Mellors

My daughter has just started school aged 4 - she's the 30th August so the very youngest you could be bar one day. I was terribly worried about it, but in fact she is ok. She is very tired, so we are taking it easy on any other post school/weekend activities, and watching more Scooby Doo than we would normally. Lots of 6pm bed times as well :) Her teachers have also agreed that she can go part time if it becomes a problem, so we may, in the run up to half term/Christmas take her out on Thursdays and/or Fridays. Have you considered that as an option? They have been wonderful though. They deal with this all the time and are very sensitive at coping with the children at their level and making sure they are settling in ok. They were also very good at dealing with my anxieties! I really notice the difference between the "play" in Reception and my son's current Year 1 class where they now have to do proper work and get homework. I agree with those who say it would be too big a shock to miss Reception altogether.

Its impossible. I just passed off my then 3 year old as 5?! It wasn't questioned. Traumatic though. Now I have three small ones I drive, I just can't face the stress again until they are older and can sit quietly with computers or something. Its the same on Eurostar btw - I had a nightmare journey back from Paris with three little ones, only two booked seats and a vile man opposite who refused to move to one of the other (single) empty seats in the carriage. I cried!

Oh, and try and make your other half/a willing friend take them all away for an hour or so at the weekend and catch up then.

I got a family railcard and booked a child seat for the under 5 year old using that (you get a discount and the child goes for ?1 I think). You cant book a seat for a non paid for ticket (which is impossible if travelling with two or three small ones!). Either that or look pleadingly at the people around you and hope they move?!

It not possible, sorry. I remember thinking that the only time I would be able to sleep when the baby slept when I had No 2 and then No 3 was when I was driving. Not ideal. The only alternative is to go to bed at 7pm the odd night I think.

I don't know about Oakfield specifically, but must school run/are affiliated with an after school club, or keep them in school until about 6pm. Ask them? There must be loads of other parents there in the same position.

Went to Olympic park today with a 5 year old, 3 year old and one year old. My tips: 1. Bloody loads of walking - make sure kids have super, super comfy shoes on. 2. We took our baby back pack carrier which was fine (and handy for the train/tube), but a buggy would have been quite handy for carting the baby and associated things about it. There were plenty of people there with them. You can park them when you go into one of the stadia. 3. Take a picnic. Food queues v v long, and food is seriously expensive and rubbish. 4. Take in empty water bottles and fill them up at water coolers inside park. 5. I forgot and took a large bottle of sunscreen which was confiscated, so remember to take a small one. Other than that it was really ace. We had our picnic watching the BT Live screens, which the kids loved. The enjoyed seeing the Queen's boat (Gloriana) and loads of hills to do some Olympic standard hill rolling down. Just walkiung by the river and looking at the gorgeous flowers was a treat. Highly recommended, although we were all exhausted when we got home!

Vauxhall Zafira, whilst not remotely glamorous, does fit three childs car seats across the back (or two kids and one adult) plus has a massive boot big enough for all bikes/scooters/buggy blah blah blah. Air con & CD as well. You can also easily convert the boot into two extra seats giving you 7 in total, which is handy when the grandparents come to stay. Question of a nice interior is irrelecant, it will be covered in rice cakes/old bits of tat in minutes *sob*

Loved it. Agree, really family friendly although more latte-tude than I expected I think (having been to some really skanky festivals per-kids!). Kids loved it during the day (although apparently the mud was the best bit), and we managed to send them back to granny and grandpa's in the evening so we got to watch Laura Marling and Elbow in peace (with sun - hurray!). Will be going again next year.

I lasted out until Kid 3. This winter with a house full of wet washing, vomit covered sheets everywhere and millions of wet washable nappies on every radiator, I cracked. I literally spent one Friday afternoon sobbing on the phone to electrical companies to find out who could bring me one the following morning. Thank you, Man from Coment, you saved me from the nut house!! (We have one with the tray you just empty after every couple of washes. I shove the water on my tomatoes, so figure that counts a bit towards not killing the planet, or something?)

I'm going on Saturday with my three kids - ages 5, 3 and 1. Please God, let it stay dry. I am doing it "lite" though - in laws stay 20 mins up the road, so I'm staying there for the night!

