F MARCH 2016 R ISSUE NO. 175 E ESTABLISHED 1996 E

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WHAT’S ON Where to go, what to do, what to see in March

HOLIDAY WORKSHOPS Now booking for Easter

IDEK “I don’t even know” Your child’s social media slang

online edition with working website links AS THE DAFFS finally raise their heads for spring, we’ve brought the Great Outdoors back to our What’s On listings so you too can show your children chicks long before they become nuggets, and that there’s wildlife beyond street foxes and pizza-pecking pigeons. Also this month proves that it is possible to put the words “fun” and “run” in the same sentence, whether Local News l email your news to [email protected] achieving a mile for Sport Relief, or donning a stripey jumper and joining the Where’s Wally crowd in Clapham. Shake a leg, everyone! Robina Cowan, editor Walk and run yourself proud for IN THIS ISSUE Sport Relief 2016 Downham Health & Leisure Centre is hosting its first ever Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile on Sunday 20 March, and is inviting local people to join in. Contained within the leisure centre 2-3 Local News and Views grounds on Glenbow Road BR1, the event gives participants the chance to Sport Relief comes to southeast London, OnBlackheath raise life-changing money for Sport returns in September, a magic show for the whole family, Relief 2016, and enjoy entertainment accredited nurseries, and farm-fresh food and refreshments throughout the day. For full details and to sign up for this or other places to walk, run, swim and cycle, go to www.sportrelief.com. Emma Greenslade, health and physical activity manager at Downham Health 4 Holiday Workshops & Leisure Centre said: “The Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile in Downham is here Holiday daycamps and out of school fun for the Easter and it’s your time to walk or run yourself proud. From little ones with their mums lbreak - booking now and dads, to runners up against the clock there’s something for everyone to make themselves feel proud on this special day.” If you would like to take part but do not know how to run efficiently, Downham Health & Leisure Centre will be hosting an eight week beginners’ running course 5-7 Education News for only £10 for the course, thanks to Sportivate funding. For more information Local schools’ news, independent school open days, on this, email Emma at [email protected]. academy schools and pupil premium awards Whether you get sponsored to enter an event at the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Games or fundraise with friends and family at home, work or school, you’ll help people living incredibly tough lives. Half of all the money raised by the public is 8 You and Your Teenager spent right here at home in the UK, with the other half used to make a difference in the world’s poorest communities. The Games run from 18-20 March across lDecoding the slang that our children are using on social the UK. Read more at www.sportrelief.com. networks, and staying safe online

9 The Book Page Family magic shows in Nunhead Part blog - part book review. Justine Crow talks bookshops Klassy and Amigo's Magic are joining and books forces to stage two stunning magic shows for the whole family, where live animals will be plucked from thin air l and one ‘lucky’ person will be cut in 10 What’s New half! The shows feature plenty of Parenting just like mother did, dad-friendly baby changing, audience participation; the chance to wear a hat to fund brain tumour research, and new meet Fluffy the rabbit, and a free products Bunny Copter to take home. 1-3pm or 4-6pm on Monday 28 March at The Ivy House, 40 Stuart Road, Nunhead SE15 3BE. Tickets £6 children, £7.50 adults, 11-15 What’s On £20 family of four; book online at www.magicmindreadingandmayhem.co.uk. Wonderful family events, shows and creative workshops to make the most of March l The Small Ads

Front cover: Children’s 100% waterproof jacket & Handyman For all your household repairs and odd jobs. trouser sets come with their own attached pocket I offer a professional and courteous service inside - after being worn, the garment pushes into www.shaunthehandyman.co.uk the pocket to form an easy to carry bag. For ages 020 8249 3264 or 07913 656 502 5-6 years & 7-8 years, £24.99 from Baggers Originals, 0191 406 0070, PAINTING & www.baggersoriginals.com DECORATING Next issue Easter issue out 18 March, Interior / Exterior deadline 26 February Experienced, Reliable, Clean Fully Guaranteed / Insured 37 Families South East FREE ADVICE AND QUOTE PO Box 11591, London SE26 6WB John:- James & Lamont 020 8699 7240, www.familiesse.co.uk, 020 8462 4646 - 07802 535695 [email protected] France with the Family Families South East is part of Families Magazines Ltd a franchise company. All franchised magazines in the group are independently owned and operated under Justine’s family friendly house in Adult & Children’s Entertainer licence. Families® is a registered trademark of Families Magazines Ltd, Remenham rural Normandy is available to rent. Magic, Plate Spinning House, Regatta Place, Marlow Road, Bourne End, Bucks SL8 5TD. The contents of Sleeps 6+, fully equipped, Balloon Modelling Families South East are fully protected by copyright and none of the editorial or beautiful location Interactive Games photographic matter may be reproduced in any form without prior consent of the Karaoke, Mini Disco publisher. We take every care preparing this magazine but the publishers and Contact [email protected] distributors cannot be held responsible for the claims of advertisers nor for the thenormandienest.wordpress.com Tel: 020 8480 8176 accuracy of the contents nor for any consequence. www.amigosmagic.co.uk

2 families south east - march 2016 familiesse.co.uk Easter crafts at Wigwam Toy Shop Wigwam Toy Shop is hosting a fun morning of making Easter crafts and cards, complete with yummy Easter themed cupcakes from The Dulwich Bakery. 2020 Archery Club The event will run from 10am-12noon on Saturday 19 March at the toy shop, 109 Rosendale Road, For a different way to spend weekend mornings West Dulwich, SE21 8EZ, 020 8676 4815 and is free together - how about archery? 2020 Archery is an of charge. Parents are asked to stay with join in the indoor junior archery club based at the Downside fun. See you there! Centre, London Bridge. For beginners upwards, the club is for children aged 8+, and welcomes families too. For more information or online bookings, see Petits Tigres www.juniorarchery.co.uk or email Heidi at [email protected]. Petits Tigres is a playgroup for French-speaking parents and children, who meet on the first Saturday of every month from 10am - noon at the Time & Talents centre, SE16, £3 per family. For more Bright Horizons - flying WIN a family ticket to information, email [email protected]. the flag of excellence OnBlackheath Festival Bright Horizons is the first nursery group to be OnBlackheath is back and you could win tickets for Fresh food from an app accredited by KalliKids, demonstrating a you and your family to be there! commitment to the quality of its childcare provision. The music, food and family festival, in partnership The accreditation provides a much needed, with John Lewis, returns to Blackheath Common on additional layer of reassurance and support for 10 & 11 September 2016, and Families readers have parents when looking for recommended childcare the chance to win a set of 4 tickets so they can providers. As part of the accreditation process, enjoy the full unforgettable weekend of music, food, individual references were taken involving physical entertainment and arts with their family. conversations between KalliKids and parents about This year’s their experience of Bright Horizons. music line-up Lydia Green, general manager at Bright Horizons will include told Families : “We understand that choosing the Primal right childcare for your children is one of the most Scream, important decisions you’ll ever make as a parent, Belle & and at times the process can seem overwhelming. Sebastian, To support this we like to offer all parents a tour of Hot Chip, The Food Assembly brings together shoppers who our safe and secure nurseries and the opportunity James, Róisín Murphy, and a special homecoming want to buy fresh, high-quality vegetables, fruit, to meet our highly-qualified staff teams. In addition for the one and only Squeeze. The John Lewis meat, eggs, dairy products, bread, curry kits and we also feel that it’s important to receive outside Food Village returns with food demonstrations from dried goods, beer and ales, honey and jam recognition from trusted accreditors such as some of the UK’s premiere chefs, exclusive dining directly from local farmers and foodmakers, KalliKids to further reassure parents that Bright experiences and hands-on cookery schools, with minimum fuss. Horizons is the right choice.” alongside a wealth of world cuisines from pop-up There are now over 600 Assemblies throughout Bright Horizons is the UK’s leading nursery restaurants and bars. France and the UK, with many more under network and is trusted to provide children and For younger audience members, Puffin World construction. All have a strong emphasis on families with naturally inspiring, exceptional care and of Stories will bring to life sustainable farming and production - items are education for the early years. The company has over the magical worlds of organic where possible, meat is free-range and 200 nurseries in the UK and Ireland, many of which some of the most beloved high-welfare and all items have been produced are managed in partnership with employers. To find children’s authors, along as locally as possible. Producers sell directly via one, go to www.brighthorizons.co.uk. with adventure areas, The Food Assembly online market, where you can KalliKids is an online resource for quality-checked interactive workshops and browse through the product catalogues and order. children’s activities and services across the UK. a children’s maze; while roaming performers and Southeast London currently has three Over 90,000 parents already use the site and the interactive street theatre will add to the festival Assemblies, in Nunhead and Peckham Rye, number is growing daily. Membership is free; users experiences. Forest Hill, and Ladywell. can simply search for local, accredited activities and For the full line up and ticket bookings, see Read more and register for free at services, all checked upfront and all with ratings and www.onblackheath.com. www.foodassembly.com, or download the new Food parents’ reviews. Parents can join to save money, For the chance to win a weekend family Assembly iPhone app to find your nearest weekly become part of a wider family-oriented community ticket (2 adults + 2 children aged 13-16), go to collection point which gives you a chance to meet and share their opinions and recommendations www.familiesse.co.uk and enter before the 31 other members, as well as the food producers across one, easy to use website at March closing date. themselves - all at the click of a button. www.kallikids.com.

familiesse.co.uk march 2016 - families south east 3 llllllll Easter Holiday Workshops My - isn’t Easter early this year - it nearly caught us on the hop too! Out on 18 March, our next magazine will be jam-packed with more egg hunts and days out than you can shake a bunny’s tail at, but meanwhile if you need holiday childcare or want to treat your little ones to some out of school fun, here’s where to go. As we find more, we will update them on our website - click ‘Things to Do’ on www.familiesse.co.uk. FUNKY MONKEY KEYBOARD’S ‘ONE HIT WONDER’ HOLIDAY WORKSHOPS 4-8 April in Beckenham, Herne Hill & Sydenham, 0800 107 7949, www.funkymonkey.info Learn how to read, write and play notes C-A and try some famous tunes in small groups of up to 10 children. Introduction to theory, keyboard games, quizzes and art activities all based around music. 10am-12.30pm, ages 5-9 years. £110 for the week (£105 siblings) includes all equipment, mid morning snack and workbook to take home.

