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Im new and in need of some help please

SgEnquirerSgEnquirer
edited November 2009 in Local discussion
Hi Guys!

I used to live on SGR about a year ago and found this site shortly after moving! The law of sod came into play however I have been reading discussions reg and as I'm moving back to the area (Ossian Road) I thought I'd sign up and have a voice yay!

I do have one thing to ask my fellow SGr's, I have an 8 yr old daughter and need to find her a school. The closest is St Aidans but she will need to go the waiting list. I have thought about Stroud Green and would find it really helpful to hear from any one with children that attend this school or any info on it really.

Lastly I would just like to say how much I enjoy the witty, intelligent and (sometimes) thought provoking discussions that go on here :)

SgEnq
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Comments

  • AliAli
    edited 5:43PM
    We have two boys who are attending SGS . The school has got a can do a bit better marking from inspection but we have found that it has been a very good experience for or two ( and us) The boys are doing just fine educationally and what really impresses me when I am in the play ground is that the kids all seem very happy and relaxed and seem to get one with each other very well. There are a couple of new younger teachers just joined up and we have been getting good feedback on how they are doing. The Year your child would go into has one of them. The Friends is quite active and holds a Christmas and Summer Fairs as well as other events to support extra activities for the kids and equipment for the school. There are also quite a few after school clubs etc and there is quite a lot of non School related socialising contact between the parents. Pub next door is good as well !
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  • SgEnquirerSgEnquirer
    edited 5:43PM
    Ah Thanks Ali thats really helpful. Some family members used to go there but as they are old gits now I can only assume the school has changed since then lol! Can I just ask one more thing? What are the parents like? Are they friandly approachable etc..
    The school my daughter is at now, well none of the parents mingle Its really quite sad. I think parents that can talk and approach one an other makes a real difference to their childs schooling experience.

    Ps A good freind of mine was the manager of the fullback for a while so already love the pub ;)
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  • AliAli
    edited 5:43PM
    I think if you make the effort it is quite easy to make a few friends out of it. Getting involved with the Friends a bit helps as they seem to be the more motivated ones. My wife certainly seems to end up going to the pub quite a bit. The school website is getting updated but I think this is the current one http://stroudgreen-haringey.info//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=5 Most famous ex pupil is Bob Hoskins who used to live at 42 Upper Tollington park
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  • taff bachtaff bach
    edited 5:43PM
    I asked Bob Hoskins to help during the 100th anniversary and he basically said he hated the place, my 3 kids loved it there!
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  • SgEnquirerSgEnquirer
    edited 5:43PM
    Thats a shame but it's prob changed a bit since Bobs been there lol. I think the next step is to see if they have any space's available. Can anyone reccomend any other schools incase they don't?

    Thanx taff x
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  • AliAli
    edited 5:43PM
    When you look up Bob’s biography on the web his association with Finsbury Park seems to have been eradicated. The truth is in this book Bob Hoskins: An Unlikely Hero (Hardcover) which has a great description of “gang war far between different Irish “ Gangs” in either side of SGR. Maybe Busby knows more ?
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  • BeekBeek
    edited 5:43PM
    Check out Duncombe Primary, my children are not old enough yet, but recently did a tour with a view to sending them there, and I'm really impressed, it's a really lovely local school.
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  • helenhelen
    edited 5:43PM
    My two girls go to SG - yrs 1 and 3. They love it and I 'm happy to have sent them there. everyone is very friendly, the focus is on the kids and ensuring they develop their social and emotional side, not just all about sats etc (although they do take all that seriously). New energy from the new teachers has been great and there are lots of extra things they can do (lunchtime choir, lots of different music and sports clubs, etc).
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  • katiejanekatiejane
    edited 5:43PM
    Agree with helen and Ali. My son's in Year 2 and my daughter's in their Rainbow nursery. All good to be honest. Very friendly parents and good vibe. He's made great progress. His class size is around 25 which I think is a major plus.

    Have you been to look around?
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  • SgEnquirerSgEnquirer
    edited 5:43PM
    OOoo I used to work at duncombe many many moons ago. I was training to be a nursery assistant and it was a lovely school back then so will have to have another look.
    I haven't had a look around SGS yet but plan to do so as soon as I move. Thank you all its really helped!
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  • copycaracopycara
    edited 5:43PM
    We have 2 kids at St Aidan's. Our first did go to Stroud Green as St Aidan's is so over supscribed, but when she reached the top of the waiting list, we moved her, which meant a guaranteed place for the youngest too.

    There were aspects of SG I liked - diverse mix of parents, some real characters and kids seemed happy. But, also high turnover of pupils and large percentage for whom english is a 2nd or 3rd language, which can impact of course.

