minder

They do advertise on here in the What's On section and have a big advert in the What's On section in the South London Press every Tuesday and Friday.

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Rubbing a bit of washing up liquid into the stain before putting into machine can sometimes do the trick. Would agree about hanging out clothes in the sunlight as stains do disappear after hanging out on the washing line in hot sunlight (got that from an elderly neighbour).

Yes, all early years settings are obliged to keep records under the Early Years Foundation Stage, set by Ofsted for all 0-5 year olds. This can include a daily diary, photos, artwork, observations, input from parents. If you've not had any written feedback for 10 months then don't feel you are being a pushy dad at all. Nearly 2 year olds differ so much in their speech and language skills and so what one is doing now might be what another is doing in a few months time, if you see what I mean, but the nursery should be working in conjuction with you so speaking "baby talk" isn't on really and they should be picking up on this as far as your daughter is concerned i.e. A Unique Child. This is all about to change though and the EYFS, as from this September is changing just a bit. The stuff I've just got from Ofsted (and this has been in the pipeline for a while) is that from this Sept. 12 any child that is aged between 24-36 months has to have a 'progress check' on the three prime areas e.g. PSED, PD and CL(Communication and Language) "Parents/carers must be supplied with a short written summary of their child's development in the three prime learning and development areas ...." There were more prime learning and development areas up until this Sept. 12 but they've all been gone down to a few now!

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All nurseries have to be Ofsted registered and as such you should be able to read their latest report.

woodrot don't get too worked up about the cats - why would they rip up your trampoline? They're more likely to have a snooze on it, like my three. Sounds like you have foxes in your garden.

Oh that's good - glad they've kept some of it.

There was an old oak tree in the playground of Bessemer Grange Primary (not sure if it's still there now due to the new Children's Centre) and the school emblem was based on that with an acorn motif (pic attached, colour not very good). Shame it's been changed though.

Your younger daughter would have been most contagious 2-3 days before her spots appeared and then up until they crusted over. Your older daughter will probably have chickenpox in 10-14 days time but then again she might not. I remember my eldest had it just before breaking up from school for Xmas one year. Then the second eldest went down with it and then my youngest after the New Year.

dulwichgirl2 - I don't know anything about St. Paul's or Westminster but my son was given the opportunity and he went. He met people who had come from all over the place, including one teenager from America, who he still keeps in contact with. He's reading History and by the way he says Aitch. zeban - I was just picking up on your post where you mentioned people are more forgiving, unless your talking about an interview for Oxford that's all. I consider myself working class, pronounce H as Haytch and I'm not going to change it now as it's part of me.

Zeban, my son (now 19) left his 6th form college and was lucky enough to be invited by Oxford to stay 3 days and nights, free of charge, which he did and which we were pleased about at the time. They turned him down but months later he went on to pass all his A levels and has now passed again for another year at King's College, London. J is very down to earth and gets on with anybody (like me) but in the end I think it all comes down to class. On J's records at King's, Mum and Dad are classed as 'manual labourers' so I don't think Oxford would have been prepared for this. Anyway, I wish I'd had the opps he had now, whether or not he pronouned his H's the right way.

Hi Jo Kim, I'm actually more mortified that there's a BBC Pronunciation Unit! Ha Ha! Just because some of us pronounce H as Haytch instead of Aytch what's the big deal? I've always said Haytch/Haitch by the way. My husband pronounces it with an A but both our families are from London/Irish/Welsh trees. I'm a registered childminder and regularly sing the ABC song to lots of groups but no-one has ever complained about it.

Dali, don't worry, I didn't know what a Pop-up Shop was until about 8 months ago. That's when I bought a cardigan and jumper in the once Threshers wine shop on Lordship Lane. Basically I think it's somewhere someone can sell their goods for a few weeks/months. Seems like this shop has gone to waste on Lordship Lane. Must be the ?39k!

Malta (1991) - we'd already been there a couple of times together and loved it. Went back for our 10th wedding anniversary and loved it. Went back last year (with 3 teenagers) and we had a great time but didn't seem the same. Malta has become very commercialised (think that's the word).

Hi Ruth - 2 and a half stone is a lot of weight to carry on your back plus the carrier. Do the carriers have a recommended weight limit as you could be storing up problems for yourself in the future with your back and stomach muscles and knees?

I still can't understand what you're trying to say Pagoda - "But there is provision for childminders within the community". What sort of provision? None in my area really except for an hour or two a week. What are we supposed to do then? I've been to (and been excluded from) groups in the past for being a childminder, so doing what Nanny Penny is doing is good news. If you have the confidence and experience to set up a group then surely it's benefitting everybody?

Would agree with Fuschia and describe the symptoms with maybe a quick look if possible! That's if you manage to get an appointment with a doctor. To let the situation go on for 30 minutes will just make it worse if your daughter has to go to the docs in the future.

Pagoda it's not just childminders that sit and chat - there are parents and nannies and grandparents at a lot of groups. I'm always on top of what my mindees are doing but if an adult talks to me I wouldn't ignore them! The children still have a good time and meet up with children they know in the area. To say that most of the week is spent in groups isn't quite true. Yes, most childminders go to a group in the morning for a couple of hours but then spend the rest of the day at home and outside e.g. at home or in the garden/park. We look after young babies too so the bit about you working in schools and nurseries (I'm assuming 3+) is somewhat different.

I think I would be put off straightaway by Piplings charging ?80 per day.

The hall was discussed in another thread back in Sept 2011 - thought it had gone to a nursery.

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