SPARK4KIDS CODING WORKSHOPS Easter Holiday coding workshops in DULWICH, 020 8090 1444, www.spark4kids.com Spark4Kids holiday workshops are designed to teach robotics, coding, electronics, games development, touch-typing as well as Minecraft in a fun, engaging environment. Ages 5-7 and 8+. Term-time classes are also available - see website for details. DOWNHAM HEALTH & LEISURE CENTRE 7-9 Moorside Road, Bromley BR1 5EP, 020 8461 9200, www.1life.co.uk or find Downham at www.fitforsport.co.uk ACTIVITY CAMP. Fit for Sport’s Ofsted-registered holiday childcare activity Child’s Activity camps are designed to engage and educate children through activity, with SPARK4KIDS CODING WORKSHOPS * swimming, ballgames, active challenges and arts and crafts based on seasonal themes. Ages 4-12 years, standard 9.30am-4.30pm days can Session be extended from 8.30am-5.30pm. For full details and bookings, see Get a Free Child’s Activity Session at www.fitforsport.co.uk or call 0845 456 3233. Downham Health & Leisure Centre. FOOTBALL CAMP. Crystal Palace Football Club host football camps at Present this voucher to reception on Downham Health & Leisure Centre during the school holidays for 5-12 year date of booking. Activities include; olds. Learn football skills and techniques as well as playing games and Swimming Lessons, Soft Play, Football, tournaments. The days run from 10-3pm, you can book daily or as a week. For more information email [email protected] or to book call Tennis, Roller Skating and Trampolining. 020 8461 9200. * Terms apply. SWIMMING LESSON CRASH COURSES. During the school holidays FIT FOR SPORT 020 8461 9200 Booking children can improve their swimming skills by taking part in intensive BOOK NOW [email protected] Essential. week-long courses for half an hour each day. For more information email [email protected] or call 020 8461 9200. SWIMMING POOL INFLATABLE SESSIONS. Throughout the school 1Life.co.uk holidays, and every weekend the giant pool inflatable is available for chil - dren from 8-15 year olds for only £2.90 per session.

TENNIS-4-KIDS YES,I can touch-type 29 March - 1 April and 4-7 April in EAST DULWICH, 07877 391005, www.tennis-4-kids.com Touch-typing taught in just 10 hours Rally round for a smashing time learning to play tennis with other children. Tennis-4-Kids run mini sessions giving children lots of fun learning basic to Easter Holiday Courses advanced skills. The friendly coaches run small groups for 3-11 year-olds With proper tuition children can learn to touch-type from beginners to Grandslammers, with all equipment provided. Term times surprisingly quickly and, what’s more, enjoy the whole sessions available too. experience. I Improved speed and effectiveness in study. TENNIS-4-KIDS I SUPER CAMPS I Well presented work increases self-esteem. There are particular benefits for those with 29 March - 8 April, Various venues including Blackheath High School in BLACKHEATH, St Dunstan’s School in CATFORD and Dunraven School in dyslexia or dyspraxia. STREATHAM, 01235 467300, www.supercamps.co.uk Courses run in SYDENHAM Super Camps run multi-activity, Ofsted-registered daycamps designed to To find out more call: offer holiday childcare to parents while appealing to children of all types 020 7515 1707 and ages. Each child explores and experiences a daily schedule of different email: [email protected] activities with others their own age, under the guidance of superbly-trained staff. The venues offer sports, outdoor and indoor games, arts and crafts or call Norman on 07961 427640 activities. Ages 4-14 years, 8am-6pm, bookings available by day from www.yes-tuitionandtraining.co.uk £30.00 or £188 for a week. SUPER CAMPS INTENSIVE TOUCH TYPING School holidays and termtime classes in SYDENHAM, 020 7515 1707, THE www.yes-tuitionandtraining.co.uk ¶F Learn a new skill with a touch typing courses run by YES. Children find H> them fun, and they work - most children are tapping away proficiently in AB!$ just ten hours. Sessions can be booked to fit around other holiday FROM commitments so children can progress at their own pace. £30 PER DAY THE HIVE OUTDOOR MISSIONS INTENSIVE TOUCH TYPING 21 -29 March at ELTHAM COLLEGE, 020 3435 6848, www.thehive-kids.com Sign up for a week of amazing outdoor missions, with not one but five to choose from! Explore habitats, conservation and biology to defeat an ;B?<74L9HA eco-hating scientist group; Learn to make cosmetics, dyes and magic potions by mixing science with herbs, flowers and essential oils; Follow a MONDAY - FRIDAY 8,M TO 6PM pirate map to find lost jewels; Build amazing dens, go on quests, light fires, WITH AC3IV5TIES FOR AG and make your own adventures into amazing stories; or Design and craft ES 4 - 1; your very own bow and arrows like a traditional archer, then try a mix of 1 target and distance practice! Ages 5 ⁄2 to 11 years, bookable by day or #$%&(')*&#ɀ—JƏJ!FHC8E64@CF!6ƇɊH> full week. THE HIVE OUTDOOR MISSIONS

4 families south east - march 2016 familiesse.co.uk leducatlion newsllllll Sydenham High girls are top of the techs Students from Sydenham High School have triumphed at an event to devise ways to inspire more women to get into technology. The students were attending the second Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST) Digital Leaders’ Conference which brought together nearly 200 girls from schools across the GDST network. The aim of the event was to come up with concepts, products and campaigns that would encourage women to pursue tech careers. The Sydenham High team, which consisted of five senior girls - Tamara Bailey, Lucy Patterson, Jade Lucas, Ester Schomberg and Deeya Patel - together with two Year 6 and two Year 5 girls - Kirsten Marks, Martha Pardue, Alyssa Patel and Anna Gjetnes - was awarded the People’s Choice prize for their inventive website and app idea Code Elle, which would enable girls across the world to be confident coders and inspire them to start a technology-related career. Supported by industry mentors from companies including the British Red Cross, Big White Wall, Acorn Aspirations and Code Kingdoms, each team produced a video and website to promote their idea. As well Internet Legends as the competition, the girls listened to presentations from industry experts and, excitingly, were the first

to try out the new BBC Microbit prior to launch. On Internet Safety Day in February, Google Sydenham High’s Digital Strategy Leader, Matthew Llewellin, hopes that both the event and the teams’ launched an internet safety tour for 8-11 year olds win will inspire more girls to consider careers in technology. He said: “Our students’ app was one of many on the theme: Internet Legends - how to be safe fantastic ideas on the day, highlighting the creative and technological abilities of GDST girls. The inventive and epic online. This has been developed in approaches our students were able to demonstrate make them excellent future candidates for the growing partnership with Parent Zone and under the expert number of opportunities available to digitally capable young people.” guidance of an advisory board including the The school has also recently received a Good Schools Guide Gold Award for girls taking computer NSPCC, John Carr, the Oxford Internet Institute studies at GCSE, having outperformed all other English schools in its category. A new computer science and Childnet. The scheme is based around four key curriculum has also been introduced, designed to help the girls become creators of tech, instead of just themes which compromise the “Internet Legends” consumers. It will also better equip them for the real world of work and industry – especially as women Code:

are currently underrepresented in the tech arena. According to a new report from business advisory firm, • Think before you share Deloitte, in the UK, the percentage of women in digital jobs increased from 17 per cent to just 18 per cent • Protect your stuff between 2010 and 2015. In 2013, only 17.1% of the UK’s computer science students were women, down • Check it’s for real, and from the previous year. • Respect each other. A Google survey conducted by OnePoll revealed The future of academies that 43% of children who are active online don’t know who can see their information, and while Despite the huge push from the government to encourage all maintained schools to become academies, teachers (68%) and parents (74%) are largely 58% of parents have admitted they don’t fully understand what an academy does. responsible for educating children on how to stay A study by education finance specialist HCSS Education asked 1,000 UK parents, 89% of whom didn’t safe online, there is a clear opportunity for the tech have a child at an academy, whether they would be happy for their child to attend one. Thirty four per cent industry to step in and help bridge the gap. By said yes, 39% said yes but it would depend on the academy, 17% said no, and 10% said they were unsure. working alongside Parent Zone, the plan is to reach The survey was conducted as part of HCSS Education’s Academy Futures report, which takes an more children with innovative and informative online insightful look into how the education landscape is changing and the impact the rise of academies is having safety skills. both on teachers and parents. It explores the barriers to conversion, the challenges schools may face when The assembly is being held in 40 primary schools they first convert, and how these issues can be addressed. around the UK including St Thomas Becket School Howard Jackson, head of education and founder of HCSS Education, said: “From the research it has in South Norwood, and will reach 10,000 children in become apparent that many parents are not entirely aware of the benefits academies can offer, so a the next year. Alongside the assemblies Google has strategy is needed to ensure they are fully informed and on board. This is important as parents are given developed lesson plans, teacher resources and the opportunity to put forward their opinions before a school decides to become an academy, so it’s vital communications materials for parents, which are that they are fully briefed about a school’s plans and the conversion process to make an informed decision.” available at https://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/safety - The Futures Report and full survey results are available at www.hcsseducation.co.uk. center/families/legends/.

