prm

Fairlawn Nursery is wonderful but as others have said if u have the option I would pick the one that is close walking distance to your house so your child can get to know children that live nearby and some of which will go to the same primary - although not all as eg Fairlawn has 84 nursery places but only 60 reception and obviously kids from private nurseries also apply for primary. So of the 84 many will go to Fairlawn and Horniman but also schools further away.

Thanks for the info Chelseadrake and good luck with the process, I hope you get a school you are happy with, please keep us posted!

Thanks Renata, I wish we had someone like u in Lewisham to support families this way. We are not applying until next year but I was just wondering can Lewisham residents add themselves to Southwark school waiting lists (if not allocated one of your chosen 6)and how do you do this?

Thanks number 2 that's what I thought. At least even if people put themselves in several waiting lists (understandable, I would do the same) they will only end up taking one of those places and if they live closer to the school I guess then that's fair.

Renata maybe you can help clarify this... If anyone can add themselves to any school waiting list does this mean they will be put in with everyone else who had originally applied to the school and is already in the waiting list ie does that explain why some people end up going further down the waiting list in the weeks following the initial offers?

alimc I believe the council use their own software so to know your official distance to any school you can call the Lewisham Admissions number and they will tell you

Bubblebob how far are u? Fingers crossed for waiting list movement, although I can understand how stressful this is, we are not even applying until nect year and I've hardly slept thinking about u all! Best of luck! Ps. Selbe I take it you are in then?

How did you all get on in the Fairlawn - Horniman area? I hope everyone got one of their 6 choices!

If you look at the published data (google for "Lewisham primary school admissions" leaflets which each year have a table for distance of last place offered) you will see that 300 metres would have got you into Fairlawn all of the past 5 years. And that is even before the bulges and does not include the waiting list movement. Even though it's impossible to guarantee what will happen each year I think considering the situation in London overall you are in a pretty good position. If u want to know where u stand you definitively need to check this official data and if u call Lewisham Admissions Team they can tell u exactly your distance from each school. BEWARE of a map that someone created for primary catchment areas in another thread a few months back - very kind of them and I am sure was done with the best intentions but for Fairlawn most definitively innacurate! We are shown as a blind spot but once I checked the official data we would have actually got in on first offers (even pre-bulge) plus some other of our preferred schools. Bear in mind as well that in the Fairlawn-Horniman vicinity there are lots of other good and outstanding schools, and every year one or another seems to bulge, so I think you have a good chance of getting into a good school one way or the other. Good luck to you all, I will be watching this space as we'll be applying next year!

Orange cream and black cat baby hat Lost this morning somewhere in Lordship Lane between Luca and Goose Green If anybody has found it please let me know Thanks very much!

I don't know what Forest School is but I am also very sorry to hear these news - I have really enjoyed going with my two. I am sure they are already well aware of the popularity of the session given how many attend but I would like to email as well...could anyone give me the details / email address please? It may not be any good but I remember when a bunch of us from the EDF emailed the Horniman when they were going to stop Busy Bees and due to public demand they did not cancel the sessions.

So birth certificate is not enough? What documents do you have to provide to prove you are your childs carer?

Thanks so much for your reply East of the Rye - we are now wearing glasses and so far it's going better than I expected. I guess when they realise they can see so much better they stop taking them off. Will ask the opticians about the second pair because neither them or the hospital told me I could have a second pair (and I think we may indeed need them as they do come out flying every now and then!)

Hi all, I just found out my 15-month old is going to need glasses. We have a hospital appt to get his eyes tested and tney will give us a prescription to have them made - that's all I know! Has anyone been in the same situation recently and can give me some advice on which opticians (local or not)have a good selection of baby glasses, any tips on which kind / what features did u find useful, are the NHS options good enough or did u choose to pay extra (are repairs covered by nhs then?), do they give you a spare, any tips on how to get them to wear the glasses etc etc Lots of questions, any advice gratefuly received. Thanks!!

Talk to your midwives about it when the time arrives but in my experience yes you can. When I had no2 last year I also didn't want to get to 42 weeks either for my own reasons and they let me be induced at 41+1. In fact if I remember correctly guidelines had already changed and they now advise you to be induced earlier than 42 weeks, at 41+3 I think. Just to add I was at Kings not Tommys - for anyone getting induced at Kings I would advise avoiding a Saturday. Although I was assured it was exactly the same as a weekday I ended up with an agency midwife who, might have been a coincidence but was awful, far far worse than any of the staff midwives I have had at Kings who were mostly great.

Thanks all for your replies. Just for the record I'm not really desperate to get my daughter ahead, quite the opposite I'm quite happy for her to play and be a kid for as long as possible. But with all the recent talk about getting into a good local primary / catchment areas / bulges etc. I was just wondering if we had that option to consider as well (as you do with school nurseries, but quite understandably not for Reception, I think it's preferable to start in September like everyone else anyway!)

Does anybody know if children who turn 4 in September can apply to start Reception early eg in January (rather than waiting until the following September. If anybody has and can share their experience / pros and cons that would be great, thanks!

If you google the Lewisham Starting School booklets for each year they include distances for the previous year and indicate which ones bulged.

Ann, I would love to hear what it's like for teenagers in London and how is it different from other parts of the country? I'm not from the UK so it's hard for me to have an opinion...at the moment I think we will probably stay for primary school but my worry is for when they are older and I wonder how dangerous it could be for them to be out and about in London on their own. Ann Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I was lucky to have bought in this area 20 years > ago and haven't faced the cost of living issues > current families do. > > However the accessibility we have here is great, > like many of you I didn't grow up in London. > > For teenagers London's amazing!

Thanks to the OP for creating this tool, the only problem from what I can gather is that the initial published distances change so much after shakedown and after bulge classes are announced (e.g. I know people who live much much further got into Fairlawn this year as it bulged).

This Google Maps tool also works out exact distance between map points:

I agree too re. Andersons. I have been a handful of times with my baby and the young staff have always been correcr but certainly not friendly / welcoming. The older lady that manages it has a very abrupt and uptight manner, makes me feel very uncomfortable, so I have stopped going there too. It is a shame because it is a lovely place but why go there if they can't even be bothered to be nice? The only other time I can ever remember feeling so uncomfortable was years ago at Le Chandelier (pre kids) and I am actually wondering if this might be the same lady! Edited to add yes Aneto much nicer!

We also got ours with Shutterland and are very happy with quality, price and attention to detail. Plus they are a small local company and really really nice guys! There was an option to get built in blackout blinds..we didn't get them and the shutters still filter some light in so in the kids rooms we put some black out curtains on top which works fine.

I have a P&T Navigator which I find brilliant, so light and easy to push and manouver, you can even easily handle it with one hand (with 2 kids in it, almost 1 and 3 now). Both seats recline, so great for napping. Having said that I didn't use it as a double much at the beginning with the cocoon, personally I found it easier to carry the baby in the sling at first. From about 4 months onwards Z put the second seat in and I have found it invaluable, really happy with my choice.

I'm having a quiet day in today with toddler & baby (apart from a quick trip to the library and Sainsburys early morning - both air conditioned!) and I thought it would be a nightmare but really having the best day since this heat started! Paddling pool in the garden is helping keep us all cool & entertained.