powercow

Over the past 2-3 years, Laurant and his team have become our go-to decorators. They've done a number of different decorating and re-plastering jobs for us, both inside and outside and we've been very impressed each time.

His team are quiet, efficient and never leave a mess.

I didn't realise until recently that Laurant also does building jobs...next time we need anything done, he'll definitely be first in line to quote.

Laurant Webb

07776 187667

[email protected]

(also Laurant's wife Lisa is a brilliant graphic designer....if you need any logos or product design...)

Yesterday I took my 14 year old son to JD Sports in Brixton to buy him a new pair of trainers.

He found a style he liked; the one on the shelf was his size so we asked the assistant to bring the second shoe from the store-room, which he duly did. Then there was an awkward stand off with the shop assistant holding the box (with the second shoe in it) while we waited for him to hand it over.

I said tentatively "So, can we try it then...?"

"Yes", he said. "If you take the other one off first".

Apparently they have an issue with people trying on running shoes and then doing a runner.

I was shocked (and saddened) that the world has come to this. But I was also shocked and saddened that my teenage son thought it was perfectly reasonable and normal.

Am I just getting old and out of touch?

As I mentioned in my post of 1st December, last November I asked our MP, Tessa Jowell, to look into the question of deferring school start date in Southwark and promised to update this discussion when I had any news.

I have just received a communication from Ms Jowell. She has not received a response from Ms Romi Bowen, Strategic Director at the Southwark Children?s Services, but below is the response to her from Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Education ? to summarise his communication, (1) the decision to allow deferred entry is down to the individual head teacher but they?ll need co-operation from the local authority (2) from Sept 2011 there will be provision made for children to start school OR full time nursery in the September following their FOURTH birthday:

The law does not require a child to attend school until they reach compulsory age at the start of the school term following their fifth birthday. Ms X?s daughter [d.o.b. 30th August 2006] will reach compulsory school age in September 2011. Many schools admit children into a reception class before their fifth birthday, but the statutory School Admissions Code requires them to allow parents to request to defer their child?s entry until later in the school year. Where a parent wishes to defer entry until the following school year, as Ms X wishes to, they must make a new application for that school year at the appropriate time. But they cannot be required to send their child to school before they reach compulsory school age.

Children of the same age are normally educated together, but some parents do want their children to be educated in a lower or higher age group than their peers. This is a decision for the head teacher to take, based on the needs of the child. Ms X says the school?s head teacher would be happy to arrange for her daughter to enter the reception class rather than Year 1 in September 2011. This is his decision to make, but he will need to ensure that the class does not exceed the statutory infant class size limit of 30. As Southwark Council is the admission authority for Heber Primary School he is likely to need their co-operation in this. Ms X may want to bear in mind that, even if her daughter is educated outside her chronological age group at primary school, the secondary school she later moves on to will not be obliged to continue to do so.

As Ms X says, research demonstrates that children with summer birthdays tend to do less well at school than those born earlier in the school year. This achievement gap is widest when children start primary school. It narrows over time but, for some pupils, it is still significant at ages 16 and 18. Ms X mentions that I asked Sir Jim Rose to consider, as part of this recent review of the primary curriculum, how to improve outcomes for summer-born children, including considering whether there should be more choice and flexibility in when they start school. The final report was published on 30 April 2009. On the basis of the compelling evidence on the benefits to summer born children from starting school at the same time as their peers, the Review recommended that the preferred pattern of entry to reception classes should be the September immediately following a child?s fourth birthday, but with parents still having the freedom to defer entry where they feel it is in the best interest of their child.

The Government has accepted all of the Review?s recommendations and has recently completed a consultation on changes to the School Admissions Code with a view to requiring all schools to admit children in the September following their fourth birthday, where this is what their parents want, from September 2011. In addition, funding will be made available so that those children whose parents do not want them to start school before compulsory school age will be able to receive full time provision in an early years setting from the September after their fourth birthday.

Finally, Ms X may be interested to know that all types of settings for children aged 0-5 are required to deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This means that all settings, including reception classes in schools, are required to support children?s learning and development through a diverse range of play-based activities. The EYFS acknowledges that all children develop at different rates and in different ways and expects settings to meet the individual needs of all the children they care for.

I?m pretty impressed by the response on the whole, although it is not clear how co-operative Southwark will be if you find a head teacher prepared, as in our case, to accept a child outside their ?chronological age group? (I really hate that expression since the cut off date is so arbitrary).

After much soul-searching and discussion and for many reasons that I won?t go into here (some of them already covered above), we have decided not to carry on the battle to defer our daughter?s school start date but rather to do all we can ourselves to ensure a smooth transition to her starting school next January. This will include continuing to encourage her interest in reading and numbers, ensuring she is socially confident and increasing her days at nursery to 4 or even 5 from September. We are sure that ultimately she will thrive.