familiesse.co.uk march 2016 - families south east 5 leduclation newls lllll Leading director visits Lewisham school as part of Independent school international theatre initiative GCSE drama students from Sydenham Spring open days School spent a morning working with top director Jude Christian, whose CV For more school contacts and open day updates, includes productions at the Royal Court click ‘education’ at www.familiesse.co.uk and Gate Theatres. The session included a range of drama games, Bishop Challoner School followed by exercises designed to 5 March, 228 Bromley Road, Shortlands, open up Belgian playwright Vincent Kent BR2 0BS, 020 8460 3546, Hennebicq’s play “Coming Home”, www.bishopchallonerschool.com about a refugee and his troubled life living in Europe. Blackheath High School GDST The workshop was part of an 8 March and ‘Into Senior School’ taster event in international theatre initiative June. Juniors Wemyss Road SE3, 020 8852 1537, co-ordinated by Company of Angels - Seniors Vanbrugh Park SE3, 020 8853 2929, specialists in young people’s theatre - www.blackheathhighschool.gdst.net which encourages those involved to Blackheath Preparatory School broaden their theatrical horizons and to become a part of an international cultural community through blogs, Regular term time open mornings, 4 St Germans podcasts and debates. The two-year project has been funded with support from the European Commission. Place, Blackheath SE3 0NJ, 020 8858 0692, www.blackheathprepschool.com Bromley High School GDST Pupil premium 17 May and regular Taster Days for ages 4+, 7+, awards 11+, 13+ and 16+, Blackbrook Lane BR1, 020 8781 7000, www.bromleyhigh.gdst.net/fse1 Education and childcare minister Sam Gyimah Dulwich College praised the efforts of Tours by appointment, Dulwich Common schools across the country SE21 7LD, 020 8693 3601, www.dulwich.org.uk to tackle disadvantage as he launched the Pupil Greenwich Steiner School Premium Awards. 12 March and tours by appointment, Woodlands, Worth up to £1,900 per 90 Mycenae Road, Blackheath SE3 7SE, 020 8858 child, the pupil premium has 4404, www.greenwichsteinerschool.org.uk enabled schools across the Herne Hill School country to provide vital 5 March and tours by appointment, The Old support to some of the Vicarage, 127 Herne Hill SE24 9LY, 020 7274 6336, most vulnerable children www.hernehillschool.co.uk in their care. Sam Gyimah said: Oakfield Preparatory School “Education is our biggest tool for extending opportunity, and we know many schools are doing an excellent 10 March and group tours once a month on job of boosting aspiration and tackling disadvantage. I want to thank them for all their efforts. Figures show Tuesdays, 125-128 Thurlow Park Road SE21 8HP, the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates has fallen at both primary and 020 8670 4206, www.oakfield.dulwich.sch.uk secondary level - but there is still more to do. That is why I am calling on schools to ensure all their pupils can access and benefit from wider cultural activities and experiences that will help raise aspirations and Pointer’s Preparatory School build character.” Visits by appointment, Stratheden Road, Minister Gyimah has written to over 550 primary and secondary schools to congratulate them on their Blackheath SE3 7TH, 020 8293 1331, efforts to boost achievement and raise aspirations among their disadvantaged pupils. Those schools will all www.pointers-school.co.uk have a shot at winning prizes in the national awards in May. Prizes include the chance to see Shakespeare Riverston School productions and visit museums, such as London’s world-renowned Science Museum, to take part in Tours on Tuesday mornings by appointment, exclusive activities and learning programmes. Eltham Road SE12 8UF, 020 8318 4327, The awards will be www.riverstonschool.co.uk presented by Tracey Emin, www.thameschristiancollege.org.uk one of Britain’s foremost Rosemead Preparatory School contemporary artists at a 8 March, plus Tuesday morning tours by ceremony in May; while appointment, Pre prep Elmcourt Road SE27, internationally respected Prep department 70 Thurlow Park Road SE21, education expert Andreas 020 8670 5865, www.rosemeadprepschool.org.uk Schleicher, who is Director for Education and Skills at Streatham + Clapham High School GDST the OECD, will chair the 1 March and 3 May, Prep school, Wavertree Road high-profile panel of judges. SW2 3SR, 020 8674 6912. Senior School, The government has 42 Abbotswood Road SW16, 020 8677 8400, committed to maintaining www.schs.gdst.net Smaller school. pupil premium funding Sydenham High School GDST Bigger opportunities. throughout this Parliament. 16 March, Junior school 15 Westow Hill SE26 6BL, Since April 2011, around £6 020 8557 7000, 10 March , Senior school Personal attention. billion has been given to Great results. 19 Westow Hill SE26, 020 8557 7000, schools to improve the www.sydenhamhighschool.gdst.net Affordable. attainment of disadvantaged Scholarships available pupils. Pupil premium funding Thames Christian College is also used beyond the 8 March, Wye Street SW11 2HB, 020 7228 3933, OPEN MORNING TUESDAY 8 th MARCH 11.00-13.00 classroom to give pupils a www.thameschristiancollege.org.uk broader life experience to For full list of open mornings, enrolment build character - they offer Virgo Prep School and fee details contact 020 7228 3933 22 April, 147 Central Hill SE19 1RS, Thames Christian College, London SW11 2HB. sailing, boxing classes, and 020 8653 2169, www.vfps.org. Five minutes’ walk from Clapham Junction. subsidised trips to universities and the theatre.

6 families south east - march 2016 familiesse.co.uk llllllll

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What makes School bus service from the us dierent is Dulwich/Herne the dierence Hill & Streatham/ Clapham areas we make Open Mornings for 2017 entry Pre-Prep & Prep Overlooking Blackheath and set in five acres of Wednesday 16 March 9.30 - 11am beau ful grounds, this leading prep school Senior & Sixth Form offers an outstanding educaon. !ursday 10 March 9.30 - 11am Regular open mornings are held throughout Wednesday 29 June 6.30 - 8pm ( including D’Art exhibition ) the term when you can come and join us on a normal working day. Please see our website for details of further Open Events and Taster Sessions. 4 St.Germans Place, Blackheath, London. SE3 0NJ Tel: 020 8858 0692 Email: [email protected] www.blackheathprepschool.com 15 & 19 Westwood Hill, London SE26 6BL 020 8557 7004 Company limited by guarantee No. 672569 Charitable Status No. 312732 www.sydenhamhighschool.gdst.net [email protected]

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familiesse.co.uk march 2016 - families south east 7 You and your teenager - What are they talking about?

On this year’s Safer Internet Day - 9 February - a embarrass/ impress your teen as you flaunt your Comres survey for CBBC’s Newsround revealed new knowledge in front of their friends)... that more than three quarters of 10 to 12 year-olds in the UK now have social media accounts, even • PAP Acronym meaning “post a picture” though they are below the age limit. Among 13 to • Bad Just like the olden days of parents’ yore, 18 year-olds, 96% were signed up to social media bad still means good but it has shifted slightly networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and means something even more positive like and Whatsapp. Among the under 13s, 78% use at hot least one social media network, despite being below • Ship Short for relationship the age requirement. When it comes to signing up, • :3 A symbol meant to represent the cat face • No chill Used to describe someone who is it’s easy enough for a child to lie, and proof of ID is made by anime characters when they say being irrational rarely sought. something clever, sarcastic, or comment on • Likers get rate A phrase that implies the something cute original poster will rank anyone who likes/ ASKfm, the world’s largest social Q&A network, • IDEK Acronym for “I don’t even know...” comments/ answers a post, typically around joined more than 350 teens, educators, policy • IKR Acronym meaning “I know, right?” how cool they are perceived to be or how they makers, parents, Internet safety experts and • OOTD Acronym for “outfit of the day;” look; also used to incentivise followers to like executives from leading tech companies Facebook, commonly used to prompt someone to post a posts to get something (usually indicated in the Twitter, Snapchat, Google and others to uncover picture of their current outfit or to share your post) in return solutions - which includes helping parents current outfit with friends/ followers • Frog emoji + coffee cup emoji. Based on a understand the slang used on social apps and sites. • SMH Acronym for “shaking my head;” in popular meme of Kermit the Frog drinking a “Teen language can experience a seismic shift reference to something distasteful cup of tea, teens use this emoji combo to with just a few clicks, texts or posts, and word or • Dime The highest rating on a scale of 1-10; sarcastically imply “but that’s none of my even symbol choices can literally change by the used to share approval or express how good business” or “I’m just saying”. day,” said Andrea Cutright, COO of ASKfm. “Teens something is use our Q&A platform as a means to express • Netflix and chill Code for hooking up themselves through dialogue so we have our finger • Savage Used to describe something that is Read more on the pulse of how teens talk - be it in the form of hardcore or extreme, in a good way • ASKfm’s Safety Centre provides information, acronyms, new definitions or the latest emoji. With • TBR Acronym for “to be rude;” usually said guidance and tools to safely navigate this list, parents can now rest easy in the knowledge before the person shares their true - and harsh - and enjoy the network. Go to that being called GOAT is actually a very good thing feelings http://safety.ask.fm/category/blog/ and OOTD can explain why their teens take four • Peep Can refer either to friends (your people), dozen selfies.” or to look at/ listen to (eg peep this) • CBBC Stay Safe offers advice to younger • Slept Can refer to hitting someone hard internet users, with tips and tricks to stay Here’s a selection of the top trending slang enough to knock them out, missing out on safe online, beat cyber-bullies and words and acronyms. Read on to get familiar something awesome, or to be extremely high ‘become a super-surfer’. with the latest terminology (and to be prepared to • GOAT Acronym for “greatest of all time” http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/curations/stay-safe

es Call your local Stagecoach: lass C ow Dulwich 020 8949 4116 n ing book Blackheath 020 7112 8242 Beckenham 020 8541 0833 Sydenham 020 7228 0981 Upper Norwood 020 8672 6066 www.stagecoach.co.uk

8 families south east - march 2016 familiesse.co.uk The Bookseller Crow is a fantastic, volume stuffed shop run by some of the most knowledgeable bookworms in the business. Call in for the feel of a real bookshop, or if you’re too busy, pick up the phone or point your mouse at their website for a fast mailorder service. Justine Crow recommends this month’s best titles.