    Was alarmed once to note that a prominent display of work on a wall about Warhol's pop art was missing apostrophes all over - a slightly worrying sign when these are people teaching grammar to our children, and they didn't seem to push the kids much - which mine needed.

    Nice friendly school with lovely people, but academically I found/find St Aidan's better, plus, it has a very active PTA and puts on lovely events.
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  • AliAli
    edited 5:43PM
    Has anyone got any idea of who might be St Aidan's most famous ex pupil
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  • BridgetBridget
    edited 5:43PM
    I do I went to coleridge with them before they went to st aidan's and im still in touch.

    mind you lots of famous people went to schools around here, Judge Jules, Sonique at HW and the bbc business presenter I forget his name!
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  • BridgetBridget
    edited 5:43PM
    That Duncombe Primary school looks nice, but there are typos on their website which put me off! But it looks lovely.
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  • katiejanekatiejane
    edited 5:43PM
    Bridget you tease! Who who? Was it...James?
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  • SgEnquirerSgEnquirer
    edited 5:43PM
    I used to go to st aidans and i loved it, personally it would be my first choice however there are no spaces so i have to put her name on a waiting list :(
    I think that woman from the x-files used to go to st aidans but her name escapes me :{
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  • copycaracopycara
    edited 5:43PM
    Gillian Anderson?
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  • SgEnquirerSgEnquirer
    edited 5:43PM
    Yes! Thats her only SG isn't posh enough so of course on her official web site it says crouch end! lol :)
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  • BridgetBridget
    edited 5:43PM
    Her website is right, she grew up in Crouch End, Roseberry Gardens and went to Coleridge until the last year when her family moved to Albany Road and she went to St Aidans for the last year. She was mainly in Coleridge!
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  • SgEnquirerSgEnquirer
    edited 5:43PM
    @ Bridget ooooooh I see, so is that who you're still in touch with or are you not at liberty to say?
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  • BridgetBridget
    edited 5:43PM
    Yes I am from time to time. We grew up quiet closely but our paths went in very different directions eh! So I see her about once a year. My mum sees her mum a lot as they are very close friends.
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  • andyandy
    edited 5:43PM
    Simon Pegg/Gillian Anderson have a "bacon number" of 1. <http://oracleofbacon.org/cgi-bin/movielinks?game=0&a=simon pegg&b=Gillian+Anderson+(I)&use_using=1&u0=on&use_genres=1&g0=on&g4=on&g8=on&g16=on&g20=on&g1=on&g5=on&g9=on&g13=on&g17=on&g21=on&g25=on&g2=on&g6=on&g10=on&g14=on&g22=on&g26=on&g3=on&g11=on&g15=on&g23=on&g27=on&gt;
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  • katiejanekatiejane
    edited 5:43PM
    St Aidans: 1, Stroud Green 0

    On account of a couple of misplaced apostrophes and a culturally diverse intake.

    Lights the blue touch paper and stands well back...
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  • Busby1Busby1
    edited 5:43PM
    Well, Ali, (12.Nov) I can't say anything about how SGS is today. I started there in 1945 and left in 1953 - Infants (ground floor) juniors (first floor) and seniors (top floor).

    What I can tell you is this: We were about 1000 children and I doubt if there was one fat one among us. Most of us didn't have more than the clothes on our backs anyway. Obviously we squabbled and fought but these things were quickly forgotten; the discipline in the classrooms depended purely upon the teacher - there were those teachers who had no chance and those who impressed us so much that the lesson went by without a murmur; we all had to drink a third of a pint of free milk every morning, and we had some form of physical 'education' every day - PT, dancing, yes dancing, sort of Morris, games in the playground such as basket ball, handball or simply exercising, or PT in the hall; and, in the seniors, swimming once a week. The swimming lesson was at Hornsey Road baths to which we walked there and back or in a school hall somewhere off Wightmann Road where we went with a coach. Every Wednesday afternoon, right through the year, was sports' afternoon in a field behind (I think the name's right) Redstone Road at the foot of Ally Pally.

    We all, the A and B groups, could read and write well when we left school. What we didn't have was any maths other than + - div or X and we spent years on stupid £sd sums. (instead of learning the decimal system quickly and getting on to algebra etc.)

    Any 'gang' warfare was between our school and one down Fonthill Road way or Stationer's the Grammar school. But this was a mild form of aggressiveness in relation to what apparently exists today.

    I still am in touch, mainly due to Friends Reunited, with 6 old chums and all I can tell you is that we have all done well in life.
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