intexasatthe moment

James - just wondering if you'd made any progress on my query about describing the admission policies for Southwark's secondary schools as being a common admissions policy. ( If that makes sense ) I'm guessing it's something to do with the application being made on one common form. Though as many of the schools ( ? 9 ) require applicants to complete a seperate supplementary form this rather makes a nonsensense of the notion of a common form. And my linked enquiry about banding ,particularly why the Harris Federation has banding referenced to National ( and not local ) values ?

Thanks Fuschia - what a power house of info and work you are!

Fuschia - is that info you've asked for and therefore coming to you ? Or will it be available on line from Southwark ? Might it be available at the O&Sc meeting on the 12th ? Aplogies if I'm being dense !

Ha ha no My car was damaged sometime between 3-5 of July by some kind motorist who failed to leave details, but not in this area! A likely tale !

Totally agree with Big Phil. Am in constant communication with Southwark re state of Highshore Rd ,near Post Office sorting office . ( in Peckham ) And thanks to Samuel Ofosuhene ( the guy who's arranging the current street audit around Forest Hill Rd etc ) with some success. But all that money spent on repaving Crystal Palace Rd ,and now Court Lane ,plus the fancy cross overs to the side roads joining Lordship Lane. How on earth does Southwark prioritise this type of spending ? Is it all zoned ? " Oh we've not spent much money in East Dulwich ,let's do it now whether it needs it or not ?" " Oh,let's keep the good burghers of Court Lane happy and further improve their already immaculate pavements ? "

James - firstly all credit to you for coming on to this forum ,though seems a bit of a mammoth undertaking. Over on the Family Discussion threads I had raised the issue of all Southwark's Secondary schools no longer being LEA schools and all being Academies,Faith or Foundation schools. My concern is that as such, one of the freedoms they enjoy is that they can determine their own admissions ctiteria. You had responded to say that Caroline Pidgeon had negotiated a common admissions policy. But looking at the individual schools admission policies ,I can't see this ,as they are all so different. The Harris Academies require children to sit a test for banding purposes ,but their banding ( 9 bands ) is different from the system of 3 bands used by Kingsdale. Throw into this mix the purely geographical crtieria used by Charter and sibling priority being lower than sport and music aptitude at Kingsdale plus the different again policies of faith schools and Academies that aren't sponsored by Harris and I'm struggling to see what the common bit is. And if the schools are using different admissions criteria then surely that would make their results/league tables difficult to compare/give a misleading picture ? Also do you have any light to shed on the banding systems used ? I've always found this a bit confusing - one of the Harris Academies says that their banding is with reference to National banding values. So presumably that means that they are striving to have an intake that reflects ...what? Why national and not based on values for Southwark /London? How do they work the bands out - is there a measurement of national aptitude/IQ for year 6 which is then divided up into 9 bands ? If you have a banding system how do you avoid a situation where if you fall in the top bands ( presumably fewer people ) you get in even if you live a long away from the school and if you're average and fall in the middle bands ( presumably lots of applicants )pressure of numbers will mean that you'll only get in if you live very near the school? Sorry for length and if not very clear - maths not my strong point.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1217974/Im-Harriet-Harman--know--What-Minister-allegedly-told-witness-crashing-parked-car.html

Using the menu the scanning process just wouldn't commence. Don't know why ,it just sat there for 10 mins with 0% completed. It was only when we unplugged it that it started rescanning for channels .

Jah Lush - we've just been struggling to retune our BT Vision box .In the end we unplugged it and restarted it ,and it went automatically to the scan for new channels option. We do have a remote ,but I notice that the box itself also has an OK/select button. But if you have a freeview TV maybe it's different.Have you checked if the TV has a an OK/select button?

" an agreed common admissions crtieria " Off topic for this thread so I'll try and be brief. There may be some agreed criteria ,like priority for children with statements ,but if you look at the criteria applied when places are oversubscribed you will find a huge variation in Southwark Secondary schools.( None of which are community schools under the control of the LEA ) Which is why Southwarks booklet ( find it here http://www.southwark.gov.uk/YourServices/educationandlearning/Admissions/startingsecondary.html ) on applying to secondary schools says Voluntary aided, academies and foundation schools have different admissions criteria, Because Academies and Foundation schools can determine their own admissions criteria. Bacon's has a stringent inner and outer geographical requirement ,the Harris Academy's mainly require children to sit a test and places are allocated by banding.In some cases this banding is" referenced to the national distribution of ability ". The Charter bases their admissions criteria around geographical distance ,and Kingsdale goes for banding ,only 3 bands as opposed to Harris's 9 ,but gives priority to " Children who satisfy our scholarship criteria based on aptitude for music or sport." over that of siblings. So huge variations.

Was your daughter higher up the school,ie not reception ? I think sometimes there's more movement in the older age groups ?

Re the straight line /crow flies criteria - Southwark's website refers to it as The straight line walking distance. So it can't be as the crow flies ...can it ?

James The problem with a non community school is that they have their own admissions criteria. What like all Southwark's secondary schools ,none of which remain community schools being either Academy's or Foundation schools ? Or is it only a concern if it's a primary school ?

Good suggestion Moos .

Article in Independant on getting your child to sleep ,not using controlled crying. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/how-to-help-your-baby-sleep-1791130.html

done

I think not....

I posted because I felt that reacting to the shortfall in school nursery places in the same way that people are reacting to the shortage of primary school places in this part of the borough was slightly odd. Southwark doesn't have an obligation to provide places for all it's 3 year olds in school nurseries in the same way that it does for primary school age children As far as I know there's always been a shortfall in nursery places,although the situation has improved in recent years. There is obviously a problem at present with a shortage of primary school places in this part of the borough and this clearly needs addressing. But I don't think that you can automatically assume that the shortfall in nursery places is a direct indicator of a shortage of primary school places.

Herne Bay ?

When I had a son at primary school I never dropped him off by car. But my guess is that some of the people dropping off by car are doing so because they are going on to work. And madly juggling lots of things and too busy to read this thread and respond.

Entry to reception years is governed by Southwark admission ctriteria but these don't apply to nursery places . It seems that the individual school decides this. Recent post from Mellors on different thread seems to suggest that primary schools file nursery applications by D. O. B. This was the case many moons ago at Goodrich and was another way the education system disadvantaged the summer born so I'm hoping it isn't still the system used.

Pointing out the obvious maybe ,but unlike the statutory obligation to provide education for all 5 year olds, there is no legal requirement for Southwark to provide nursery places for all.

Fraid it's true about being careful. Passing ( broad daylight ) some pavement diners ,I shouted to alert them to an attempt to take their bag. Then self and boyfriend persued and set upon ( no harm done ) by thwarted bag snatchers.

bump

Aargh - just read your other post. Sure smells and reminders are the least of your worries. So sorry - keep strong.