On discovering we have a bookshop, the customary response from folks is one of seal to the occasion with an illustrated early reader story envy: “Oooh,” they swoon. “Always wanted a little bookshop to retire to.” As if we from new imprint, Conkers, full of the sights and sounds of bustle about in a low-beamed gingerbread shop with dimpled windows and Elizabethan London, right beside the Globe. leather-bound classics piled higgledy-piggledy on the shelves. They’d be right Cozy Classics, WAR AND PEACE; GREAT about the higgledy-piggledy. But that’s all. “Why?” EXPECTATIONS; PRIDE & PREJUDICE; MOBY DICK by demanded Trasha, “would anyone in their RIGHT MIND,” her Jack & Holman Wang rrp £6.99. They are back - the board book capitals, “be a bookseller when there are so many more jobs classics, each tale depicted in beautifully stitched felt puppets out there that actually bring in money?” She said the last four with a single word per page. And you could’ve saved yourself a words in capitals too. It’s a recurring family theme you may whole lot of Napoleonic angst (more than 1000 pages of it) in have heard me mention before but it wasn’t like that when I nineteenth century St Petersburg had you been primed from a started out - bookselling was a career, with a pay packet and tender age with one of these. a real pension and everything. I began as a lowly junior and THE PENCIL by Paula Bossio - Gecko rrp £6.99. Also a board learned my trade. Obviously, if I knew then what I know now, I book, you might find it strange that I approve of tales without would have trained as a plumber instead. But don’t tell Trasha. text but I learned their worth long ago when working as an ON A BEAM OF LIGHT by Jennifer Berne & Vladimir Radunsky Early Years TA (in another career swerve). They encourage - Chronicle rrp £5.99. Instead, because I like getting wet, I took discussion and creativity in a way that a written script cannot a side-swerve and qualified as a swimming teacher too - hello and I’m particularly fond of this goofy graphite odyssey that William’s mum! You’d think that there’d be little in common with culminates in some acceptable wordless insolence. my two occupations but you’d be amazed how much the children talk about school and books while bouncing in the WIPE CLEAN CAPITAL LETTERS by Jessica Greenwell & water and World Book Day appears to have morphed into Kimberley Scott - Usborne rrp £4.99. While I was in the Dressing Up as a Superhero Day, which I’m entirely certain classroom, I learned the importance of general physical wasn’t the intention, but it has its own evolutionary arc I coordination in the development of writing. It seems suppose. Such as with Mikey, who, whilst executing a perfect far-fetched but those three year-olds that can climb and throw breast-stroke kick, informed us all he was going to school as are often the ones who scrawl their own names the soonest - Albert Einstein for his book week. That stopped the rest of the you’d be amazed at how many other kids begin nursery unable class in their Spiderman trunks, I can tell you. This picture to stand still in a star position or perform a simple jump on the book biography tells a neat tale of how the world’s most spot. Big shape-making translates into smaller letter forming famous scientist grew up to be, well, a legitimate superhero. and this series comes with a pen to practise with. I think you’ll LITTLE PEOPLE, BIG DREAMS, FRIDA KAHLO by agree that ‘wipe clean’ trounces most advanced digital Isabel Sánchez Vegara, illustrated by Gee Fan Eng - Frances technologies in its usefulness. Lincoln rrp £9.99. If, however, the small people in your life are MATHS ON THE GO by Rob Eastaway & Mike Askew - Square cruelly denied the practical (ergo, financially assured) gene in Peg rrp £9.99. As parents, there are many unpalatable aspects the grand gamete lottery, then it is likely they will be more like to our job description: dabbing various leaking extremities, most of my family - creative, but broke. This series discovers nit-combing, anything Twirly Woos, interminable assemblies, the early lives behind outstanding achievers and in Kahlo’s maths homework... Speaking as someone for whom case, the desire that drove her survival through some appalling mathematics at my county grammar basically meant mastering health and unhappiness, with her use of extraordinary colour a slide rule (nope), the homework thing was always going to be and exquisite introspection. Up there with Elvis and, indeed, a challenge with my kids and there were many tantrums after Einstein, she is now an everyday icon and another superhero school (mainly from me). This promises 101 ways to make for the unconventional costume wearer. maths ‘fun’ - no, really - for ages 4 to 14, whilst on car journeys, Also in the series, a celebration of one COCO CHANEL. cooking and even in the bath (though most 14 year-olds might Perhaps not quite so recognisable to yer average four year old have a word or two to say about that). but it is never too soon to introduce the offspring to the concept YOGA FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILD by Mark Singleton - of couture clothing. Especially if they are to understand they will Watkins rrp £12.99. Some of us are born spiritual, some of us never be able to afford it. prefer spirits, but there is an ineluctable truth that those who THE BRONTES, CHILDREN OF THE MOORS by Mick relax with a downward facing dog rather than a bottle of gin Manning & Brita Granstrom - Franklin Watts rrp £12.99. One of have a tendency to live longer (or maybe it’s like the old joke - the most memorable trips I took as a child was to Haworth. it just feels that way). Hailing as they do from East Dulwich, my Captivated by the unbearable romance of their tragedy, I still three were practically born chanting but thus far, I’ve never have a bookmark from the famous parsonage and a photo of really been tempted to swap the beer mat for a purple rubber me in the graveyard unable to contain the sob in my ten year- old throat. Some time later I suggested I attend the 5th Reigate one. However, I am all for a decent bendy stretch coupled with Brownie Pack Fancy Dress event as Charlotte but my mum said some proper breathing in the living room and I really like the nobody would know who I was, even if I repeatedly coughed idea of doing it alongside the children. If only they’d let me. into my Blackie edition of Jane Eyre and pretended I was dying Those of you who have watched me teach in the pool won’t of typhus. Instead, my sister got to go as Emmeline Pankhurst be surprised to hear that one of the things I wanted to be as a with a brilliant VOTES FOR WOMEN sash while I, unwitting tiddler was an actress (although I also wrote the 8th novel in the stooge to my forward thinking, well-meant parents, went as Narnia sequence aged 7, natch’). Perpetually referred to by my Diana Ross. Nobody flinched. father as his “little Jane Fonda,” my kids have absolutely no THE BOY & THE GLOBE by Tony Bradman - Barrington idea what it is to be properly embarrassed by a parent. At Stoke rrp £5.99. Of the many anniversaries that will be seventy-five, he still says it. My nephew however, Dinky Bill, marked this year, from the Easter Uprising to Roald Dahl’s wants to be a mermaid when he grows up, and who can blame birth, 400 years since the death of the bard (or 452 since his him? A life swishing about in water, calamares for breakfast birth, seeing as both events apparently occurred on the every day (only the Queen has that), sparkly bra tops on tap same date), looks set to be one of the most glorious. and an awful lot of effortless, well, fame. But most importantly, Renowned children’s author of yore Bradman lends his own he’ll never ever need to find an outfit for World Book Day again.

The Bookseller Crow, 50 Westow St. Crystal Palace, London SE19 3AF Telephone: 020 8771 8831 email: [email protected] www.booksellercrow.co.uk