Otta Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > louloulabelle Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Saffron we are not wealthy , we are barely > > comfortable but money isn't always the issue. > > People have more kids than us with far less and > > don't expect 'public funds' as you put it. > > > > We work hard at budgeting to give our family > the > > best we can. We aren't in the Dulwich elite of > > having our kids down for private school or > going > > to every 'toddler group' going but life does > not > > revolve around money and being middle class. We > > punch above our weight by living here in leafy > > Dulwich and soon with 3 kids we will have to > move > > but why not aim high if you can make it work > even > > if for a short time. > > > > We would never have had kids if we had thought > > about the cost but the joy of them far > outweighs > > what we sacrifice . > > > > So much of people's income is on material > things, > > food wastage and socialising and visits to the > > nail bar etc and for us having kids far > outweighs > > those things now. > > > > Maybe we are naive not considering the > financial > > cost but I'm one of 4 and my family are not > > wealthy but showed me it can be done. You don't > > have to live in a ?million house, drive the > latest > > BMW X5 and have the kids name down at ducks to > be > > able to 'afford' more than one child. > > > Good for you. > > By the way, move to Sydenham, it has MUCH nicer > housing, and is MUCH more leafy ;-) Couldn't agree more Otta (we moved here from ED when no 3 arrived!)

The only time I think this could be an issue is if there are more siblings than available places, then it would come down to distance as well.

Another massive thumbs up for Nurse Jenny - she was marvellous at glueing Mini-Mellors' head back together!! :))

Another happy parent here. My son is in reception at the moment, and my daughter will be going next year. I love the fact that its so small (normally a one class intake), it has good outside space (great views!) and the teachers are fab and imaginative. It must have a pretty small catchment area though - for September 2012 of the 30 reception places 21 were taken by siblings, so only 9 new families. I suspect it will be just as bad/worse next year when there is a two year gap from this year's bulge class. Please PM if you have any specific questions. Mel

reneet - its because you live outside this year's catchment area for your higher placed schools. Stay calm though - you automatically go on the waiting list for your other schools, and if you ring admissions you can find out where you are on the list, so if you have a chance of being offered a place during clearing. Last year we were offered our 6th place school, but ended up at our first place school after eventually being offered a place in late July, so it is still possible to get one of your other choices.

I got an email a few minutes ago from the Admissions team. 1st choice for us too (Horniman), although we are a sibling place this year.

I love my Bee too. Its so small, cocoon is lovely and cosy, and it does me well for both pavements and walking through the woods. Best bit is being able to clip car seat straight onto base and not wake sleeping baby. Impossible to fold one handed though (according to one-armed husband!). He sticks it in the boot of our Zafira still up and it fits fine.

Me too. I knit, crochet, quilt, sew, embroider.....you name it. I've also been teaching others and running craft workshops and parties in East Dulwichfor the last three years via The Scarlet Peacock. I'd love a virtual get together - agree with Pickle, three kids and all that keep me well and truly busy!

I took my kids, aged 4, 3 and 4 months on the Eurostar to Paris last year. We did have to fold the buggy, and trains were both rammed. Quite stressful - thankfully I had my sister to help. One problem on Eurostar was that you don't get (and can't book) a space for little 'uns. As the train was full I ended up putting him under the table in his car seat, which I had taken instead of the pram bit of my buggy. (!). Bugaboo Bee didn't through Metro gates despite being quite small, so we had to lift over at the end of the first journey. Nightmare. Got cabs everywhere after that. Folded buggy base into cab drivers boot/back seat of car and then used car seat bit. Never saw many babies around, so not sure what the French do. We did lots of walking, and also a (V touristy!) open top bus and boat trip. Bigger kids loved it, and I just wedged baby in in car seat everywhere. Sling would be great but I find it a) kills my back if i use it for too long when also laden down with nappy bag etc and b) he won't sleep in it, the bugger. Having said all that we had a brilliant time. Stayed in an apartment which was good as wel could do our own thing for food, put baby to bed and have separate sitting area etc. Rambling now, do shout if you have any questions!

I really wouldn't sweat it, as long as they nap at all is the main thing (for sanity's sake). They're different at nursery anyway. My 3 year old still has a long lunchtime nap at home, but wouldn't dream of it at nursery and never did, so i just put her to bed early on the nursery days.

I also didn't use stairgates, and don't plan to with No 3 - too much faff for the older children who like to go up and play/read in their rooms. I did put down some foam mats at the bottom of the steps in the very early days, for a soft landing just in case, but they were never needed. They just used to come down carefully backwards. It might make a difference what age they learn to walk at though. Mine were quite old (18 months or so) and seemed much less accident prone than friends children who learned to walk much earlier, 12 months or so? If we have younger kids playdates we tend to keep the front room or playroom door shut so they can't escape!

And Fairlawn in 2009/10.

Horniman also bulged in 2011/12.

The last admission by distance last year was 566 metres. There were 525 applicants fr the 90 places. 1 went to a looked after child, 40 went to siblings, and the other 49 on distance. All the info you need is in this brochure : Lambeth Primary School applications brochure