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Thanks Redjam. We are still a few years away from having to apply but I have tried to read the Admissions policy before and it is so confusing! So a bit of insight from the forum is really helpful. Thanks again & good luck to everyone who is hoping to get into their chosen secondaries.

Thanks for your replies. So the advantage comes from the pool of scolarship applicants being smaller but being given the same amount places as the other bands? And do you also apply separately based on the standard banding results - so have two seoarate goes at the ?lottery??

Just trying to get my head around how Kingsdale applications work... How do the different bands work? And how do you apply for scholarships? The child does an assesment in advance and then are they allocated a place based on the result of the assessment? Or does a positive assessment put them in a separate ?pool? to the main intake - but they still have to ?play the lottery?? It?s all so complicated, a little guidance from someone who has been through it would be much appreciated!

Thanks so much for all the great tips! I have booked a few restaurants and now need to dive into planning which rides, shows etc we will do each day. I think 5 days is going to be a lot so planning to take long breaks after lunch, go back to tge hotel for a nap and pool sessions before dinner...but we'll see how it goes!

Thanks so much for all the feedback, very useful points!

We are going to visit Disneyland Paris for 4 nights/ 5 days this July with a 6 and a 4 year old, we are driving and staying in one of the hotels on site. Does anyone have any general advice/ tips to share? What were your favourite restaurants, rides and shows not to be missed? In particular does anyone know what time the evening parade takes place in July? They only publish schedules one week in advance and from what I have read the time has been known to change. I need to book restaurants for dinner soon but obviously need to make sure it's not at parade time! Did anyone go last summer / can advise on this? Many thanks!

What does it matter what word someone uses as long as they mean well? When people use these words it's usually in a kind/warm/positive way and there should be more of that in the world. Mummies/Mamas/Mothers should definitively stick together and support each other as we know first hand what a tough job it is. A kind word or feeling supported and understood (even on social media) can make or break someone's day!

Yes of course the NHS doesn't have money to pay for everything but why for example are prescriptions free for all children. How about if those who can afford pay for they own child prescriptions and instead the NHS uses the money to vaccinate everyone against Men B and save lives?

I'm glad to hear the petition has now reached almost 800,000 signatures and it has been confirmed the House of Commons will be meeting with affected families, gathering facts and debating the petition to vaccinate ALL children. I have no idea what classes as an epidemic but if the government were given the opportunity to stop a terrorist attack or a major earthquake that was going to kill or seriously injure 1850 children every single year, surely they would do everything in their power to stop it, at any cost!

If u need a DJ we have been to a couple of parties by Trev the DJ which were great! He does discos for kids (and/or grown ups) at the venue of your choice, whether it be at home or in a hall. We went to one in St Hildas Church, u could try there. From the info I have seen a typical 2 hour children?s disco includes PA system, lights, music, games and prizes. Contact details are mobile 07912207014, email [email protected] or have a look at his facebook page trevthedj or website www.trevthedj.co.uk

For me the key question is do you love your current job and do you want to continue doing it in the future? If the answer is yes then it's probably worth making the financial investment on childcare so that you can keep that job that you have no doubt worked so hard over the years to get to. Bear in mind sooner than you realise your children will be in school full time and you could regret having missed out on your career. However if you don't particularly enjoy your job and/or it's not something you want to continue doing in the future then it's a no brainer - stay at home and be with your children, it is very hard at times (prob harder than you realise now) but it is also the most important job u can do in your life. For me it woukd be a lot harder to be away from them doing something I don't love just so I can pay for the childcare. That I would definitively regret!

Hi, can anyone recommend a local fireworks display this week that would be particularly good for families with little ones(3-5)? Thanks in advance.

Another Stevie fan here! She did my colouring at home and it was a great experience. She is very friendly, did a great job and it worked out a lot cheaper than going to a salon. Thank u forumites for the recommendation!

After recently completing a big refurbishment of our Victorian double fronted house I would like to highly recommend our architects Selencky Parsons. They are local firm and the partners Sam and David were a delight to work with. They provided us with a few options to extend and rearrange the downstairs of the house, coming up with great ideas to maximise the potential of the house that we hadn't even considered and have transformed the space beyond our wildest dreams. They also did an excellent job putting together the required planning permission application documents (we are in a conservation area) and the detailed development drawings that allowed us to get comparable quotes from several builders and were then used for the build. We absolutely love the result and are so happy that we got Selencky Parsons involved. Contact details should anyone be interested are: www.selenckyparsons.com / 07775 863 854

Having recently completed a huge house refurbishment (double extension at the back of the house, demolishing several walls, putting in many steels, rearranging all the rooms in the downstairs, installing bifold doors, a new kitchen, new downstairs toilet and utility room, back and front gardens including building a wall, paving and laying a new mosaic path plus lots of other bits and pieces) I would like to highly recommend our builders JT Building and Decorating (JT Tiling). Working with Jimmy has been an absolute pleasure, he is always at the other end of the phone and always looks for a way to deliver what is required. The quality of the work and finishing was overall excellent, Jimmy has an eye for detail and closely supervised every aspect of the build, including liaising with the building inspectors for approval, getting all the required certificates etc. His quote was the most competitive and he stuck with it, even including some extras that we had not agreed up front. Everyone in the team was polite and hard working (they even worked weekends), and worked around us causing minimal disruption (we lived in while the works took place). They did not leave the house until every little detail was completed. The contact details should anyone be interested are: Jimmy 07808070843 (www.jttbad.com)