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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)

I love the area where we live in Forest Hill, close to both Fairlawn and Horniman schools and with the Horniman Museum at our doorstep which is a huge bonus. It feels very villagey and really close to Dulwich/ East Dulwich. Plus great transport links (overground and trains). From what I can gather for secondary school kids in this area go to Sydenham Girls and Forest Hill Boys, the Harris schools and maybe Kingsdale (which I think are all quite good from what I have read here in the forum, but I don't really know personally as my kids are still too young). Some kids in our road also go to the private schools (Alleyns and Dulwich College) which are 10 mins away via the P4 bus.

Hi, just a note to say that although I believe delay in speech can be a sign of autism etc. (I'm no expert) it can also be completely normal. Both my niece and nephew (who are sister and brother, two years apart and bilingual) hardly spoke a word at the age of 2. I remember my nephew rarely said Mummy and used to say Mo instead of No on his second bday. They are now 6 and 4, very chatty, bright and articulate. My own kids (also bilingual) were on the other hand very precocious with their language & used complex vocabulary from a very young age in both languages (but in turn did not walk until 15 or 16 months). So if I was in your position I would have it looked into (a friend with an autistic child said the Health Visitor picked it up at the 2 yr review) but do not panic as it probably is entirely normal, as different kids develop at different paces. All the best x

Thanks scarety! Does anybody know if the play sessions that Ivydale children's centre used to run at the Peckham Rye hut are still running at all? I mean the ones that used to be Tuesday am and Friday am..

Thanks bluesuperted! That sounds great, I didn't really mean strictly montessori but activity based as opposed to a lot of broken toys scattered around! I may give that a try, although I don't think I can get there before 9.30 prob more like 9.45 xxx

Hi, Im looking for a weekday morning Messy Play session suitable for a 2 year old, can anybody recommend one? And/or any Montessori style playgroups with different learning activities? East Dulwich or Forest Hill preferably. Many thanks.

Sainsburys freezer bags

Hi Bjm, I have baby clothes that I would love to donate. I have sent u a PM.

I have a P&T navigator and I am a HUGE fan. It is the newer version of the Explorer and it is so light and easy to manouver I ofter push it with just one hand even with 2 kids on it and on bumpy surfaces. Also easy to fold. We got ours at Peppermint in Clapham where they had one to test and they matched the best prices I had seen online plus gave us a couple of freebies (footmuff and raincover I think?). But that was over a year ago so if u were heading that way I would call first to check they have whichever models u r interested in testing.

We get ours from Roger Pope in Dulwich Village. They had a selection of baby frames in the store and more options that could be ordered in. So far we have had great service. I did ask at Woodfall in East Dulwich but they didn't have any in the store at the time and they recommended we visit their Sydenham branch as apparently they had lots more there (but that was a few months ago so worth checking if you are nearby - they were very friendly as well).

Sunray gardens opposite St Faith's church in North Dulwich is really nice - good playground and a small lake with ducks And Brockwell Park is only a little bit further afield but worth it for the beautiful park & views and the amazing playground, sandpits, all sorts of wooden structures and swings etc