landsberger

The only caveat I have is where would the bus have "layover time"? Presently the bus terminates and "lays over" (i.e. gives the driver 5 mins or so rest and allows him/her to tidy up the bus etc) at Sunray Avenue. The new projection of the service advances it to Sainsbury's (which will presumably allow them to go for a wee as well). If the loop is completed the driver will not be able to leave the vehicle; even if he/she allows passengers to join, how happy would they be sitting at Sainsbury's for his/her break?

I never give money to street homeless, ever. Whilst people give this guy money, he has no incentive to move on. I do give generously to homelessness charities.

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > As Louisa suggests, it's a question of cultural > expectations. In some other countries it's quite > normal for very young kids to still be up in the > evening, and taken to restaurants. But in the UK.. > despite the undeniable shift L talks about... I > think we still expect restaurants to be adult > environments after 7:30 or so. > While I agree it's hard for restaurants to > enforce, I think a 4 yr old in a restaurant at 8pm > is pushing the social norms a bit. I am happy for kids to be in restaurants at any time, providing they are (reasonably) well behaved. This is the crux of the matter to me. Parents who you ask to quieten kids down (and I don't mean normal conversations, I mean screeching at the top of their voices, playing on video games at full blast volume, and/or running around, tripping over, crying etc etc) INEVITABLY riposte with "HAVE YOU GOT KIDS, EH ? EH ? EH ?". Because, apparently if you don't, you are not allowed an opinion or even an expectation that your meal will be served in a restaurant without too much brouhaha if you are childless. And I understand and sympathise with parents of small children/babes in arms who are too young for one to expect a modicum of good behaviour from.

I'm sanguine about this, having lived on the continent for a while but at the end of the day, it's about how people behave. I saw a woman in a bar recently ask the barman to turn the music down as "my child wants to sleep, isn't it obvious?", which left me open mouthed.

henryb Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > googlemaps has one now. Right click - measure > distance. Is this for school admissions? Check that this is the type of measurement this particular school uses (some use closest safe walking distance), if so, as not all do. Check if they have a catchment area. And realise that sibling proportions will wildly vary the durthest pupil admitted from year to year.

The issue will also be siblings - that is what determines the distance, not just faith. There can be good and bad years for both. Bonne chance!

tomskip Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I wonder why they are consulting now? They have to, that's the law

keane Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Lots of children also cycle to Kingsdale James and > get trains. There is also lots of very expensive > housing near to kingsdale as there is to Charter. > At Charter it is often those who can afford to > rent or buy in the ever shrinking catchment area > that get in, buying a house in catchment for > charter is becoming the 'few' to get into a state > school! At least at kingsdale not every child has > to live right next to the school to get in, maybe > this balances out the fact that Charter does its > admissions on distance. I always find it amazing that parents who live a long way from a school favour ballots and parents who live next to schools favour distance based. Ballots - independently run (Kingsdale's isn't) are of course the "fairest" way of allocating places to schools if what you want a random mix of children. But is that what ED parents want ? The one council who tried this (Brighton) were beseiged by hysterical middle class parents who'd bought homes next to schools and didn't get in, and working class parents who had to send their kids on 2 buses across the authority area. Very few Southwark children get into Kingsdale, ED or not.

I think the problem with GG is, as an academy, effectively they are responsible solely to their own governors (and very distantly, to the DfE). Governors are much less likely to be self-critical than a school with LA oversight (or a school with a sponsor that has a number of other schools) is. The school could approach the LA for advice and support but so far has chosen not to - which is regrettable. But as others have pointed out, a school in GG's position really should be doing better.

Run by the same people who run Dulwich Hamlet, so if that suits you, this might as well.

For once, I agree with James. Distance based admissions are fairest. I have zero confidence in Kingsdale's admissions processes anyway. The only way this school has "improved" has been by skewing the intake.

The Telegraph (and presumably other papers) have published 2015 primary results today.

