motorbird83

We have a new au pair in Dulwich who would love to meet up with other au pairs in the area. If anyone is in the same boat, please message me!

I was wondering how much au pairs in London get as pocket money? I mean genuine au pairs over from abroad for a cultural experience doing 20 hours a week. It seems like English live-in nannies are being called au pairs sometimes now so I just wanted to be clear!

If this is for a cot it shouldn't be reused. Babies using previously used mattresses is known to increase the risk of SIDS. Its best if you just dispose of it.

That's terrible. I hope no one is seriously injured.

There are other stay at home dads. I would just go to lots of group activities (Whippersnappers, Gymboree, etc) and he might find some other dads in the crowd and strike up a rapport. To be honest though, once the babies are past a certain age the number of parents thins out quite a bit from what I've seen. Good luck!

Herne Hill School pre-school allows for some half-days and I can highly recommend it.

Schools can't run at a deficit. A school in financial trouble will have to cut staff, the extracurricular offering, learning support and / or be at risk of closure. None of that is good for pupils or staff who risk being made redundant. mrwb Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Good for the kids and teachers if not for the > schools finances! > > oliviaandmilo Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Currently class sizes have become smaller in > > London as the bulge classes put in place 10/12 > yrs > > ago can't remember exactly! Means since then > the > > birth numbers have dropped and after extra > schools > > were built at the time of growth they now find > > they are in a situation where schools are > closing > > and class sizes are getting smaller in state > > schools! Some yr groups have as little as 16 > > children.

Schools can't run at a deficit. A school in financial trouble will have to cut staff, the extracurricular offering, learning support and / or be at risk of closure. None of that is good for pupils or staff who risk being made redundant. mrwb Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Good for the kids and teachers if not for the > schools finances! > > oliviaandmilo Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Currently class sizes have become smaller in > > London as the bulge classes put in place 10/12 > yrs > > ago can't remember exactly! Means since then > the > > birth numbers have dropped and after extra > schools > > were built at the time of growth they now find > > they are in a situation where schools are > closing > > and class sizes are getting smaller in state > > schools! Some yr groups have as little as 16 > > children.

30 is the max allowed for years R through year 2. Classes can be larger in later primary but its not usual. legalalien Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Just out of interest (not to make any particular > point), what have class sizes been in England > historically? I think they are around 30 now? I > was educated overseas and our standard class size > was 30-32 (one teacher per class - at least for > primary and core secondary subjects), this was > taken as a given and not really debated much / > seemed to work OK. Have class sizes here > increased over the years or have they also always > been around this mark? (Obvs might be smaller in > more remote spots, so thinking about maximums in > populated areas)?

Nigello Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What costs are likely to be paid if a school is > made to close? Do they compensate staff for wages, > etc? Redundancy and buying new uniforms for the children allocated to new schools etc. However, its more affordable than running the schools at a major loss. They will be closing / margining a number of schools over the next 12 months. Its truly a financial crisis for the borough so radical action is being undertaken.

I should clarify, I'm not defending academies in general (they have their pros and cons) but in this instance it doesn't have much to do with the problem being discussed.

Existing schools converting to academy status doesn't add any new places in the system and academies don't typically change their admission numbers as that's not really the point of converting. School rolls are falling in London because of Brexit, covid and lower birth rates which started falling in 2012. None of this is related to the academy programme. The drop in pupil numbers is affecting both LA schools and academies with the same negative consequences for both. Part of the process of a brand new school getting approval to open (which will add new school places) is the local authority providing an impact assessment on existing schools. Its designed to prevent unnecessary places being created that would have negative financial impacts on existing schools. Harris Primary ED and the Charter ED shouldn't have been approved as it was already clear that the drop in the birthrate from 2012 onwards among other things meant long term the schools wouldn't be needed in this location based on Southwark's initial forecasting. However, decision making was swayed by a political pressure campaign led by local parents and councillors insisting that the demographic forecasts were wrong and action needed to be taken etc. legalalien Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes Penguin, I?m sensing a theme. > > Motorbird so DfE approve schools opening but after > that don?t control their intake? Or do they > technically have the power but just don?t exercise > it in practice? > > I?m getting boring now but I can?t get my head > around LAs having to try and manage pupil places > without having any control over academy intakes. > Is this because the initial Labour policy was that > failing schools could academise and it would only > be a small proportion that probably weren?t > super-attractive? And then (I have been googling), > the coalition govt introduced converter academies > so better schools / everyone could convert, and > this current problem is an unintended consequence?

There is government has control over Academies, but its central government rather than LA control. The opening of both the Charter ED and Harris ED still had to be approved by the DfE. The poor allocation of resources is really the result of a political process that prioritises the concerns of vocal middle class voters over data. I don't think academies are really the problem here. Plenty of academies are feeling the financial impact as well as LA schools.

Politicians job is to get re-elected so despite the evidence they bowed to pressure in both instances. Parents simply argued that Southwark's projections were wrong as evidenced by all the bulges that were needed at the time to deal with the demographic birth surge from about 10 years ago. Anyway, what a waste of public money. Dulwich Village Infants catchment went out 4km this year which is crazy. Many schools are running at below capacity and will need to cut back on the level of provision (extracurricular, learning support etc) to balance budgets which has begun already as part of funding bailouts. After that some schools will have to formally reduce count or close as St John's did this summer. https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/southwark-primary-school-in-over-200k-debt-set-to-close-as-pupil-numbers-plummet-2/

This isn't a problem unique to Southwark, its across London. Some articles on the point but north and east London are quite badly impacted: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-schools-close-families-choose-move-covid-b942476.html https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/apr/16/primary-schools-in-england-record-steep-fall-in-demand Nigello Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I don't understand - how come it is permissible to > go across council borders if there are schools > that have places to fill in your home council? Or > have I misunderstood? Can't really understand the > idea of local level school administration - why > not be national, like in France?

