In response to FrenchMummyInLondon's question about safety in Northcote Road:

"We will raise the concerns with the nursery as we consider that parents and the nursery, rather than the Council, must be responsible for the safety of the children.

"We would not rule out a crossing facility but our resources are limited and normally directed at known accident locations and this may be a matter best dealt with by correspondence."

I have been chasing a response the question about direct buses between Clapham South and Clapham Junction.

Our transport people report the following:

"London Buses is responsible for planning and operating bus routes. There are several bus routes we would like to see but buses require a large subsidy and in the current economic climate it is perhaps too much to expect new routes. The route suggested is not one that we have received requests for in the past and as such would probably be lower on our list of priorities compared with other suggestions where we receive regular requests and petitions."

That's a very good question Supergirl. When we looked at the same point back in Sept 2009, we were astonished to see that the local kids dispersed to 49 different secondary schools in and out of the borough. So there was no continuity or pattern to the small year 6 kids going into the big year 7 playground with any of their primary school mates. They all basically went to different schools. The year 6 to year 7 transition can be difficult for some kids and was one reason we campaigned for a local state school - where hopefully a lot of the local kids can walk up the hill to the new school with many of their mates from their primary school. Hope that makes some sense. BTW there are in fact 5 feeders (Belleville, Honeywell, Wix, High View and Falconbrook). That doesn't prohibit any child applying however from any school as those feeders only come into play in the event of demand exceeding supply for the 120 places.

Out of interest too, if your child isnt in one of these 4 feeder schools for Bolingbroke, which secondary school does he/she go to?
I cant believe they all move to independant schools?

Out of interest how many children sit the Wandsworth test each year?

The leader asked me to get some statistics about the Wandsworth Test for Balhammom

The Governing Body of Graveney School is the admissions authority for the school and they have determined admission arrangements which provide for 25% of the intake (63 places) to be admitted on ability. The Wandsworth test is the means by which such ability is assessed, but is also used to provide information for ability selection and ability banding purposes at a number of other Wandsworth schools. In 2011, 10 pupils secured selective places at Graveney from one of the four Bolingbroke feeder school, representing 16% of the selective intake. In 2010, the respective figures were 17 places (27%) and in 2009, 7 places (11%).

Dear Mr. Govindia,

You mention Belleville School has just become an academy and as such will become responsible for its own admissions after 1st October 2011.

My question to you is: what happens to those applying for entry to the school in September 2012? Especially those who have already applied online ahead of the January 15, 2012 deadline? Do we now need to apply directly to Belleville? Their website has not be updated to reflect any changes now that the school has become an academy.

Thank you for taking the time to address the questions posted on this site.

Thank you for your answer re. my parking question.

However, maybe my question was not clear enough.

Actually, I know it was, thats a polite way of saying please answer the question and don't waffle! :D

I DIDN'T ask what the Wandsworth policy is.

I know what the policy is.

I asked this

""Do you think charging residents 65 pound parking penalty fines is fair for minor parking offences e.g. staying a few minutes over in another resident parking bay elsewhere in the borough." "

Now either you think a) yes its fair b) no its not or c) something else that you might write.

But please don't ask for our questions and then fob us off with politic nonsense, you asked us to engage, so please may we have proper replies! :D :-)

Dear RaviGovindia

Thank you for your responses. I understand you are very busy but would mind being more specific on your answers re: school improvements.

As you said "the [i]Council has a range of strategies[/i] to make good schools outstanding and satisfactory schools good. These include school-to-school support, where the heads or staff of the most successful schools work with others, as well as using [i]our own highly effective school improvement service[/i] to challenge and support every one of our schools to do even better."

Can you specify what are these strategies, and what your "highly effective improvement service" involves please?

Many thanks, Supergirl

My question:

Has the council invested in investigating the role of the local library in the future before cutting back on services and opening hours?

My belief is that libraries are an essential community hub and there are endless possibilites of how a library can evolve and adapt to meet the future needs of the community.