f a m i - 9 families south eastfamiliesse.co.ukfamiliesse.co.uk - november / december 2015 march 2016 - families south east 9 l i e s s e . c What ’sNew Mother knew best Covering London and Surrey Despite huge changes in lifestyle and technology, the rise of divorce and working mothers, and a focus on If you need help finding your child-centric parenting, it looks like the old ways are perfect Nanny please call us on still the best, with just over half of UK mothers - 51% - thing is to trust your own instincts. There is no right or saying their parenting style is the same as their own wrong way of parenting and every mum or dad knows 0208 777 4211 parents’. their own child and, most importantly, what is best for All our nannies are personally interviewed In a new survey by WaterWipes, 37% of mothers their own child, whether that’s the tried and trusted and background checked to meet claim the way they raise their children is very similar techniques your parents used with you, or a new and our strict requirements. to how their parents looked after them, while a further different approach of your own. Only you know what’s Registration is free with a low placement 14% say their parenting style is exactly the same. best for your own family, so trust yourself and do it fee payable once a nanny has been placed It seems traditional values still hold strong, with your way, whichever way that is.” with your family. parents proudly claiming they learned their parenting Parenting may have changed but what mums and style at their own mother’s knee. Just nine per cent dads want today isn’t very different from what parents www.nannybank.co.uk of parents surveyed said their parenting style was wanted in the ‘60s ‘70s and ‘80s - happy, healthy completely different from that of their own parents, children. while 40% said it was quite different. WaterWipes are the only wipe made using just Parenting expert Kate Barlow commented: water and a drop of grapefruit seed extract. They are “Whether you’re raising your child along the same Injured? Postural fatigue? suitable from birth, help avoid nappy rash, and are the guidelines that you were reared yourself or you’re only baby wipe to be approved by Allergy UK. Under performing in doing it completely differently, the most important work or sports? Professional and effective solutions for your aches and pains. ‘Dad-friendly’ baby change The Vale Practice Sleep - the final frontier Osteopathy, Cranial Osteopathy, Acupuncture, Nutrition, facilities Send your little one into space with an out of this Massage, Counselling and Reflexology... One of the UK’s most pioneering fatherhood support world bedding set. 64 Grove Vale, London SE22 8DT Made from soft, high quality cotton, the digitally T. 020 8299 9798 networks has launched a campaign for more E. [email protected] dad-friendly baby changing facilities. printed astronaut and pillow set is bound to help www.thevalepractice.co.uk The Dad Network has launched a website to highlight your child dive into space in their dreams for a great w h ere the best - and worst - baby change facilities are night’s sleep. Bedtime will be a joy from now on! located. Princess, ballerina, pirate and fire fighter designs Al Ferguson, founder of The Dad Network and father are also available, each set priced £44.90 from of three children says, “Society is going through a www.design55online.co.uk, 0142 237 5940. cultural shift seeing more and more dads take active, Established 1979 hands-on roles in parenting and public facilities need to reflect this.” Many fathers have been in situations whereby they The springboard to have not been able to safely and hygienically change confidence for your child their own baby’s nappy. One member of The Dad Network was even refused a suitable place to change • Exciting physical play programme his baby in a UK hospital. • Specially designed equipment Inspired by Ashton Kutcher who last year • Supervised by trained staff campaigned for the same thing in the US, The Dad • Develops a child’s confidence, Network has created a webpage designed for dads to balance and co-ordination list & locate ‘Dad Friendly Facilities’ here in the UK. • First steps to an active life Users can upload the name and address of public • Great fun! • Parties available services (restaurants, cafes, points of interest etc), a For more information please call Julia on: photo of the facilities and information as to whether or 020 8464 4433 not it caters for fathers wishing to change their baby’s [email protected] nappy. These are then plotted onto a nationwide Classes in: Battersea, Clapham, map showing the locations of the dad friendly - and Dulwich, Blackheath unfriendly facilities. Go to www.tumbletots.com/dulwich www.thedadnetwork.co.uk/dadfriendly. Explore and play With a toucanBox, children are engaged for hours exploring themes ranging from bugs to outer space Wear a hat on 24 March while developing key skills such as concentration, numeracy, fine and gross motor skills, and problem If you’ve not already saved the solving. day, save it now! Wear A Hat Day Each box contains crafty projects, colourful step is the fun-filled, annual brain by step instruction manuals, and a magazine. The tumour awareness and fund boxes are suitable for 3-8 year-olds, and raising event helping to support available by subscription either fortnightly or research. monthly. For more information and a free trial box, Organiser Brain Tumour Research to go www.toucanbox.com. is signing up families, children and schools across the UK to don a hat and support the cause. Involving families and school children in the campaign is poignant, given that brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and adults under the age of 40. Children have lost parents, family members and teachers, and in many classrooms there remains a tragic reminder of a child whose life has been lost or damaged by this cruel cancer. Schools, nurseries, organisations and individuals can all find out how to register and take part at www.wearahatday.org. 10 families south east - march 2016 familiesse.co.uk SEVERNDROOG CASTLE WHERE’S WALLY? FUN RUN What ’sOn Diary Dates for Grownups DULWICH & DISTRICT NCT MOTHERING SUNDAY NEARLY NEW SALE CRUISE 5 March, St FAITH’S COMMUNITY CENTRE, 6 March, THE PIER HOUSE, Corney Reach Way, Red Post Hill, Herne Hill SE24 9JQ Chiswick W4 2UG, 020 8742 2713, www.chiswickpier.org.uk Grab yourself a bargain for your new arrival, roaming toddler or young child. There'll be baby, children's and Celebrate Mothering Sunday by going on a river cruise maternity clothes for sale as well as toys, books, a to Westminster and back with the option to treat your family to afternoon tea on board. 3pm depart, £16 whole host of baby equipment - and cake. 10.30am- adults, £10 under 10s, including tea £22 adults £16 12.30pm, admission £1 adults.. children. AFFORDABLE ART FAIR MOTHERING SUNDAY AT 10-13 March, BATTERSEA EVOLUTION, Battersea Park CHIDDINGSTONE CASTLE SW11 4NJ, 0871 231 0830, www.affordableartfair.co.uk 6 March, CHIDDINGSTONE CASTLE, Hill Hoath Road, Over 100 contemporary art galleries together under one Chiddingstone, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7AD, roof bring an eclectic mix of original artworks by living www.chiddingstonecastle.org.uk artists and priced from £100. Adult and child visitors Mothering Sunday Cream Teas will be served in the can also try out and develop their own artistic skills by elegant White Rose Drawing Room with its beautiful taking part in a series of art workshops and tours. 11am-6pm, tickets from £10. countryside views, historic paintings and the grand, oak panelled, galleried Great Hall. Enjoy freshly made IYENGAR YOGA DAY scones with Cornish clotted cream and jam, and a 12 March, MYCENAE HOUSE, 90 Mycenae Road, selection of delicious sandwiches and homemade Blackheath SE3 7SE, 020 8858 1749, cakes. If the weather is favourable, take a stroll among www.mycenaehouse.co.uk the ground’s daffodils and the cherry blossom on the Celebrate Iyengar Yoga day by joining Judith Jones, run Japanese Earthquake memorial trees. Some of the in aid of Carers Lewisham. This is an annual event and Castle’s exhibition rooms will be available for a brief visit always a really good day; and it is in aid of a great on the day. Tea served at 1pm or 4pm, £18 person, £9 cause within our community. Students should have a per child aged 6 and under. Book first by calling 01892 minimum of six months recent and regular experience 872746 or email [email protected]. of practising Iyengar Yoga; take your own mat etc. 10am-3.30pm, £35. For information and bookings, email [email protected]. CREATIVE WRITING GROUP DULWICH & DISTRICT 8 March and 12 April, SYDENHAM COMMUNITY TWINS CLUB NEARLY NEW LIBRARY, 210 Sydenham Road SE26 5SE, 020 8778 SALE 1753, https://sydenhamlibrary.wordpress.com 12 March, St FAITH'S CHURCH CENTRE, Red Post Hill, Do you have a story you’d like to tell? Have you always Herne Hill SE24 9JQ wanted to write your life story, or secretly started A wide range of good quality baby and children's working on a novel? Join Sydenham Library’s clothes, toys, books and equipment at excellent prices. supportive and friendly Creative Writing Group who All profits to Kings' College Hospital's premature baby meet at 6pm once a month. unit. 10am-12noon, admission £1 adults. The Great Outdoors

SEVERNDROOG CASTLE WHERE’S WALLY? FUN RUN SEVERNDROOG CASTLE, Castle Wood, Shooters Hill, 20 March, CLAPHAM COMMON SW4, SE18 3RT, www.severndroogcastle.org.uk www.innovationsports.co.uk/races/whereswally2016 Severndroog Castle was built as a memorial to Sir The Where’s Wally fun run is back, this year on William James in the late 1700s by his widow, Lady Clapham Common and once again raising funds for James. Thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, the the National Literacy Trust. There is a 1k race for under Gothic-style folly is now open to the public and offers 12s, plus 5k and 10k courses for adults. For more a spiral staircase to the tower viewing platform for views competitive runners aiming to beat their personal best, across London, a learning centre, cafe and outside there will also be chipped timing for an accurate race parkland. Regular family friendly events feature time. Free family activities in the festival area. Adults storytelling and creative arts & crafts which celebrate £22, under 12s £12 includes Wally costume; family the castle’s connection to either world culture, local tickets also available. Register online for full details, history or the surrounding woodlands. Open course maps and a fundraising pack. Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays 11am-3pm until STARGAZING EVENING 27 March, then 12.30-4.30pm 31 March - 28 October. 16 March, The LONDON WETLANDS CENTRE, Queen Admission £2.50 adult, child £2, family £6; children’s Elizabeth Walk, Barned SW13 9WT, 020 8409 4400, activities £2.50. www.wwt.org.uk MOTHER’S DAY FLOWERS, 6 March. Make paper Expand your horizons by discovering more about the flowers to put a smile on Mummy’s face. stars, the planets in our solar system and the galaxies WOODLAND TRAIL, 31 March, 1, 7 + 8 April. Explore beyond. Start with a short talk in the theatre then admire the Oxleas Woodlands Trail from the castle to the secret some of the wonders of the universe such as Jupiter garden. and its moons, Venus and a galaxy about 10 million EASTER EGG HUNT, 3 April. A hunt plus storytelling light years away. 6.30-8.30pm, £10. and crafts.

familiesse.co.uk march 2016 - families south east 11 BRIXTON WINDMILL MINI VAULT FESTIVAL HORNIMAN MUSEUM THE FAN MUSEUM, GREENWIC More What ’sOn Find even more activities: www.familiesse.co.uk then click What's On