Angelina Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Criteria differ for each school. > Some based on proximity are measured by straight > line while others are measured by 'safe walking > route'. Others are based on ability and non-verbal > testing will determine which band (ie score > percentage) your child fits in - with selection > from each band. > All have priority for siblings and social needs, > or religious background (ie proximity/ banding > criteria become secondary). Most schools at primary level don't test (thankfully). Secondary, it's a bit of a mixed bag. AFAIK, all schools in Southwark use "as the crow flies". the problem with safe walking distance is that their are a number of definitions, and some parents will tell you crossing a dual carriageway at street level is safe, if they can get their DD or DS into a "good school"

A stop may be "cancelled" when the train is running late. The fines for missing out a stop are much less than for cancelling the train overall, or arriving more than 15 minutes late at the destination. It's a clear case of the system being played by the franchisee.

There are a number of packages that are used by LAs, but you can approximate this very closely with most online mapping packages.

Saffron Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I think school websites can give a wealth of > information about the character of the school. > Things I would look out for would be how up to > date the website is, and what information is > available on different aspects of the school. You could argue this both ways. A school who don't update their website could be busy doing other things. I know some great schools with awful websites and some awful schools with great websites. You need to corral a wide variety of information before you make your choice. Reading the Ofsted reports is a start and any stories in the media about the school. > Is there information about staff, such as what > area they specialise in? Are staff pictures on > the website, so parents can easily identify them? There's no set templates and if the school is a primary school, the staff are unlikely to have a particular subject specialism - your child will have the same teacher for most lessons. Most school websites will list the staff but as staff are recruited and resign all the time, the turnover is likely to be such that the website may well be out of date. Photos are not usually provided - why would they ? What can one tell by a staff member's appearance ? > Are the governors and their areas of expertise on > the website? Usually a list of governors is provided - if not on the website, then usually in the prospectus - specialisms are likely to be whether they have specific responsibilities rather than what their skills are. > Does the website have up to date > copies of the school newsletter and permission > slips etc available? Maybe. Maybe not. See above for "up to date"ness. > Can the website take payments? See above - many schools have "parent pay", but it's not compulsory for schools to offer this service. > Does the website list a dress code? Does it seem > about right to you, or too conservative, too > relaxed? if there is a uniform for the school (and 95% of UK primaries do have a uniform) it will show it either in the prospectus or on the website. > Is the school sympathetic to working parents (if > needed)? Are there lots of different afterschool > activities to choose from? Is there a breakfast > club if needed? See above > Is there a parent forum? How does the school get > feedback from parents and offer them answers? Is > there a PTA? Is the 'PTA' a fundraising group > only, or do they also provide a forum between the > school and parents? See above > What type of school trips does the website list? > How far in advance does their school calendar go? > Can you get dates in your diary 6 months in > advance? A year in advance? There's no requirement to list school trips - there's no requirement to offer school trips at all. It's down to the school.

Southwark uses straight line distance, after siblings and look after children for its community schools, as do most academies and free schools. The community school distances vary from year to year and are in the primary admissions brochure. Academies can do what they like (and they do) and (some) will fiddle the admissions so they don't have to take difficult children. Church/Voluntary aided schools will require you in the main to attend church or be a practising Christian of a certain faith to attend them. There is no single tool that will tell you for sure if you will get into a particular school.

" relief staff or surplus staff on the station to take trips for which a driver is late for? " See my response above. i) they employ as few drivers as possible (basically as many as they need to run the service) - this invariably means "no relief staff" ii) they rely on "rest day working" (i.e. overtime) to cover absences due to holiday or sick leave - in the run up to Xmas, this is when people want to take leave. People who say "don't allow leave at Xmas or busy periods..." - when would be convenient for drivers to take leave ? And for people other than yourself. if you only employ the exact number of drivers to provide the service, every time a staff member takes leave and there is no willing volunteer to do the duty he or she was due to take, you're going to get a cancellation. "As it stands people think Mr Driver just couldn't be bothered turning up for work on time and feel wound up by the driver when a better explanation of the delay would dissipate that fury" I think Southern/TSGN would like you to think that. A few years ago, Southern specifically changed the phraseology when announcing cancellations of this nature from "driver shortage" to "staff absence", meaning you'd blame the drivers, not the company too stingy to pay for them.