Southwark didn't calculate incorrectly. In both instances they said a primary school and a secondary school were not needed in this part of the borough. It was a campaign led by parents that over-ruled their analysis. The need for secondaries is in the north of the borough and there is no need for additional primaries at all. The local schools also opposed the new openings... Anyhow, falling rolls are a problem across London and significantly exacerbated by families leaving London due to COVID and Brexit. This is a serious problem as running costs are largely fixed but funding is per pupil so a number of schools are no longer viable and will be merged. This process has already started in the north of Southwark where the primary school numbers are most dire due to changing demographics.

You should initiate a claim. If you subscribe to Which you typically can get legal costs covered. That's truly outrageous.

I've had my kids fitted at Robert Calder and Biff. Both were great. Definitely wait until they are walking before buying real shoes.

The majority of weight loss comes from what you eat. Exercise is great for helping to maintain muscle while in a caloric deficit but unless your are exercising a huge amount virtually everyday, exercise won't contribute much to weight loss. I'd focus on exercise for good physical and mental health and overall body composition rather than weight loss. Strength training twice a week (which could just be using your body weight for resistance) and going for a brisk walk most days is all you really need to do for health and muscle maintenance. No need to buy anything. Google full body resistance workout and you'll find plenty for beginners that don't require weights online. Find something to do that you enjoy though as that's most realistic for what you'll stick with. Yoga and Pilates are both options as well for maintaining muscle. If you do try to cut back on what you eat my best tips would be: 1. Increase the amount of protein you are eating-- it's more satiating and helps preserve muscle during weight loss amongst other things. Protein and healthy fats (from nuts, avocado, olive oil, oily fish etc) at every meal are important 2. Try to get the recommended 25 grams of fibre a day from vegetables (ideally 5-7 portions of veg a day) as well as a bit of fruit (1-2 portions a day). Half your plate full of veg at each meal is a good rule of thumb. 5 a day is the minimum recommendation but 9-10 servings of fruit and veg with the majority from veg is what's actually recommended for optimum health! 3. Try to eat primarily whole grains for carbs as again they are more filling due to the fibre content and are more nutritious with lots of B-vitamins etc. As you up your intake of protein and fibre you should feel more satisfied and not want to eat as much highly processed less nutritious food which should reduce your caloric intake. I'd avoid anything that's specifically calling itself low-fat or diet food. Fat helps you feel full and is important for absorbing nutrients. Some people are good at cutting out all "junk" food while for others it's impossible and causes them to binge when they fall off the wagon. A little but of less nutritious food within an overall healthy balanced diet is probably more sustainable than complete elimination. Calorie counting on something like MyFitness pal works really well for some people and for others drives them mad so play around and see what works for you. Good luck!

Both of my kids were born at St Thomas. Its one of the best hospitals in the country for neo-natal care and was convenient for appointments at work. We paid for a private room post birth both times as well which was pricy but really nice as my husband could stay and we had lots of privacy as a new little family unit. Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

@redjam I wasn't defending the school, I was just answering the question. Someone asked if a student can get in even if they can't pay the fees and I explained how and to what degree. You asked about how much scholarship support there was and I explained there were scholarships and bursaries including up to 100% of the fees. However, just to be clear on the stats: There are 1,063 secondary school pupils, 109 of which are on bursaries so roughly 10% as I mentioned. Of those 2/3rds are on a bursary that covers 100% of the fees and 85% are on bursaries that cover at least 75% of the fees. Again, that's only to clarify the question you asked about fee support being only ?1,000 in private schools based on the study you saw. I wouldn't want someone who was able to get in not to bother applying because they read on the forum that there aren't any bursaries available when that's not the case.

@whoeveritis, that's entirely incorrect. There are many students on full bursaries at Alleyns. Alleyns is also in the process of raising additional bursary funds with the aim of having 20% of all secondary school students being on bursaries in future. You can find out more information at the links below: https://www.alleyns.org.uk/community-partnership/bursaries The school is also actually part of a new pilot project with central government taking in students who have been in the care system in addition to the bursary places they fund via their endowments. https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/private-school-to-pilot-project-to-offer-places-to-kids-in-care-2/

@redjam Bursaries are completely different from scholarships. Bursaries are need based and are up to 100% of fees at the local schools. Most bursary students at the local schools are receiving full or near full reduction on the fees and make up between 10%-15% of the total student body. Scholarships are provided entirely on merit rather than financial need. These are up to ?5,000 a year at the local Dulwich schools. A student can get more than one across academic, music, art and sport. Some bursary students get financial aid plus a scholarship as part of their overall package. I hope that clarifies things.

It depends on how selective the school is but most (certainly the local Dulwich ones) will test children's academic ability at all entry points. Some are also heavily oversubscribed, particularly Alleyns. I don't recall anyone asking about personal finances at all during the application process for JAGs or Alleyns junior school. The local Dulwich senior schools all offer generous bursaries and various scholarships so an able child can attend even if their parents can't afford to pay the fees.

We are at the Gardens Dentist and they've been great with my 4 year old. She's been going for checks since she was 2 and they have always made her really comfortable and reduced her anxiety.