SAINSBURY’S SPORT RELIEF MILE BRIXTON WINDMILL 2016 BRIXTON WINDMILL, Windmill Gardens SE2 5EU, 20 March, DOWNHAM HEALTH & LEISURE CENTRE, Glenbow Road, www.brixtonwindmill.org Bromley BR1 5EP, 020 8461 9200, email [email protected], A windmill in south London - yes! Visit the ‘two mills in one’ and hear www.sportrelief.com the intriguing story of the Ashby family. You will see the original Sign up to run or walk to raise life-changing money for Sport Relief 2016. wind-powered machinery and find out how it was once used to make From little ones with their mums and dads, to runners up against the stone ground flour. Tours take around 40 minutes and need pre-booking. clock there’s something for everyone to make themselves feel proud, This year is Brixton Windmill’s 200th anniversary year and the Friends of plus entertainment and refreshments throughout the day. Half of all the Windmill Garden (FOWG) are organising a series of events throughout money raised by the public is spent in the UK, with the other half used to the year, to celebrate. make a difference in the world’s poorest communities. The Games run OPEN WEEKEND, 26+27 March, 9+10 April. Book a guided tour, from 18-20 March across the UK. Read and register more at admire the Sail Unveil installation by Eley Kishimoto, follow a Treasure SEA LIFE LONDON AQUARIUM www.sportrelief.com. Hunt around Brixton sponsored by local businesses, and be one of the first to buy the new Brixton Windmill guide book. 2-5pm. ILLUSTRATED BOOK BINDING, 26 March. Join artist Daniel Lehan to create and illustrate a story inspired by characters featured in the Drawing on Childhood exhibition. Learn traditional methods of Events and Attractions bookmaking to produce a bound copy of your own story. Sessions from 10.30am, 1 and 3pm, ages 5+, free for children and up to two accompanying adults. MINI RUMPUS: UNDER THE SEA SEA LIFE LONDON AQUARIUM SHH! WE HAVE A PLAN, 5 April. Illustrator Chris Haughton leads a PARTY SEA LIFE London Aquarium, County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road SE1 very special family workshop inspired by his hilarious children’s book 5 March, THE VAULTS, Leake Street, Waterloo SE1 7NN, 7PB, 0871 663 1678, www.visitsealife.com/london Shh! We Have a Plan. Join the fun adventure to capture a beautiful bird www.vaultfestival.com/mini-vault See thousands of sea creatures in over two million litres of water, living in perched high in a tree, using puppets and collage. Sessions from A non-stop, tip-top, over-the-top, animalistic, carnivalistic party over 65 displays over three floors. Brave the Shark Reef Encounter, join 10.30am, 1 and 3pm, free for children and up to two accompanying extravaganza for under 11s and their adults, to end this year’s VAULT in with public feeding sessions and watch the diving displays. There are adults. Festival. Dance all day, see a show and get involved with crazy craft real penguins too! Open from 10am daily, admission from £19.98 adults, SPINNING TALES, 23 April. Led by artist Jan Cullen, explore characters activities! This event is all about dressing up - transform yourselves £14.41 children. in the exhibition Drawing on Childhood and create an optical toy that into sea creatures and prepare for a musical procession and live WEIRD AND WONDERFUL RAINFOREST CREATURES, 1-31 March. brings the story of these child heroes to life. Ages 5+, sessions from performance by twisted brass band Perhaps Contraption. Take a Learn about the creatures that can be found lurking beneath the forests’ 10.30am, 1 and 3pm, free for children and up to two accompanying ringside seat for incredible circus acts and hula-hooping with Marawa’s tropical treetops. From blind cave fish - who have no eyes, to red-bellied adults. Majorettes and join the internationally celebrated Rumpus Kazoo piranhas, poison fart frogs to a Cuban crocodile called Spice, guests Orchestra! 11am-2pm, tickets £14 adults, £10 children, babies free. had better keep their wits about them as they learn the importance of protecting this precious environment from destruction, with free family SCIENCE MUSEUM friendly games and activities available throughout the attraction. SCIENCE MUSEUM, Exhibition Road SW7 2DD, 0870 870 4868, THE HORNIMAN MUSEUM www.sciencemuseum.org.uk HORNIMAN MUSEUM and gardens, 100 London Road, Forest Hill SE23, 020 8699 1872, www.horniman.ac.uk Aiming to be the best place in the world for people to enjoy science, the Science Museum makes sense of the science that shapes our lives, Museum open 10.30am-5.30pm daily, general admission free, charges TREASURES OF THE FAN MUSEUM Until 5 June, THE FAN MUSEUM, 12 Crooms Hill, Greenwich SE10 sparking curiosity, releasing creativity and changing the future by apply for special exhibitions and the aquarium. The museum’s music engaging people of all generations and backgrounds in science, 8ER, 020 8305 1441, www.thefanmuseum.org.uk gallery and hands-on base, regular weekend and holiday drop-ins and engineering, medicine, technology, design and enterprise. Open daily workshops allow family visitors to explore the collection through arts and The UK’s only museum dedicated to the history of fans and craft of 10am-6pm except 24-26 December. crafts, music, stories and hands-on sessions. All this within 16 acres of fan making celebrates its twentieth fifth anniversary in 2016, and is LAUNCHPAD SCIENCE SHOWS. The largest free interactive science beautiful green space which has the oldest nature trail in London, an celebrating with a curators’ hand-picked collection of eye-poppingly animal corner and a Farmers’ Market every Saturday. gallery in the UK is packed with exhibits which allow visitors to launch a beautiful carved, painted, lacquered, gilt and feather fans dating back rocket, turn their head into a sound box and control a magnetic cloud. ANIMAL KINGDOM, until 6 March. Natural History images by artist Jim hundreds of years. Open 11am-5pm Tuesdays to Saturdays, noon-5pm Ages 8-14, free. Naughten are brought to three-dimensional life through stereoscopic Sundays, Admission £4 adults, £3 children. COSMONAUTS, BIRTH OF THE SPACE AGE, until 13 March. In 1957 photography. The display features 11 pairs of striking photographs of Russia launched the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into space mounted skeletons and wet specimens including a Great Indian Hornbill, and just four years later sent the first ever human - Yuri Gagarin. Discover an Atlantic White Spotted Octopus, a Red Faced Spider Monkey and a the dramatic story of how Russia turned the dream of space travel into a Transparent Chameleon. THE FOUNDLING MUSEUM 40 Brunswick Square, Camden Town WC1N 1AZ, 020 7841 3600, reality and became the first nation to explore space in this once-in-a-life - DINOSAURS - MONSTER FAMILIES, until 30 October. Discover the www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk time exhibition. Tickets £14, concessions available. fascinating world of dinosaurs and how they looked after their eggs, THE MECHANICS OF GENIUS, until 4 August. Predominantly nests and babies through interactive exhibits, specimens from around Britain’s first home for abandoned children and London’s first public art gallery, The Foundling Museum reveals the stories of the Foundling recognised as one of history’s greatest painters, Leonardo da Vinci the world and life-size models. Meet a replica of ‘Baby Louie’, the was also a uniquely gifted scientist and engineer. This major interactive near-complete skeleton of a dinosaur hatchling, dig in the discovery Hospital’s founder Thomas Coram, the artist William Hogarth and composer George Frideric Handel. It houses significant collections of exhibition brings to life the intricate mechanical concepts of this restless pit, touch a real dinosaur leg bone and come face-to-face with T-Rex’s and curious mind. Entry £10, £7 concessions. relative - a life-size Tarbosaurus skeleton cast. An exciting programme of eighteenth-century art, interiors, social history and music. Open 10am- dinosaur-themed events and activities will also run throughout the year to 5pm Tuesdays to Saturdays and from 11am Sundays. Admission free complement the exhibition. Entry £7 adults, £4 children, £17 families, for under 16s, £8.25 adults. under 3s free. DRAWING ON CHILDHOOD, until 1 May. Drawing on Childhood brings NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM together the work of major illustrators from the eighteenth century to the NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, Cromwell Road SW7 5BD, 020 7942 present day with powerful images of characters in fiction who are 5000, www.nhm.ac.uk BANK OF ENGLAND MUSEUM orphaned, adopted, fostered or found. Original drawings, first editions Dinosaurs, volcanoes, precious gems and creepy crawlies - discover BANK OF ENGLAND MUSEUM, Threadneedle Street, London EC2R, and special illustrated editions feature characters as diverse as James the diversity of the natural world through the nation’s finest collection 020 7601 5545, www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum Trotter (James and the Giant Peach), Hetty Feather, Rapunzel and of natural history specimens. Fascinating exhibitions display up to 70 The Bank of England Museum tells the story of the Bank of England from Cinderella, by artists including Quentin Blake, George Cruikshank, million plants, animals, fossils, rocks and minerals, with a hands-on its foundation in 1694 to its role today as the UK’s central bank. Examine David Hockney, Phiz (Hablot K. Browne), Arthur Rackham, Thomas education centre where you can meet real scientists at work. Museum intricately-designed banknotes, feel the weight of a genuine gold bar and Rowlandson, Nick Sharratt and Stref. open 10am-5.50pm, admission free. see the pikes and muskets that were once used to defend the Bank. BACH TO BABY, 17 March and 14 April. A classical concert for babies DINO SNORES, 19 March, 23 April, 14 May, 11 June, 2 July. Discover Children’s activity sheets provide fun for younger visitors. Open 10am- and their families, performed by mother and pianist Miaomiao Yu along what really happens at the museum when the staff and visitors have 5pm Mondays to Fridays, admission free. with other internationally renowned musicians. Inspired by Handel’s gone home. Children aged 7-11 years, from 7pm to 9.50am the following EASTER ADVENTURE, 29 March - 8 April. Follow the trail to find the involvement with the Foundling Hospital, and performed in the Museum’s day. Tickets £60. chicks and egg hidden in the museum. You can then colour in an Easter Picture Gallery, Bach to Baby brings the past alive through music and WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR, until 10 April. Visit the animal mask of your choice to take home. There is a chocolate egg for song, for little ones and their families. 10.30am-11.30am, adults £10 on museum’s world-renowned annual exhibition to see the best wildlife every child. 10am-4.30pm. the door, children free. photographs on the planet. 10am to 5.30pm, admission from £6.75.

12 families south east - march 2016 familiesse.co.uk CH BACH TO BABY FOUNDLING MUSEUM