Good luck to everyone else in the same boat!

My son (aged 7) would love it...so would I!

You could try Push Studios for space. They've recently expanded so may be able to accommodate more classes...

Chickens can hold their own against cats...not so against dogs, apparently...

fearnpw1 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm assuming having a cat would prohibit you from

> having chickens?

Could be way off the mark, but I wonder whether it had something to do with it being your mum? My son and my mother (she lives "up norffff") used to vie for my attention; since I don't see my mum that often there's always a lot to catch up on and my son didn't like it. In fact, both seemed to feel they were entitled to my undivided attention and did not want to share it with the other.

Also, if your mum's not nearby, he may not be that confident about his relationship with her. We may assume our children know our close relatives because we talk about them, but it must be daunting for a little one when a comparitive stranger bears down on them demanding hugs and kisses.

My son and mum are fine now (he's 7) and it has never been a problem with my daughter...Ishe's always had to share me.

Tiddles,

We let them out in the garden only when we're around with them - I once left them out and went into the kitchen for 10 minutes. When I came back outside there was a fox staring at them from the opposite end of the garden. Rather worrying, particularly as it was a weekday afternoon and I could hear people working in a nearby garden. Since then they get a lot less free range time but cope OK - I give them extra greens (but do seem to get fewer eggs).

We tried moving them round the lawn, but in the end have left them in once place (and sacrificed that patch of grass).

They are a great pet for kids and after 18 months the novelty hasn't worn off.

If you'd like to come and see them, PM me.

[i've been offline for 5 days...thanks, Virgin Media...]

Interesting to see the strength of feeling about this subject.

The recent Rose review suggests that the summer-born children would actually do better to start the September they turn 4 (but with the option of part-time and lots of teacher support) rather than waiting until the following January. The recommendations are to be put into place but I don't know how they will work in practice.

I suspect, ultimately, we're stuck in a "Computer says No" situation, where everyone agrees that younger children lose out but it messes up the beaurocracy if they are out of their "allocated" year group.

I'm not going down without a fight - I've written to Tessa Jowell MP and she in turn has contacted Ms Romi Bowen, the Stategic Director at the Southwark Children's Services and The Rt Hon Ed Balls at the Department for Children Schools and Families. I'll update this when I get a response.

I just wondered how many East Dulwich-ites have gone for a modicum of rurality (?!) and got chickens...

To start the count, we have 2 (Barbara and Margot)...they don't get much time out of their Eglu because of the pesky foxes but are much loved members of the family.

No, it doesn't level out until 16 or above.

If you're interested in reading more, check out the following for starters:

The Independent Review of Primary Curriculum by Sir Jim Rose which was published in April and the recommendations of which are to be fully implemented (announcement this week from Vincent Coaker, Schools Minister) - see Chapter 4 particularly on summer-born children : http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=DCSF-00499-2009&

Institute for Fiscal Studies report (2007) "When You Are Born Matters: The Impact of Date of Birth on Child

Cognitive Outcomes in England": http://www.ifs.org.uk/docs/born_matters_report.pdf

National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) (2009). "The influence of relative age on learner attainment and development": http://www.inca.org.uk/Relative_Age_Review_February_2009.pdf

Has anyone tried/succeeded in getting permission from Southwark for their summer born child to defer entry at primary school until after their fifth birthday, so they're the oldest in the class rather than the youngest?

There's loads of research out there about the disadvantages of being summer born (if you're interested I can point you to it) and the recent review commissioned by the government includes almost a whole chapter on it, but comes out suggesting that the youngest children should actually start earlier (in the September term they turn 4, rather than in the January when they are 4 and a bit).

My daughter's birthday is 30th August and since the cut off date is 1st September she'll be the youngest in the class by anything up to 363 days.

Legally she doesn't have to start until she's five...but then she would go straight into Year 1 and be doubly disadvantaged by missing reception and still being the youngest.

My birthday's 31st July and I have 4 A levels and a degree so when people say to me ?She?ll be OK; she?ll do fine? my response is that this isn?t about her being ?OK? or ?fine?; I want to even up the odds which are so heavily stacked against her and give her a chance to achieve her full potential whatever that may be. I want her to have a smooth transition into full time education when she is ready and to be confident and happy from the start, not struggling to keep up.

(I've seen it also from the other end: her seven-year old brother's birthday is mid September, so he had an extra six months at nursery prior to starting school just before his fifth birthday. He was socially and academically ready for school, with a maturity which was clear to see and continues to stand him in good stead.)

I'd love to hear from anyone else who is in the same boat...

Best of luck to you guys. Mine's a double skinny latte.;-)