LaurenTB

First steps in upland were amazing with our son. He loved it there and has just moved into reception

Babyzen yoyo!

I would like to ask if anyone knows of any Spanish tutors for my son who is aged 4?? recommendations would be much appreciated :)

@Monkey, My requirements are from what I have seen whilst working in other schools in southwark and bromley boroughs. I would like to think that all schools have the same standard of teaching and resources. Regarding the additional languages, the Head Of Harris has a child in Goodrich and made me aware that her child is learning Mandarin but their language choice is due to change so maybe this is why. I apperciate Rome was not built in a day but why should Harris be allowed to teach children in a school that is not comparable to other schools? Why should parents like me have to wait for 'Rome' to be built? And when will 'Rome' be built? Before my son leaves for secondary school maybe? I really do hope my son gets into Fairlawn he is number 3 on the list and a little further down on the Goodrich list too so that is very hopeful. Thank you for the Good Luck. @Redjam, I understand that many schools do not start swimming below the year group of year 3 but this is because it is very difficult to travel with a class of children to and form the location. However, I do know that Harris has its own swimming pools and I know of other primary schools whom have a swimming pool on site and are taught swimming from year one. I completely agree that some schools are different. Nevertheless I was actually referring to swimming as an extra curricular activity as well as the knitting and music lessons. As mentioned prior, Harris do have PE lessons however their is a lack of sport taught so they are meeting the 'curriculum' but there seems to be lack of structure. Thankfully your children have been given the opportunity to learn French in primary school with will definitely enhance their cognitive development and will benefit them when they move onto secondary school. I take on board your recommendation regarding private school however I will be much more happy if he gets into Fairlawn. @Caroline, Oh really I visited the school around 6 weeks ago now and the head teacher made me aware that there was no additional languages, no football and no ballet. But they 'might' implement this when they receive more funding. Have they implemented this more recently? Yes I agree iPads are excellent, however computers are still a necessity. @Mariamadeit, I am in no doubt that the new reception class will be full, but this is not because it is over subscribed. This is because children who did not receive their choices (e.g. me and many peers) have been offered a place regardless. This suggests that the school is still under subscribed otherwise there would not of been any places to offer to people that did not even apply to the school. Regarding the planning meeting, the Head Teacher made it very clear that the school will not be built until at least september 2016. That is great news about the additional languages, will this be implemented for year ones in sep 2016 or is this reliant on new funding (as quoted by the head teacher)? PE- during PE lessons, it would be expected to learn a type of sport whereby they can improve their gross motor skills like many other schools do. Gymnastics/netball/dance in the winter, athletics/football/rugby/ in the summer. Opposed to as the Head teacher explained "they get to run around". I fail to recognise where Harris can teach inside? Or do they teach this inside the Girls school? I dont understand why children should not learn to swim from a young age, and why this is not expected. As I have said previously I was speaking about extra curricular activities in regards to swimming. The trips sound like fun. I am very happy you are pleased with your sons progress, I really appreciate replies from parents who have children in Harris because they will be the best judges. I am in no doubt that my son would be happy here but surely my son could strive even further in an environment that is more suitable and filled with endless opportunities like other state maintained schools. I don't feel that Harris are providing what other schools are. Maybe they should of waited for more funding before the school was opened.

After reading all of the messages I am feeling very confused. Unfortunately, my son did not get any of our preferred choices for the intake of 2015 september. We am feeling very gutted about this as Fairlawn (1st choice) performs extremely well academically and has an Outstanding rating. However, we have been offered a place at Harris East Dulwich, which we did not apply to. This is rather worrisome, because it suggests that the school is undersubscribed and makes me question why? I understand this is a 'new school' but this is the second intake.I know a large amount of children from my sons nursery whom have been offered a place at Harris and they did not even apply for the school. After investigating further into the school online, I understand that the school still does not have confirmed planning permission for the permanent site and they have not yet been reviewed by Ofsted. Again this is rather startling that a school can be formed and still does not have planning permission which may result in moving to another temporary site and then furthermore to the temporary site. Nevertheless, I did attempt to put all of my negative feeling aside and decided to view the school whilst the children were vacant. On arrival, I was greeted by the new head teacher (former head teacher of Peckham Park Primary School) who seems more than pleasant. The other two parents and I had an informal meeting whereby information regarding the permeant site was disclosed. My findings were correct, there is no permanent site planning permission and the children need to be out of the school by July 2016 due to legations regarding the length of time a temporary site can be open. The head teacher made it very clear that whether the school opens where the old police station is on Lordship Lane or whether it is somewhere else they will be moved even if it is to another temporary site. This suggests that regardless of whether the new site is ready the children will be moved. Meaning the children may be uprooted another two times? Moving onto teachers, thankfully all teachers are now permanent which is definitely a positive. Additionally, there is three teachers who are able to teach reception classes which means that less supply staff will be recruited due to sickness. There was a vast amount of resources which all looked very clean and new. However, there was no computers which is worrisome to me as I appreciate the importance of technology. All of the schools I have taught at and viewed have the use of computers. Furthermore, I feel there is lack of lessons being taught. When I asked what additional languages were taught, the head teacher attempted to put me off of the idea of additional languages " We understand that children who learn additional languages find it hard because their parents can rarely help them at home". Of which I replied, "We can learn together". She then replied, " oh well, we are waiting for more funding to put this into place and we need to figure out what language would be best, also we understand that the children are still young to be learning additional languages". Ok so granted, I preferred the funding answer opposed to the first one. But, when is the funding going to be supplied. I don't really want to wait for funding. I would like my son to attend a school where this is already offered. Again, I know of many schools that offer additional languages in preparation for secondary schools ( Fairlawn- French, Childeric- Spanish, Goodrich - Mandarin. Also, I do not think that age should be the factor that is stopping the children from learning additional languages, children's brains are more accepting of languages at a young age. My son has been learning Spanish at his nursery since he was two. Physical Education- I understand after my visit that there is not structured PE lessons, also there is a lack of their own space. Understandably the primary school are able to use the tennis courts if they are free. But what about when they are not free? There is no sports being taught, the head teacher used the age factor for the reason of this. "There is more free play being taught" she said. Which I am a true believer in, but there needs to be more preparation for year one right? Sorry to compare to other primary schools but thats the easiest way to gage whether they are providing a good thriving environment for our children. Many other schools have one PE teacher for the whole school who will arrange certain sports for certain seasons. The head teacher did make me aware that they are looking into recruiting a PE teacher but again they are waiting for more funding. Another area they are lacking in is extra curricular activities. Yep, they do have after school clubs whereby they can play. But they do not have the option to learn, an instrument, rugby, handwriting, cook, knit, karate, attend the choir and this is something that all other schools do offer. Why should I settle for a school that does not offer this? Additionally the do not offer swimming which the head teacher put down to age. This factor really did begin to grate on me after a while. After attending the visit I was left feeling more worried than ever. I am currently training to become an Educational Phycologist and I understand how much of an effect a primary school experience can have on you. I am left feeling appalled that a school can open when it is unable to provide necessary equipment to compete with other schools that are performing exceptionally well. I have heard of a few children who attend there and their parents comments are " they are coping" and " they are getting by". I most certainly do not want my child to cope or get by, I want him to strive in a settled environment whereby he is able to strive. Our only other option is now private school, thankfully he had two assessments for Oakfield and Rosemead and was successful with both. I have never posted my thoughts so publicly but I was curious to know other peoples thoughts and whether anyone else is currently in my unfortunate position.