HMS BELFAST V&A MUSEUM OF CHILDHOOD On the THAMES at The Queen’s Walk by Morgans Lane, Tooley Street SE1 Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green E2 9PA, 020 8983 5200, 2JH, www.iwm.org.uk www.museumofchildhood.org.uk Discover the exciting stories of those who served HMS Belfast; exploring This gem of a museum houses dolls, dolls’ houses, puppets, teddy bears, the nine decks where sailors once hurried up and down its ladders, or take games, childcare, clothing, furniture and art and photography. Everyday a look at the mess desk where her 950-strong crew ate and slept. Open drop-in activities include storytelling, arts and crafts, and trails. There’s dressing-up, role play and an under 3’s area, an indoor sandpit, and 10am-5pm, admission £16 adults, children £8, family tickets from £28. regular special events. Open 10am-5.45pm daily, admission free. GUN TURRET EXPERIENCE. Immerse yourself in the Gun Turret IT’S A HARD WORLD FOR LITTLE THINGS, until 17 July. Children Experience, a chance to see what fighting at sea would have really been Carrying Heavy Objects is a series of six large-scale drawings that depict like. Overlooking the front of the ship, or Fo’c’sle, is the forward most of children and the burdens that they carry. The graphite drawings by C A HMS Belfast’s Triple Gun Turrets. Lights, audio, videos and projections will Halpin show children carrying physical, societal and political loads such as: recreate the experience, highlighting the hectic and cramped water; a blackboard; each other; in grief and love, or in the loneliness of a conditions that would have seen twenty-six men in this confined space runaway boy. The images explore children’s absolute will to survive in a at any one time. Entry included in general admission price. sometimes-hostile adult world and reflects the plight of children on a global and domestic scale; the show features local children and others from CRACKING CODES, 12+13 March. Intercept messages, map hazards around the world. on a sea chart and make up your own secret code. Learn about the skills intelligence officers had to have as well as some of the dangers that SHORT FILMS MARATHON, 25-27 March. See back-to-back screenings of Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate’s animated classics including the surrounded HMS Belfast at sea. 11am-12.30pm and 2-4pm. Clangers, Bagpuss, Noggin the Nog and Ivor the Engine. Free drop-in for TATTOO T-SHIRTS: DAVY JONES’S LOCKER, 25 March - 10 April. all ages, 2-4pm. Impress your friends and family by designing your very own t-shirt, inspired MUSEUM OF LONDON by traditional navy tattoos, nautical superstitions and the sailor legend of MUSEUM OF LONDON DOCKLANDS, West India Quay E14, 020 7001 Davy Jones’s Locker. 11am-12.30pm and 2-4pm. 9844, www.museumoflondon.org.uk/docklands, and MUSEUM OF DARNING AND YARNING, 13-21 February, All sailors past and present LONDON, London Wall EC2Y 5HN, 020 7001 9844, have needed to know how to sew, from repairing sails to their own socks. www.museumoflondon.org.uk Climb aboard HMS Belfast to create a new sailors’ cross stitch work and Open daily 10am-6pm, admission free. Regular programmes of weekend find out more about the Royal Navy and life on board ship. and holiday events and workshops help visitors find out more about London’s history, covering events such as the Great Plague, Londoners’ jobs and occupations, and Roman life. On Sundays, museum hosts help visitors explore the galleries through fun, hands-on activities at 11am IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM and 2pm. IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, Lambeth Road, London SE1, 020 7416 5000, ROYAL MUSEUMS GREENWICH www.iwm.org.uk National Maritime Museum, Queen’s House, Royal Observatory and IWM London tells the story of wars through the recollection of people who Cutty Sark, Greenwich SE10, 020 8858 4422, www.rmg.co.uk lived through them, both fighting the cause and at home. Family-friendly Royal Museums Greenwich holds the world’s largest maritime collection. attractions a recreated Family in Wartime house, and creative and object It is housed in historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich discovery sessions for families on Sundays. Open 10am-6pm daily except World Heritage Site and incorporates the Royal Observatory Greenwich, Babysitting 24-26 December, admission free. the 17th-century Queen’s House, and Cutty Sark. The Museums works to illustrate for everyone the importance of the sea, ships, time and the stars HOLOCAUST LEARNING SESSION, 19-20 March and 30 April. This free and their relationship with people, and is also a major centre of education and Flexible Childcare discussion and replica object handling session is a useful starting point for and research. On Saturdays and Sundays free performances and families who wish to learn about the Holocaust. Suitable for children aged workshops entertain family visitors, while on Tuesdays preschoolers can S 11 and above, 11.30am and 2.30pm starts. make music and play with parents and carers. Open 10am-5pm daily. 100% DB ED MAKE A MOVING ANIMATION, 25-31 March and 1-10 April. Create General admission is free; some buildings, special exhibitions and events CHECK CARERS have an admission fee. CHILD NEW- your own spinning drawing, based on a popular 19th century toy called a dow nload our free Thaumatrope. Mark 100 years since the introduction of the iconic British WOMEN MAKING WAVES, 19+20 March. To mark Women’s History babysitting • Babysitting app! Brodie helmet during the First World War and come up with your own hat Month, spend a weekend investigating the role of women in the traditionally and helmet drawings, and find out how to make them move like an male domain of exploration, through a series of talks, workshops, guided • Flexible Daytime Childcare tours and children’s activities. 11am-5pm, prices vary. animation. 11am-4pm. • Temporary Nannies SAMUEL PEPYS, PLAGUE, FIRE, REVOLUTION, until 28 March 2016. SECRET WAR. From the development of MI5 and MI6 before the First Pepys, one of the most colourful characters of the 17th-century, witnessed • Part Time Nannies World War, to Cold War intelligence-gathering and the contemporary use many of the great events that shaped Stuart Britain, bringing them brilliantly • PHeorlmidaanye Nnat nNnainens ies of highly-trained elite forces, the exhibition examines the facts behind the to life in his famous and candid diary. The exhibition has 200 objects from secrecy and why the need for secret agencies remains a subject of museums, galleries and private collections. 10am-5pm, tickets £12 adults, continued debate today. £6 children. 0844 879 7189 www.likeminders.co.uk

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familiesse.co.uk march 2016 - families south east 13 COSMONAUTS AT THE SCIENCE MUSEUM DINO SNORES AT THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM HMS BELFAST More What ’sOn Find even more activities: www.familiesse.co.uk then click What's On

SEA FOOD! 28+30 March. Fish and chips, scampi, cockles and FULHAM PALACE mussels alive alive-oh! We get a lot of food from the sea, so get inspired FULHAM PALACE, Bishop’s Avenue, Fulham SW6 6EA, 020 7736 3233, and create your own fantastic pretend food. 11.30am and 1.30pm, free. www.fulhampalace.org SEASIDE STAND-INS, 29+30 March. Become a pirate, a mermaid, The Museum of Fulham Palace charts the long history of the palace site, a monster or a captain as you make a full-size carnival-style backdrop. from Prehistoric times and Roman settlement, through Medieval, Tudor, All that’s missing is your head! 11.30am and 1.30pm, free. Georgian and Victorian bishops to the present day. The museum collection includes paintings, archaeology and artefacts. Open noon-4pm Sundays, 12.30-3.30pm Mondays to Thursdays, CUTTY SARK admission free. CUTTY SARK CUTTY SARK, King William Walk, Greenwich SE10 9HT, 020 8858 2698, www.rmg.co.uk/cuttysark The world famous 19th century tea clipper offers visitors four levels to Theatre, Shows and Music explore. Take in the views from the main deck and steer at the ship’s wheel, meet the crew who worked on board, explore the various cargoes from wool to whiskey, and see how tea was loaded on board through BLACKHEATH HALLS META, 8+9 March. Science and art collide in this funny, powerful Forum interactive displays, props, information boards and animations. Family Recital Rooms, BLACKHEATH HALLS, 23 Lee Road SE3 9RQ, Theatre show developed with students from the borough of Tower friendly events run at weekends and during school holidays. Open 10am- 020 8305 9300, www.trinitylaban.ac.uk Hamlets. Neuroscientific findings are shared through physical theatre, video projection and sound design giving an insight into what happens 5pm Tuesdays to Sundays, admission £7 children, £13.50 adults, from THE MAGIC BEANSTALK, 5 March. Set in present day Cornwall, £24 families. Bundled tickets are available with the other Royal Museum to our brain (and the rest of us) as we grow up. Ages 12+, pay what you beautiful hand carved puppets, illusion and amazing experiments are can. Greenwich attractions. used to re-tell the classic story of Jack and the Giant who lives through PORT OF LONDON, 5+6 March. Cutty Sark visited London more than the clouds and over the rainbow. Ages 5+. 3pm, £7. THE OLD WOMAN, THE BUFFALO AND THE LION OF MANDING, any other port in the world, but how has the city changed in the last 150 18 March. The birth of Sundiata Keita, visionary leader of the great HOW THE KOALA LEARNT TO HUG, 12 March. Written especially for Malian empire, is told across West Africa as a story of kingship and years? Help create a modern port of London with famous buildings and parents to enjoy with their children, this is a charming new musical about places that are important to you. 11.30am and 2pm. battle. In this powerful and uplifting performance, three exceptional the magic of family and, of course, the importance of a nice warm hug! artists share the rarely heard story of the legendary ruler’s mother and NANNIE THE WITCH, 13+27 March. Dance, sing and set sail on an Ages 3+, 3pm, £7. grandmother and the extraordinary circumstances of his birth. Filled with adventure with Nannie, Cutty Sark’s figurehead. 11am, 12, 1.30 and NOYE’S FLUDDE, 7+8 April. For the fourth year running Blackheath traditional songs of the Gban people, this show has enthralled audiences 2.30pm. Halls will be staging the children’s opera. Britten’s Noye’s Fludde was across the UK and Europe. Ages 14+, tickets £12, concessions £10. TOUR IN BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE (BSL), 12 March. Join deaf written with children performers in mind. All ages, 2 and 6pm, £10 adults, THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE, 19 March. Charlie Hubble is a little historian, John Wilson, for a tour of Cutty Sark and its history in BSL. £5 children. boy with a very big dream: he wants to be a world-class magician. When Explore the 1869 clipper, celebrated for its record-breaking passages he meets Mr Zacoor - a real life Sorcerer - at the toy shop, a magical around the globe and find out about life on board and the story of this adventure begins. This delightful new show comes to life with an ship’s survival. 11am and 1.30pm, £17 adult, £13.50 concessions. ROYAL OPERA HOUSE irresistible blend of music, puppetry and storytelling. Ages 3+, tickets £7, AHOY CAPTAIN! 19 +20, 25-31 March. Meet Captain Woodget, Cutty ROYAL OPERA HOUSE, Bow Street, London WC2E 9D, 07304 4000, families £24. Sark’s longest serving master, to learn about life on board the fastest tea www.roh.org.uk BLAKE: REMIXED, 24 March. World record-holding beatboxer and clipper. 11am, 12noon, 1.30 and 2.30pm. FAMILY SUNDAYS, Last Sunday of each month. Explore the Royal acclaimed rapper Testament smashes together UK hip hop with the EASTER EGG HUNT, 25-28 March. Cutty Sark’s chickens have been Opera House, its artists and the world of opera and ballet. Sundays are poetry of William Blake.† 7.30pm, tickets £12, £10 concs. laying their eggs in some strange places, how many can you spot packed full of creative and practical activities for all the family including around the ship? Join in the hunt for a chance to win a family ticket to informal performances from Royal Ballet dancers, plus interactive singing Camp Bestival! WE’RE STUCK! and dance activities. Ages 6+, 12-4pm, £5 adults, £3 children. 25 March - 1 April, SHOREDITCH TOWN HALL, 380 Old Street, London LAND YACHTS, 29-31 March. Make your own amazing land yacht FIRST OPERA: WELCOME PERFORMANCES. Welcome EC1V 9LT, www.shoreditchtownhall.com powered by the wind, just like Cutty Sark, and take part in some fun Performances are for families who have never been to a ballet or opera science demos to find out about ships and sailing. 11.30 and 2pm. A brand new interactive theatre show takes children on a fun adventure at the Royal Opera House before. You don’t need to know anything with scientists and robots and could change their whole attitude to about either - just come along and give it a try. Tickets £5-£20. maths. Inspired by the extraordinary abilities and limitations of our brains, award-winning theatre-maker Sarah Punshon uses the latest educational THE BRITISH MUSEUM neuroscience to tackle how utterly rubbish our brains can be. Ever got BRITISH MUSEUM, Great Russell Street WC1B 3DG, 020 7323 8181, ALBANY THEATRE terribly stuck on a problem? Ever made a stupid mistake and felt like a www.britishmuseum.org ALBANY THEATRE, Douglas Way, Deptford SE8 4AG, 020 8692 4446, fool? Then this show is for you. Suitable for ages 8-11 years, tickets £11. The British Museum was founded in 1753, the first national public www.thealbany.org.uk museum in the world. Each year nearly 6 million visitors pour through the THE PARTY, 6 March. A circus show for all the family that humorously FAMILY MAGIC SHOW doors to see the museum’s collection of ancient and historical artefacts explores difficult topics such as sharing, social exclusion and not always 28 March, THE IVY HOUSE, 40 Stuart Road, Nunhead SE15 3BE, including the ever-popular Egyptian mummies, or to take in the latest getting what you want. Ages 3+, 1pm and 3pm, tickets £7, families £24. www.magicmindreadingandmayhem.co.uk block-buster exhibition. Open 10am-5.30pm daily, admission free, DISCO KIDS: THE HOP, 13 March. A very special Disco Kids charge for some exhibitions. A show featuring two magical acts from Klassy & Amigo’s Magic, where celebrating the arrival of the Easter bunny. Brilliant music from DJ Gene live animals will be plucked from thin air and one lucky person will be cut DIGITAL DISCOVERY CENTRE, weekends. Learn, discover and create Jeanie will get your little chicks bouncing around the dancefloor with the in half. Plenty of audience participation; a chance to meet Fluffy the in the Museum’s digital centre. Free activities and workshops using the C-12 dancers. 2-5pm, family tickets £20. Rabbit and a Free Bunny Copter to take home. 1pm and 4pm starts, latest Samsung digital equipment, enabling children to bring the world’s tickets £6 children, £7.50 adults, £20 family of four. history and cultures to life through advanced technology. LITTLE FEET: MARCH TO THE MUSIC, 16 March. Take a break at the CANADA WATER CULTURE SPACE museum with this gallery-based session including stories, rhymes and CANADA WATER LIBRARY, 21 Surrey Quays Road, Rotherhithe SE16 GREENWICH THEATRE GREENWICH THEATRE, Crooms Hill, Greenwich SE10 8ES, 020 8858 creative play activities for under 5s. 10.30am-12 noon. 7AR, 020 7525 2931, www.canadawaterculturespace.org.uk 7755, www.greenwichtheatre.org.uk GEORGE EGG: ANARCHIST COOK, 4 March. George Egg spends a THE MARVELLOUS IMAGINARY MENAGERIE, 25 March. Ever lot of time staying in hotels and, unimpressed with room service, he has wanted to count a Decapus’s legs? Or wondered what a Whistling Pank FIREPOWER - THE ROYAL ARTILLERY taken matters into his own hands. Whilst performing a mind-bending eats? Would you like to catch a glimpse of the fabled ‘Massive Paw’, or MUSEUM show of comedy-cum-illustrated lecture, George prepares a three-course lick a Tresillian Toad? Or perhaps see a cow that looks like Brian May? ROYAL ARSENAL, Woolwich SE18 6ST, 020 8855 7755, meal on the kind of ‘catering’ equipment hotels unwittingly provide Then you’ve come to the right place! Dr Longitude and his team of www.firepower.org.uk (including irons, kettles and a trouser press). You can taste it at the end... “experts” are here to guide you through a puppet-packed, ludicrously Firepower, the Royal Artillery Museum in Woolwich tells the powerful and if you want to. Ages 14+, tickets £12, concessions £10. lyrical and magically musical tour of the Imaginary Menagerie’s finest dramatic story of artillery, scientific discoveries made through warfare ORION AND THE DARK, 5 March. Orion is scared of more or less exhibits. From the acclaimed creators of Alice’s Adventures Under - and human stories of courage and endeavour. The ‘ground shaking’ everything, but there is one thing that scares him more than anything ground, The Trench, and Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs, Les Field of Fire audio-visual show puts you in the midst of battle as shells else - the DARK! Join Orion on an adventure as he faces his biggest fear Enfants Terribles tour with the silliest, funniest and most entertaining whizz overhead and guns roar. Open 10am-5pm Tuesdays to Saturdays. and finds out it’s friendly. A heart-warming tale of friendship and over - family shows to date - suitable for big kids and small grown-ups! 2pm, Admission £2.50 children, £5.30 adults, £12.50 families. coming your fears. 1 and 3pm, ages 3+, tickets £7, family ticket £24. tickets £11 children, £13.50 adults, £40 families.

