intexasatthe moment

Hi ,my experience is very dated but still may be of use. My son went to Goodrich ten years ago when it far outstripped Heber with regard to league tables. Our experience was that a great many teachers were NQT's - when I added it up my child had a newly qualfied teacher ( just out of training ,no previous experience ) for over 50% of his time at the school . And despite their enthusiam I'm afraid that this was not a good experience. So this may be something to inquire about /research in either school. Personally I found Goodrich very cliquey ( regarding parent groups ) and the layout of classrooms and playgrounds too spread out . I don't think the playgrounds were adequately supervised - social interaction very important at this age . So ask about playground supervision - tho I'm sure you'll be given a load of spin.It's a problem in schools . Ask about toilets ,where are they located ? what's the policy ?do they send children in pairs or with a Teaching Assistant? I found the toilets to be miles away from some of the reception classrooms at Goodrich. And don't even get me started on the drinking fountains - ask about water /drinks .Check that the fountains actually WORK . All the children in my son's reception class were drinking from the taps in the toilets - and guess what ? There was a major epidemic of vomitting and diarrhea. Sorry to be so gloomy - kids are resilent and their experience at home is much more important than their experience at school.You just might need to remind yourself and take heart.

Andy ,I'm so with you on the green advanced boxes .I too think it's safer to wait in line rather than edge up on the inside and then put myself in a dodgy position ,with cars turning left ,in the green box. Though every junction is different. I'm a cyclist of many years and find the roads more difficult now ,mainly because of the huge increase in the number of cyclists. The roads just aren't suitable for a combined volume of cyclists and cars ,a situation compounded by the condition of the roads with holes,dropped manhole covers etc. Plus the range of cycling " styles " ( some proficient ,speed supremos,some pedestrian ,some out of it plugged into headphones ,some nervous ) seems greater than that of motorists.This plus the silence with which someone on a bike approaches makes it hard to anticipate /be aware of what's happening . With motor vehicles there seems to be greater consistency ,so as a motorist you're all doing the same thing. So sad as I adore cycling .

Anyone know wherabouts in Barry Rd ?

EmmaG - the statement that was sent in with the planning application says that start and finish times for school day ,breaks and lunch ,will all be staggered. I would have thought that this will take up quite a lot of staff time to manage and seems to me to be tantatmount to admitting that the site is too small for the numbers involved. But I've never worked in a secondary boys school so my thoughts might be wrong!

Good points ,thebeard.

Mick Mac - you were asking about girls schools . This thread may be of interest http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?25,253238,page=1 Although ,like " onthe edge " it cites Prendergast and Haberdashers which aren't exactly open to many children from East Dulwich. Kingsdale is highly recommended by people these days.

Personally I have serious misgivings about Academies .Multi million buildings are handed over to sponsors who now do not have to part with any cash at all. Public money ,our taxes ,back projects which are run by organisations who are not accountable in the same way as community schools. We do not know the amount Lord Harris has given as this information is deemed to be commercially sensitive and withheld. We do know that Academies are outside the Freedom of Information Act , and can determine admissions policies and the curriculum. Academies have to ?have regard ? to the SEN code of practice . Sounds ok ,but why are they not required ,as community schools are ,to follow the code ? Parents of children attending community schools have some say in the running of the school,some redress when they are aggrieved or have a complaint because such schools have balanced Governing Bodies. The funding agreements for Harris Academies show that the Governing Body ? shall have ? 11 sponsor governors ,1 staff governor, and 1 parent governor. Some Academies have no staff representation at all. I could go on ,the generous start up funds and right not to take excluded pupils in the first years of an Academy?s life ,the introduction of GNVQ where 1 GNVQ is equal to 4 GCSE passes all of which artificially inflate the success of Academies. This article says more if people are interested. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/apr/03/schools.newschools But with regard to this particular Academy I think people feel let down by Southwark. There was local support for a mixed secondary school in East Dulwich. Rather than meet this need ,an all girls school was opened on the much larger site in Homestall Rd .The original proposal for the Friern Rd site was for a much lower figure but this slowly increased to the 900 odd it is now.The original proposal was for the two schools to have one head and for the sixth form to be based in Homestall Rd. Now we have a small site with a huge number of children . To manage the site it is proposed to stagger the start and finish times for different years. Proposals to bus children to off site PE facilties talk of arranging PE lessons at the end of the day and before lunch . I suppose it won?t matter if staff and children miss some of their lunch time .And the staff won't have much redress if they're unhappy - their salaries and conditions of employment are determined by that Sponsor dominated Governing Body. The shiny Harris presentation might look good ( I personally don?t think it does ) but this is not the school that many people wanted.

