Soylent Green

I have just been helping someone with a similar conundrum for a year 8 secondary place and have found that until you have a fixed address with supporting documentation (council tax bill etc) Southwark admissions will not find you a school place. They also do not deal with new applications over the long summer holidays. Apply in advance and as soon as you arrive and have your documentation, start chasing your application up. Once the schools have been contacted you can start to call them directly, but applications have to go through the council. Fortunately, there is not the pressure on primary places that there was a few years ago, so you will get a place which you can accept (even if not ideal) whilst you wait for a place to become available at one of your preferred choices.

We have recently done our loft and are in the process of doing a kitchen extension. We used an architect for the drawings and planning permission only. Everything else handled by a most amazing builder and a structural engineer. The builder also handled everything with Southwark Building Control. If you want our builder's details, please pm me.

Deptford Green

Ask your GP for a liver function test if you have also been feeling unusually fatigued. My liver problems started with itching and tiredness which I attributed to age and eczema, however they are also symptomatic of early liver disease. I now have borderline cirrhosis, so I wished I had known the cause of my itching sooner and asked for a test.

The first work experience placement is primarily to do with experience what it is like to have a job: dress code, part of a team with adults/strangers, travelling to and from place of work, following instructions, general public etc.. It is the second work experience placement in sixth form where they benefit from being somewhere relevant to what they wish to do in life, so do not worry about where. Lots of students go back to their old primary school for the first placement. My son went and helped out at Southwark Food Bank. If he likes animals, why not try Battersea Dogs Home with experience in the office as well as with the animals?

Our house has suffered with cracks from the moment we bought it. We are insured with RSA through a broker called Lansdown Insurance in Cheltenham, and had to have a full drains survey to prove seasonal movement. Hope this helps.

There are two easy to use schemes which might help you; Toe by Toe (so called because it progresses in small steps, and Stareway to Spelling (so called because it is about remembering the 'picture' the word makes rather than being phonics based). Both books cost around ?15 each and can be bought from the British Dyslexia Assoc. Toe by Toe is about mastering reading and the other is self-explanatory! They are designed to be used little and often; 10 minutes a day or 15 minutes every other day is enough. You do not need an expensive tutor as the scheme is designed to be done by parents or TAs, and short, frequent sessions are probably more helpful for 'sticking' new learning, than an intensive hour a week.

Trying to decide what type of cooker to put in our new kitchen; a 90cm wide range cooker with 5 or 6 rings, two ovens and a grill/3rd oven, or a 60cm cooker with 4 hobs and one main oven and one grill/second oven. If you have a range cooker, how much do you use the extra oven/rings? I like the idea of the range style, but just wondering how much I would use the extra cooking space. I am mainly cooking for a family of four, with occasional entertaining.

She needs something or someone to motivate her to want to learn and speak in French. Visiting grand=parents or cousins is a great idea as she would be immersed in the language and need to use it to communicate. The key is for her to be in a non-bilingual environment. I imagine the Saturday school is doing more harm than good as she probably feels that everyone can do it apart from her. Even a holiday where she has a chance to play with French children who do not speak English would help. I started learning French as a child because I wanted to be part of the gang of French kids on the camp-site, so I joined them and learnt like EAL children do here. Alternatively, you could wait until she starts to learn at secondary school (if she is not learning French at her primary school). In this environment she will learn quickly as she has been exposed to the language all her life and will benefit from being the 'one who can do it'. You also mention that you are not around to speak to her in French much during the week, so how about a French speaking au-pair to provide your child-care?

Local primary school teacher here thinking about starting a new kind of tutoring service. The concept is a weekly block of daily tutor sessions, in the morning or afternoon, to help boost a child's confidence in either maths, reading, phonics or writing. I have taken the idea from the popular intensive swimming lessons that have proved so successful in helping children improve their swimming ability. Do you think this is a good idea? Would it be of interest to you? I would love your feedback. It seems to me most tutoring is weekly and usually after a child has done a full day's school when they are often already exhausted. This concept will designed to boost children's confidence in whichever subject or area they find tricky so they can return to school upbeat and motivated.