mornings) and took each extra day as it became available. By October half term we had the full five days. Suzie who runs the after school club has told me that they?ve had exceptionally high demand this year so it might not be as quick as that for you but my point is that it does shift so worth getting yourself on the waiting list as well as exploring other options. It?s all a bit of a nightmare compared to the luxury (!) of year round nursery but things do seem to work out. Another option we explored was communicating with other parents in the same position and sharing the load. Good luck!

I recommend Nicola at child sleep solutions. Feel free to pm me if you?d like more details of what it all involves. http://www.childsleepsolutions.co.uk Good luck!

Posting as admin: please adjust the title as pp suggested as the content does not indicate that this is a specific complaint about DMC. Are you also sure you want this posted in the family discussion specifically?

I would echo all of the above - Good Luck!

Hi there, I recently returned to my PhD studies with a 7m old baby and we found a number of potential nannies with flexibility for various reasons. I?m now also working and we explored various options. Feel free to pm me if you?d like to chat further :) Childcare.co.uk is a great place to start! And family classifieds on here.

We went through them last year and the place we went to was perfect (with then 4m, 3yo and 5yo). It?s worth using the website to find options and then seeing if you can find them independently though as you might save money.

If you are expecting a baby in the summer months, this is your thread, use it as you wish. Please, no advertising. Congratulations to you all! Family Room Moderator

Yes, this is absolutely right. Your sister would need to be in situ before the admissions deadline - presumably Dec/Jan 2020.

There are lots of good state schools in the area. Does she know specifically where she?d like to live or might she be guided by the school choice (can be a bit risky as the catchment varies each year)? A few schools I?ve heard good things about to get you started are Goodrich, Harris, Heber. There are loads more around and I?m sure others will chip with other schools. It?s worth searching the forum for more detailed discussions of individual schools too.

Hi Sarah, I?m not sure from your message whether you?re referring to state or private schools or whether your sister is looking for admissions this coming academic year? I can?t help much with the private schools but have experience of the state sector. Unfortunately it is not as simple as registering with the preferred options. Applications for reception are made in December/January before the September they?re due to start. You state six preferences and usually places are allocated according to distance (although there are other criteria that may prioritise such as siblings or SEN). Coincidentally admissions for this year closes today, although it?s possible to make a late application. If the child is older, I believe you make applications directly to the school and the process is slightly different. This is still done on distance so in either case it will depend where your sister lives as to what would be sensible choices. You can find out more about Southwark admissions here: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/schools-and-education/school-admissions/primary-admissions/applying-for-a-primary-school-place If it?s private schools you?re interested in, I?m sure someone will be along soon to help you soon!

Does anyone know a piano teacher they could recommend? I?m looking for someone who could come to our house in ED afterschool. It?s for our 6 year old (and poss the 4yo who is expressing envy!). More interested in friendly manner and good with little ones than technical ability! TIA

I second Eos. I think they start ballet as young as 2 (my younger one started at 3) and my older one does street dance (has also done ballet) so hopefully could offer you the right combo.

If it?s specific to the Family Discussions room, feel free to PM me. Otherwise as IlonaM suggests.

Done. Good luck with it. A few of the questions are difficult to answer because they obviously lend themselves to multi choice but are set only to allow single responses. Not sure if you can change this now you?ve started but if you can, people might find it easier to fill in. OR if you want single response answers, perhaps rephrase the questions to ?most important? or similar? I?ve got my questionnaire design hat on, obviously feel free to ignore if you?re happy with it!

I?ve heard good things about several of these and have personal experience of a couple that I?d be happy to share. I think the first few of things I would think about are: a) whether you are looking for sessional/termtime only or fuller wraparound (eg 8-6 daily inc across school holidays). The list above covers some from both and the financial implications are quite different. b) location - do you know where you?re going to live? Again, wide range above and I would advise being guided in part by proximity (unless you plan to do it by car in which case not much in it) c) timescale - several of the nurseries in the list have quite long waiting lists. This may be less of an issue if you can be flexible with your days or prepared to wait a long time but it may be more a case of elimination if your need is urgent and/or you want full time. Hope this helps narrow it down a bit. Searching the forum may get some recent feedback too. Good luck!

