Msgee

...would the test be anything like the American drunk tests?

of course it sounds v nasty, and you have my sympathy (having been took meself once or twice) however I can't help but feel just a little bit tickled at the judge referring to him as 'an incorrigible rogue'

useful route bit gappy tho- especially evenings. Rrrrrrrrrr.

Frankito Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > After much reflection, my answer is no. (6) he he he he

I also leave stuff out the front to be taken, but usually put a note on it. I think the etiquette is- if it's near the front door, it's not up for grabs, but if it's just inside the gate, then it is (hope that's the way it works. I for one have liberated many tatty items of furniture from people's front gardens in this manner :-$ -tho not kiddies' bikes etc. And I do always knock first. Honest...)

What exactly is this place- a hostel for asylum seekers, I presumed, when my son asked me last week?- we went past on the bus on Sunday afternoon and there were a couple of fire engines and a bunch of police outside- does anyone know about this/if everyone was ok? as for: 'talk about lowering the tone of East Dulwich - WHY HAS SUCH A PLACE BEEN PUT IN THIS NICE AREA.!!!'- this sort of statement makes my blood run cold. ED isn't the sole preserve of the white wealthy middle classes. Nor should it be!

sorry, that was toast wot wrote that, that was...

skyblue Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Hi what I have gleaned is that at the time of the > campaign for a new school in SE22 there was a > demand by local parents for a co-ed. Waverley > Girls School was resistant to a change to co-ed so > Harris was set up as a boys only. Subsequently > Harris has taken over the girls school. Therefore > there is no reason why a co-ed can't now happen > and families get a decent choice. The answer to > SE22's school issues are on its doorstep. Any one > else interested in a campaign? wow! this is interesting! there's obviously a call for it. And it must be workable. As fuschia says, separate upper/lower schools, 6th form etc. Great idea.

James Barber wrote: The problems > we have appear largely due to Southwark secondary > schools taking so many none Southwark kids. ...this is interesting. As far as I know, this isn't exactly a new thing. For years Kingsdale has taken a large number of out- borough kids. Of course this has worked both ways- eg most kids near the Lewisham border with Southwark have historically used Lewisham schools rather than Southwark ones. I think it might be a bit of a red herring to 'blame' out borough applicants here. The problem seems to me to be that Southwark doesn't have enough co-ed schools to meet the demand. Maybe this is a new demand, I don't know.

there were a lot of parents in Nunhead and ED pushing for a co-ed on the Waverley site years ago, before Harris Boys was built, but their requests were denied. I don't know why this decision was made, but I know that it disappointed many people at the time who really just wanted a local co-ed. Perhaps someone with a better memory than me can give a summary of the reasons to have two single sex schools instead?

BB100 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Msgee Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > it was because it succeeded-after a long > struggle- > > in attracting a mixture of kids The school > didn't > > change, the ED/mc perception of it changed. > > I would expect the Head at Kingsdale is now > choking on his coffee. If Kingsdale didn't change > it would never have attracted a mix of children. > The environment changed - all ?30million of it, > class sizes changed, the ethos and discipline > regime, the curriculum, the extra-curr, the GCSE > results and the key thing is there is now > leadership.......... > I appreciate that, BB- what I was saying (sorry if it wasn't clear) is that Kingsdale changed long before it became seen as a 'good' school, and one for midle class parents to fight to get their kids into. Even a couple of years ago I'd bet that a lot of the parents who are now trying to get their children in wouldn't have gone near the place due to its old reputation. As for leadership- as far as I know the Head has been there for donkeys (as head- I know he did his time as a maths teacher there, too)

"nice t*ts missus- now where d'you want these blinds?"

Mark Dodds Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > That reminds me. Someone above assumed there would > be places at Peckham Academy. To reiterate - ALL > Southwark schools are FULL - Forty Three Kids Were > Officially NOT Offered a Place Anywhere in > Southwark. That's a lot of not offered a place. > I appreciate that, Mark, but you can bet your arse a lot of those places won't get taken up... the shortage of places has got to have something to do with people taking their children out of private sector education over the last couple of years- at least, that's a pretty commonly held view afaik. Not that that excuses the LEA, mind- but it is an additional pressure and possibly not forseen? Do correct me if I'm wrong ...as for sending my kids to Dulwich- I'd rather chew off my arm. I believe passionately in a fair education and equal opportunities for everyone- I believe in comprehensives. That's why I picked KD in the first place.