There is this theatre in West Norwood http://www.southlondontheatre.co.uk/about.php which I believe amateurs can get involved in.

Someone must be kicking themselves for mislaying this.

Flash camping in the playground of my son's school in an effort to keep it a community comprhensive.

Emily - I sympathise. You deliberately chose to donate some choice stuff rather than sell it and you suspect it has been binned. Good on you ,don't know why everyone is having a pop. If it's any consolation I expect that they have a policy to move the high end stuff to another shop in an even pricer area than ED.

But if you have flu and your link is deemed tenuous ,ie you've caught flu from someone who has been in contact with an Alleyn's year 7 pupil ,then you are told that you won't be swabbed/tested. And it's fine for your 3 year old sibling to carry on attending nursery. So who knows how many cases ? Always did think it unlikely that there would be sufficient resources to allow for everyone with flu or flu like symptoms to be tested. And if you do have flu and a refusal to test ,how can you convince your school / examination body thar you're not faking it ?

Any other suggestions - I'm also seeking holiday options for teenagers + parents ?

Barry - do you wear glasses with a thick black frames and find yourself drawn to telephone boxes ?

No Ann we went to Pimlico . I think Charter sixth form was rated outstanding by Ofsted recently.

Try this thread in the lounge http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?20,251917

"I think there are relatively few people who actively subvert the system" I have a fairly small circle of friends / acquaintences but when my son applied for The Charter school 7 years ago I could name from first hand experience half a dozen people who cheated/ lied/ manipulated the system to get a place. In fact I think it's fair to say that if you didn't take such action you were deemed to be failing your child by your lack of effort. At primary school level I knew fewer people taking such action but again could certainly point to 4 or 5. What I think such people fail to realise is that they are not just " doing the best " for their child ,but pushing other people out. We were very high on the waiting list for the Charter ( single digits ) and would probably have been offered a place had it not been for the 6 people obtaining places by deceit.

If the real concern with swine flu is that there will be a second more serious wave in the Autumn should we actually be trying to catch it now and by so doing build up immunity . Or because it's a virus doesn't it work like that? Anyone with the knowledge to enlighten?

Umm - when my son was little and attached to a small glove puppet type toy ,I bought one of those capsule/cylinder things that you can buy in pet shops for attaching to cat/dog collars put our contact details inside and sewed it onto toy.

Second vote for bring back the clock. And could we return to all trolleys being coin free ?

Another big (tu)well done (tu),really great of you to do this. Hope you don't get abused and hope whoever your boss is appreciates what a great employee they've got.

What degree of technical skill do you think is needed ?

Peckham Rose - I'm told that wasps don't swarm so S'Wark Pest Control should have no reason to confuse them with bees. The guy from S'wark Pest Control was absolutely clear " we kill them " is what he said to me. I've no doubt that although they were not posing an immediate threat ( as Louisana has said swarming bees are not aggressive ) no doubt some case could be made that they were... it was a very public place and a lot of people were desperately anxious. More to the point ,the swarm was covering up the camera on the top of the traffic light column so that no doubt would be reason enough. Louisana - my friend wanted to wait until dark ,but with the general fear being expressed by passersby and the prompt attendence of Southwark (plus my friend was really keen to have them ,her own having been decimated as so many others ) that it would have meant standing guard from 3 to 8 pm.Which we couldn't do.

Will do - many thanks !

Thanks Louisana - just talking to my friend ( who rescued the swarm ) about this . She was seeing it from southwark's point of view ( H&S ) and saying that she used a different method to get the bees into a box than she normally would to minimise disturbance and the bees flying round. She was very conscious that it was a public space and that with possibilty of people being allergic to bee stings how she'd feel ,if as a result of her actions collecting them,someone had got stung. So think we can understand Southwark's reaction - but of course they could at least try to get them recovered by a Bee Keeper .