intexasatthe moment

" lobby TfL to increase the bus service down here " - down here to Melbourne Grove ? So distant from Lordship Lane and it's bus services ?

East Dulwich as a gated community - the dream moves closer to reality .

I don't think there was a problem with going to the adjudicator ,a problem that it had to get to that point maybe .

On the note of taking things personally - surely all of us posting are taking things personally enough to be motivated to express our view ? Why shouldn't people take things personally ? championofthehill made the point that she/he wouldn't gain or loose in terms of an offspring gaining a place ,perhaps that sort of post has a wider motivation ,an interest in the bigger picture ?

" Charter is legally bound to follow the Admission Code and the supporting published guidance. " True .But it's also true that for over 12 years the school didn't implement it's admission policy correctly ,choosing to exclude certain pedestrian routes . And this was despite appeals on this point by some tenacious parents being upheld by Southwark .

As has been said many times supporting the creation of a new school does not confer any priority when it comes to getting a place . championofthehill makes perfectly valid points highlighting a geographical area that may be disadvantaged by a particular nodal point . hoonaloona's post ( unintentionally I imagine ) underlines this . There's no suggestion that the new school was proposed only for the area around the Dog Kennel Hill Estate and the Champion Hill and Cleve Hall Estates . Seems divisive to suggest that there has. "I would suggest that Charter Red Post Hill be held to account for this policy that excludes the estates mentioned, and change their policy to "as the crow flies" in line with Charter ED.2 " No easy task .A small group of parents and a local legal eagle put in hours and hours and hours of hard work ( not to mention enduring the inevitable hostility from the school and other parents ) to get the Charter school to implement their existing admissions policy correctly . The group was successful and the adjudicator's report unequivocal. The school could have chosen that time to move to straight line admission and to do away with the ambiguous safe walking distance .Instead it chose to express it's views on autonomy and the adjudicator's report in the South London Press . So I think it would be a hard task to get the school to move to straight line admission. But I might be wrong ,different head now .

richard - you don't think that Southwark would need to consult ? "Camberwell Grove tried to install a tollgate years back to turn the road into a cul de sac. It was thrown out." - ooh I remember that I went to that meeting . Was it really a tollgate ,thought it was just closing it off ? Probably not wise to talk about tollgates ,it'll give people ideas ...

I have to say I agree with everything Bobby P has posted above . Surely this kind of thing( residents requesting that their roads become cul de sacs ) won't be approved by Southwark ?

I think zoned catchment areas where it's stated that say 50% ( or whatever % is deemed reasonable ) of places will be allocated to an inner area and 50% to an outer area would guarantee a wider catchment area .And stop the catchment area shrinking completely as/if the school becomes more popular . But I could be way off the mark .

Yellow bags are for clinical waste - incontinence pads ,dressings etc . Think there is normally something written on them . Maybe delivered to you in error .Any old/ill people living close to you ? contact ( good luck with that ) to query Address: 43 Devon Street (off Old Kent Road) London SE15 1AL Tel: 020 7525 2000 Email: [email protected] v.uk

Not to get lost in detail about other school's admission policies ,the point I was trying to make is that zoned catchment areas with admission numbers split between inner and outer geographical areas might be an option for concerned parents .And one that presumably avoids the legitimacy concerns surrounding nodal points .

Zoned catchment areas - just an idea ,an alternative to the nodal points which parents seem keen on . Doesn't have to be the same as Harris CP - 90 % and 10% or by lottery within those zones . Bacon's ( as I'm sure is known ) is non lottery ,banded and a 75% /25% split . Presumably the percentage within the zones and the size of zones can be varied . Again ,not relevant here but aren't Harris ED girls seeking an off site admissions point ?Is that the same as nodal ?Or different because it's between ED Harris Girls and ED Harris Boys ? So I guess this will be open to challenge ?

largeginandtonic - that's very interesting ,I'd not considered it from that point of view . I think you make very valid points . london mix - I think I'll just agree to disagree with you about the rationale behind the introduction of free schools .And the lower priority given to the location of free school as compared to demand . Note I'm saying lower priority not " the location doesn't matter " . I note your concern that the introduction of nodal points for this school would be against government guidelines ( I wonder though what ,if any ,action would be taken to prevent their use ) . Maybe introducing zoned catchment areas ( like Bacon's College and Harris Crystal Palace ) would be an alternative that would reassure parents ?

