intexasatthe moment

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 .

its been weeks ,how much vegetation can there be left ?

the constant noise is driving me insane . Sometimes it's 2 or 3 at the same time . I know it's London and I suppose I've become inured to the airoplanes ,sirens etc but not this incessant high pitched whine . couldn't we co ordinate and have the odd strimmer free day ?

I've not read past threads but who is/was the owner of The Cherry Tree ? Is it in an individual or a company ?

Thanks to you both - alan for the smile and Loz for the advice !

I've looked on Met Office site http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/guide/weather/forecast-periods but can't get the links for 7,10 or 14 days to work . Is it just me ? Can someone post me a link to a 7 or 10 day forecast ? Preferably a fairly basic one .

Yes - hadn't thought of that !

" How does Harris get away with this ? " - sorry ,that was a rhetorical question .I know very well how Acadamy chains/Foundation/Free schools use their power and status as their own admissions authorities . Renata - would you know Southwark's position regarding Admissions Forums ? I appreciate that this is no longer mandatory ( though recommended ) and that when it did exist it seemed largely powerless ( The Charter's long standing refusal to recognise the pedestrian route along Wanless Rd comes to mind ) but .... I'd still be interested in knowing if the LA has any input re schools admissions . I note that you put your thoughts into the consultation process .Was that just as a private individual ?

junction of Shelbury Rd and Colyton ? " One third of the remaining places available in each band ( rounded up the next whole number) will then be allocated to those living nearest to the Academy as calculated by straight line distance from the student?s home to the road junction of Shelbury Road and Colyton Road and living no more than 1 kilometre away from that point." why not go the whole hog and make it junction of Pickwick and Turney ? How does Harris get away with this ?

That's interesting .I registered ,went off to do something else and when I returned found it had timed out . If it's only for certain applications perhaps it's not worth the bother .

While I have sympathy for the personal reasons driving this application the current Southwark planning policy seems not to be in favour of building houses in gardens . BAM ! who seem to have prepared the Design and Access statement are being disingenous when they talk about precedents for residences being built in nearby back gardens . Having looked at the map they provide I've been unable to find a solitary example . Acre Drive which is cited ( as it was for the Hindmans Rd house in a garden ) is built on the site of an old social club whose buildings extended to the rear of the plot . This was not a house with a garden being built on . And why are BAM! talking about outbuildings ? A house isn't an outbuilding and there are no permitted dev.rights which extend to building houses in gardens .

http://planbuild.southwark.gov.uk:8190/online-applications/

Thanks Ed ! Maybe that explains his lack of response ...guess he was winding down .