As a small example of how a library can be invaluable in 2011... Yesterday I went to rhyme time at the library on Lavender Hill. There would have been in excess of 100 children (plus accompanying adults) packing out the whole children's section! For me that is amazing and just shows what a valuable and appreciated resource libraries are.
I suspect that not many of the attendess borrowed a book. But the session is a brilliant example of how libraries can help assist parents in children's development. Be very careful which statistics you look at when you perceive libraries to be unsustainable. Book borrowing stats will not show you the full picture.

In reply to SimpleSimonSays' question about [b]Highview School [/b]I repeat my earlier reply pointing out that 30 per cent of the Borough’s schools are judged outstanding by Ofsted and a further 46 per cent are judged ‘good’ or ‘good with outstanding features’. These are among the highest proportions in any London borough. Because our schools are so successful and popular, we are a net importer from other boroughs (which we are legally obliged to do). Our ambition is to increase the proportion of exemplary schools even more and the Council has a range of strategies to make good schools outstanding and satisfactory schools good. These include school-to-school support, where the heads or staff of the most successful schools work with others, as well as using our own highly effective school improvement service to challenge and support every one of our schools to do even better.

I have been following up on the [b]Latchmere Leisure Centre issue[/b]. The General Manager of the Latchmere Leisure Centre has apologised for these ‘unacceptable’ cleaning issues. He advises that he has recruited additional cleaning staff to provide additional cover, particularly during the busier periods, and is retendering the contract to supply and clean nappy and sanitary bins.

[b]Protecting local shops in Northcote Road[/b]
The Northcote Road shops are quite small and any proposals to knock two shops into one would require planning permission. However, it’s difficult to stop through planning legislation an extended shop being taken over by a multiple.

[b]Parking charges[/b]
The charge for parking offences is set by London Councils and is the same rate across all inner London boroughs.Unlike many boroughs who do not do so, our policy has always been to allow five minutes beyond the paid for time but thereafter drivers will be liable for a penalty.

[b]
20mph Zones[/b]
Many of the roads around the commons already have road humps to control traffic speeds, but this still relies on driver behaviour. The council is willing to consider 20mph zones providing there’s overwhelming support for such a scheme. We are currently awaiting the outcome of an experiment in the West Putney/Dover House Road area where we’ve approved a 20mph scheme without road humps. Depending on the outcome of that, it may become easier to introduce these zones without additional road engineering works.

[b]Residents' Discount Cards[/b]
A residents’ discount card is a good idea and we are willing to consider it. We are looking into introducing it as part of our new banking contract, and are currently asking for quotations. I have passed your comments about Latchmere onto the director for Environment and Community Services, and he will be raising the cleansing issues with the Council’s management contractor as a matter of urgency.

[b]Sibling policy[/b]
School admission policy is determined by the School Admissions Code, which is a national framework to ensure fair admissions. The Council has rigorous processes in place to check the validity of applications from any address. I am aware of the implications of the sibling rule but it is clearly wrong to split siblings’ education because of the additional pressure it puts on the parents/carers and on the children themselves.

[b]What is the council doing to raise school standards?[/b]
It's wrong to say that Wandsworth only has a handful of outstanding schools. Currently 30 of the Borough’s schools (38%) are judged outstanding by Ofsted and a further 37 schools (46%) are judged as ‘good’ or ‘good with outstanding features’. These are among the highest proportions in any London borough and indeed nationally and we don’t have any schools judged less than satisfactory. We’re not complacent either – the Council has set a clear ambition for half its schools to be judged outstanding within the next two years, and all schools to improve further. Plans are already in place to achieve this.

[b]School brochure not received[/b]
Correction - contrary to my earlier reply, Independent schools do not routinely issue pupils with a Wandsworth state schools brochure. The Council promotes the availability of this annual publication throughborough-wide posters, its website and in the local press. You can obtain a copy by contacting our Pupil Services team on 020 8871 7316 or download one at http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/admissions, from where you can also apply online