" The confusion seems to be that some parents feel that by signing up to the campaign they were guaranteeing themselves admission " I find it hard to believe that people are really that ill informed . I don't think it's confusion or misleading advice ,I think it's the desire to get one's child into a " good " school and the perception of what a good school is . But having said that a system where the area/s of demand is one thing and the location of the school another is always going to lead to a debate about the oversubscrition admissions policy . Not really relevant here but I don't think I do remember Free Schools being set up to be innovative and experimental . Freedom from following the national curriculum ,changing term times ,setting salary rates and so on was already enjoyed by Academies . I thought the " rationale " was to give parents the freedom to set up schools where they were unhappy with the existing offer ,to give " choice " where parents thought they had none .To drive up standards by introducing competition . All that illusory ,expensive ,divisive ,chaos making guff .

" The whole project has been built on the idea of a community school " I thought the whole project was based on it being a Free School where ,as I understand it , evidenced demand is the first priority and location of the site is secondary . A situation which ,to me ,is highly likely to lead to people wanting nodal points . It seems pointless to argue that it's a community school - the debate over the location of the nodal point/s is a debate over what constitutes this community . The school is funded by public money ,our money . That's a pretty big community . This mess is the result of a fragmented education system - how many of us protested or campaigned when all of Southwark's secondary schools were being handed over to individuals . How many championed the move to take education out of Southwark's control ? And now primary schools are going the same way . I can't see a way out of the chaos but at the very least we need to be asking questions about Southwark's desire/ability to co ordinate/influence admission policies and lobbying our MP's for a London wide secondary school admission system .

Aaah ,I see . Many thanks ed_pete .

I'm surprised by the comments on this thread ,the area has clay soil and many of the little Victorian terraced houses are now very elderly and insubstantially built in the first place . Subsidence ( which is not after all equal to the Black Death )will happen ,no need to criminalising every root and branch in the vicinity . And yes - heave ....

posted on wrong thread

The Schools Adjudicator's findings re how Charter were implementing their admissions policy makes fascinating reading . He/she was clearly furious with what had been going on .

Sorry to be dense ,just wondered if paper copies were available ?

What work is being done ?

" I'm afraid it is the recent education policy coming home to roost. Academies and free schools are in control of their own individual admissions policies and Southwark seemingly totally out of the loop of the whole process. There is also an absence of a strategic education body setting a London-wide education plan to coordinate across boroughs (vis Lewisham unilaterally changing it's admission to distance). It's total chaos! " BornAgain highlights the bigger picture . Is there any way that all this high feeling could be used in a more constructive way ? Is there any point in lobbying Southwark to set up an Admissions Forum ? If one existed would it have any power ?

"Sadly, grass grows " The thing is ,once the expanse of overgrown grass is strimmed couldn't a lawn mower be used to keep the grass down ? It's the high pitched whine ( rising even above that of my own voice ) that I can't stand and the use of strimmers in plots near me seem to have replaced lawn mowers .

Mmm - the FIRST phone call was assessed as low priority . Which is what happened with my mother ( not the same I know ,tho she did die within 24 hours of the fall ) . Repeated calls , original ambulance diverted to a " more urgent " call . And wasn't there a case earlier this year of an accident in Camberwell New Rd where the police ended up taking an injured person to hospital themselves because of the delay ? I should say that I have the greatest respect and appreciation of the Ambulance Service ,I'm not trying to criticise them .

Saffron I thought the same . A few months ago it took an hour and a half for an ambulance to arrive when my 94 year old mother broke her femur very badly .Not the same I know . The poor ambulance staff said that every visit they did the first thing they had to do was aplogise for the delay .There seemed to be some change of protocol re hand over at the hospital which was causing great delays .