If you are expecting a baby in the spring months, this is your thread, use it as you wish. Please, no advertising. Congratulations to you all! Family Room Moderator

We can just fit three across (without isofix on two) at a squeeze but seatbelts tricky so we only do on long journeys. For day to day, we put 5yo in car seat in front seat and squeeze a parent (somewhat uncomfortably) in the middle back. My other half did lots of research on safety of child in front, no isofix etc so if you have any questions, I can ask!

I am looking for a cleaner who can come three times a week for two hours (ideally, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, late morning but this can be flexible). I.e 6 hours in total. We have three children including a young baby and I sometimes work from home so we need someone who is flexible and happy to adjust cleaning routine around whoever is in the house. I anticipate that the 6 hours would involve cleaning the kitchen and downstairs area three times a week, bathroom 2/3 times and all other rooms once a week. This would also cover changing sheets once a week. We are looking for someone reliable and punctual. In the past we have had cleaners who have not worked as long as they claimed and who have come at a time different from the agreed time. We are also keen to avoid an agency. I would be grateful for any recommendations or if you think you can help please get in touch. If you are a cleaner contacting us then we would like to see references.

Hi! I?ve had IUI and was lucky enough to be successful first time. The plan had been to try three (I think) times and move to IVF if no success. We opted for IUI over IVF because the nature of our problems suggested IVF might not be necessary and IVF is more intrusive. This was all six and a half years ago and was done privately (at the time NHS didn?t offer IUI, not sure if that?s still the case, I?d imagine so?) so processes may have changed but feel free to hurl any questions at me and I?ll help if I can! (And yes, had a supportive DH on board!)

I was a bit concerned about that - we are on the ED side, but actually there?s a fair few on this side of LL. A lot more kids are on the village side but the park seems to draw everyone together! The vast majority of the kids go onto Dulwich Hamlet I believe. Another concern of mine was that bc we were on the edge of catchment area we run the risk of not getting in there. My understanding is that about 98% go on to Hamlet so decided to take the risk. We?ll find out next year how that works out! I?m not sure what the alternative would be - I assume when we apply, we?ll put the other local ones down as subsequent choices and hope that if we didn?t get into Hamlet there might be a year 3 place elsewhere. We love DVIS, the only downside I would highlight is the length of school run - it?s not too bad in theory but because we have younger kids elsewhere, the door to door drop off and pick up is quite lengthy!

We will be applying for Reception 2019 for our second child. His older brother is already at DVIS, where he is very happy so hoping it will be fairly straightforward with sibling priority. DVIS was a bit of a long shot for us and we were also impressed with Goodrich and Heber. If you have any specific questions about DVIS, give me a shout!

Hello, It will probably depend a bit on your location (nearest station?) and also flexibility with days (some nurseries have v long waiting lists and many will prioritise siblings and/or full time). Often if you can be flexible with your days that can help. Anyway, I?ve listed a few that seem to get regular (positive) mentions on the forum which might get you started.... Little Jungle My favourite nursery Mother Goose (there are three) Peckham Rye Day Nursery First Steps Those are off the top of my head - I?m sure others can add more! If you search on the forum then you should find some feedback for most of these too. Good luck with it all!

Hi Zo_hop, Posting as admin, please could you edit your post title to make it a bit clearer that you are seeking advice around childcare? Thank you!

In this situation, perhaps the strategic thing to do would be to put the close one as your sixth choice. This would maximise your chances of being offered a place elsewhere but guarantee (assuming safely in catchment) the close one which should offer if none of the others can. As pp said, you won?t be guaranteed one of your six so if they?re all long shots you risk being sent somewhere miles away within the borough!