...and it's gotta be better than 5 years at Thomas the Apostle if you're not religious. I do feel your pain. The whole system is an absolute nightmare. It's only when you've been/are going through it that you realise that "choice" is at best misleading and at worst a lie.

Know what you mean, Mark- that sounds exactly like KD when my son first went there! It had a huuuge proportion of boys- now think there might even be more girls than boys in Y7/Y8 it'll only change in 2/3 years if people get on board and make it change, I reckon.

as far as I know, the management and staff at Kingsdale were there long before people were keen to go there. When my son first went there, they had hods of empty places and a lot of people just wouldn't consider it. There has been no significant change of staffing in that period, or of management strategy. I still think it's down to perception. The school has been great for a long time- but it's taken people a long time to see it. What I'm getting at is that the same thing could happen with other comps- it just needs middle class parents to take a punt- same as they did at KD. In that way, we'll have a genuinely comprehensive intake in the borough's schools, and they'll serve all parts of the community, not just a lucky few!

...the more I read this thread, the more I think a lottery is actually the only fair way to sort out Southwark schools, so that we don't have what increasingly looks like segregation of middle class and working class kids. oh, and the more I agree with zeban :))

can we just have a think about how Kingsdale 'became an option'? it was because it succeeded-after a long struggle- in attracting a mixture of kids (and it could be argued that it hasn't really got that mixture now- but that's another thread). The school didn't change, the ED/mc perception of it changed. Who's to say that's not going to happen with, say, PA?

the comprehensive schools I am thinking of- as I stated upthread- are Peckham Academy and Deptford Green (see the other secondary admissions thread). If, as you say, a lot of your friends have been offered PA without having it on their list of choices, I'd reckon it to be a pretty fair assumption that they have places free. and you don't need me to tell you that going to school a couple of miles away is hardly Orkney, now, do you ...do you?? :-S

Mark Dodds Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Any parents here with experience of Admission > Failure interested in pooling their observations > and making an official FUSS? This has been > happening for decades and parents just get divided > and conquered every year. It wouldn't take a lot > of time to make a focused representation to our > MPs and to education departments to at least > register dissatisfaction and at best make some > change happen. I'm afraid that, what with the wheels turning as slowly as they do, even if parents do make a fuss to the LEA, any positive results will come years down the line, and be of no benefit to you right now. I would suggest that you get together with the other folk from your school/your friends who have been disappointed with their allocations, and apply en masse to a comp with empty places and, as zeban says, get behind the school.

just noticed that zeban Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Maybe those schools > need you to get behind them and improve what we > already have. Afterall, I'm sorry but the system > had to become more complex because m/c parents > used their money to move into areas that had good > schools, ending up monopolising them so the system > had to change and although seemingly a lot more > random, is actually still fairer than just taking > distance into consideration. what you said ;-)

just a thought... the year my son first went to Kingsdale (three years ago), they were not by any means "full"- as far as I know, a fair few kids who didn't get any of their choices ended up there, as did kids who initially got one of their choice schools and then found they didn't like it. I got a lot of rolled eyes when I said we'd put KD first on the application- a couple of years before I would hazard a guess that Kingsdale would have been the school you got offered if none of your choices came up (in the manner of Peckham Academy, Deptford Green and so on now) My point is- schools (or, more accurately, their intake/public perception) can change in a heartbeat. If you want a co-ed school- and there's enough of you who do- is it not worth giving these schools a closer look?

fwiw, on the subject of inter-school rivalries/fear of violence and the like- my son is in Y9 at Kingsdale. We are about to move, and so will be on a different bus route to school. My son is very, very reluctant to go past...Sydenham Girls :))

what chrism said about school trips I love KD, but I do feel the kids're rather lashed to the desks from half eight to half three with barely an hour to stuff down their dinners I wish they'd let em out a little bit... also I have to agree with your gripe about not seeing exercise books. Have had a couple of real shocks with my son at parents' evening- good and bad!

'The scholarships are a very clever policy to attract middle class families' not sure about this. I think that when the scholarships were introduced, they wanted to attract families full stop with the free tutition, rather than be fourth and fifth choice on everyone's list. And I think, while you can argue that music scholarships select a lot of middle class kids (ie those whose parents can afford to stump up for lessons), you can't say the same of sport as for Kingsdale spouting propaganda- I think that most of the positive KD stuff comes from parents. I'm not aware of the school publicising itself- not like the Harris Academies, for example