Corporal punishment is one of those dog whistle issues that brings a certain type of person to a froth demanding its reinstatement. Thankfully, it has long since been abolished - if not for any other reason, the fact that it was completely ineffective, and was more about the feelings and the frustration of the giver to the receiver. No-one who was caned or slapped was actually deterred from taking action, as anyone such as myself who grew up when it was in full swing, will attest. "kids have no respect + more power than the adults" because PARENTS - not teachers and authority figures - refuse to discipline children. As a school governor, I have never known such levels of parental objection to punishment, sanctions or complaints about behaviour. I can guarantee if we had corporal punishment, the same parents demanding its reintroduction, would be screaming like bats if their child was disciplined.

I would say it's impossible for you to know what's right for your child without visiting the schools concerned (and we don't know what your daughter is like).

yeknomyeknom Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thank you. All clear. Another question. Do you > always get one of your 6? Is there a chance all 6 > say no? Then what happens? Usually - most get one of their top 6. The reason people don't are usually that they put only one or two choices; they put 6 completely unrealistic choices; or they put schools down they aren't qualified to go to, as pointed out elsewhere. What happens then is that you are offered a place at the nearest school with a place. And then the parents usually go mad and start accusing the Council of discrimination, threatening them with lawyers letters, or involving the local press. It seems compulsory for some newspapers to annually run stories on offer day of children not getting one of their parents' choices. Harris East Dulwich had space last year, as did Dulwich Wood and St Georges C of E.

lightweight Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > St Francesca Cabrini accepts non-Catholic > students. > St John's and St Clements & Dulwich Village > Infants have 50% non-church intake (as far as I > recall) but you would need to live within the > catchment. > St Anthony's just off Barry Road doesn't accept > non-Catholic students. > > I think those are the nearest church schools in > the SE22 catchment. ALL state-funded primary schools with spaces - religious or not - HAVE to accept students who don't fit the religious criteria. They will tell you otherwise, but that's the law. Some (usually C of E) have a 50:50 or 60:40 split between religious/non-religious. The only reason a school wouldn't take someone would be they were full with students who met their religious criteria

mouseysarah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Just a warning - think about whether you would > prefer Jessop to something much further away. In > the even (sounds unlikely in your case but still) > that you don't get a place at any of your > preferences the council will allocate you > somewhere. I sometimes see people on here saying > "why have the council given me a place somewhere > miles away?" - well, if you don't tell them you > would rather go to Jessop if push came to shove > than go three miles away, the computer won't know > that. Definitely don't leave any spaces on your > application unless you are truly indifferent at > that point between all the schools in the whole of > Southwark. I echo what Mouseysarag says - people get allocated somewhere miles away with spaces because they make 2 or 3 really unrealistic choices (usually outside the catchment area, or a religious school when they are not religious) - and then wonder why they've been given a school in Nunhead instead of West Dulwich.

uncleglen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Inside croydon is a well known leftist attack > dog...and the Labourites are against their schools > being taken out of L.A. control. However, with a > Tory government schools are vulnerable to the cuts > at the front line imposed by Labour councils- so > they are better off out of L.A. control. > Staff turnover in London is not a very good > indicator because if you have worked in an inner > city school, especially London schools with the > inherent challenges - then you have a much better > chance of promotion elsewhere...... Theses levels of turnover are some way above comparative schools in the UK, academy or not. The issue here is Harris.

Do put all the schools you like down. You don't need to limit yourself just to Southwark, either.