14 families south east - march 2016 familiesse.co.uk SORCERER’S APPRENTICE

SAMUEL PEPYS SNOW WHITE KLASSY & AMIGO’S MAGIC SHOW LEAPER MINOTAUR

LEAPER, 28+29 March. Something fishy’s going on! Although it sounds THE FAIRFIELD like a tale from a children’s story, the reality is that fish are starting to FAIRFIELD HALLS, Park Lane, Croydon CR9 1DG, 020 8688 9291, disappear from our rivers and seas. Why, and how can one little girl help www.fairfield.co.uk stop it? Leaper: A Fish tale follows one fish’s magical quest against the THE GREAT GATSBY, 11+12 March. A sizzling new stage adaptation ever-growing natural and man-made monsters in our seas. Ages 4+, from nationally acclaimed Blackeyed Theatre, recreating the sights, tickets £11 adults, £8.50 children. sounds and feel of America’s roaring twenties as seen through the eyes COMEDY CLUB 4 KIDS, 31 March. Since 2005, the Comedy Club 4 of Nick Carraway and adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece. Kids has been getting the best stand-ups and sketch acts from the Tickets £21.50, concessions £18.50. international circuit to do their thing for an audience of children and their THE RAILWAY CHILDREN, 23-26 March. Join Bobbie, Peter and families - but without the rude bits! It’s just like a normal comedy club, Phyllis on the adventure of a lifetime in this musical adaptation by but it’s on in the day, kids are allowed in, and thus there is a higher than Stephen Kingsbury and Ben Sleep. Tickets £20.50, concessions £17. usual chance of heckles like “why is that your face!?” 2pm, tickets £11, children £8.50. HERE BE MONSTERS, 29 March. Join the villainous Captain Cut-Throat and his fearsome crew in a sea-faring adventure packed full COMEDY CLUB 4 KIDS of magical story-telling, original music and thrills galore! Ages 3+, tickets UNICORN THEATRE £12.50 adults, £10.50 children. UNICORN THEATRE, 147 Tooley Street SE1 2HZ, 020 7645 0560, www.unicorntheatre.com THE WIZARD OF OZ, 30+31 March. Dorothy and her cute dog Toto enter the wonderful Land of Oz. During their travels down the yellow brick MINOTAUR, until 2 April. In Crete, in an impossible labyrinth, lives a road they meet some lovely friends including a Scarecrow, a Tin Man fearsome and lonely beast with the head of a bull and the body of a man. and even a Lion who really wants some courage. The four new friends Only his sister Ariadne cares for him, and she dreams of setting them travel to see the great and powerful Wizard of Oz, but won’t be easy as both free from the rule of their selfish father, the King. This playful, clever the Wicked Witch of the West is determined to stop them by any means retelling of the well known Greek myth is an action-packed treat. Ages necessary! Family tickets £71. 8+, tickets from £10. JERAMEE, HARTLEBY AND OOOGLEMORE, until 20 March. Where is Jeramee? Who is making that noise? What is under the sheet and why does it keep moving? Delivered with wit, impeccable timing and plenty of POLKA THEATRE clowning around, this show is a surprising and surreal encounter with POLKA THEATRE, 240 Broadway, Wimbledon SW19 1SB, 020 8543 three people who have a lot to say - and only three words with which to 4888, www.polkatheatre.com say it. Ages 3+, tickets £10 children, £16 adults. THE PAPER DOLLS, 1-13 March. When a little girl makes a string of UP CLUB, Saturdays. Join the Unicorn play club every Saturday. Take paper dolls, she takes them by the hand on a fantastical adventure. part in free activities from rocket building to portrait painting, giant Jenga Whirling through their home and garden they fly through the air, dodging tournaments, cake decorating and lots more. 12noon-1.30pm. the clutches of a toy dinosaur, a snapping oven-glove crocodile and a very real pair of scissors. A lyrical tale from the award-winning author of THE WONDERCRUMP WORLD SOUTHBANK The Gruffalo. Tickets £12. SOUTHBANK CENTRE, Belvedere Road SE1 8PX, 0844 847 9944, DOGS DON’T DO BALLET, 2-6 March. Join Ballet Black for a magical www.southbankcentre.co.uk performance based on the best-selling book by Anna Kemp and THE WONDERCRUMP WORLD OF ROALD DAHL, until 3 July. choreographed by Christopher Marney, full of fun, magic and one Did you know that Roald Dahl used to be a spy? And also a fighter very special dog! Tickets £13.50. pilot, inventor and historian of chocolate? Learn about Roald Dahl’s KITE, 10-13 March. A lonely girl is taken to live in her grandma’s flat extraordinary life and the surprising inspiration for his most famous where the windows are shut tight. Her memories of seagulls and sand characters and stories. The tour features unique items from the Roald dunes begin to fade until one night a handmade kite comes to life and Dahl Museum & Story Centre archives. Ages 8-12, £10 adult, £8 child. heralds the start of an adventure as wild as the wind. Kite comes alive UNDER 10s FEMINIST CORNER - GIRLS, 12+13 March. Are you a with original music, dance, puppetry and of course kites. Tickets from budding young feminist? Do you think girls should have the same £10. opportunities in life as boys? If so, we’ve got the perfect session for you. NIPT, 18-20 March. Meet two neighbours who are too tall for their house. Join other young feminists for an interactive workshop exploring what They seem to be made for each other. They borrow each other’s sugar, being a girl means, and get tips on how to start a campaign in your tea, vacuum cleaner, the odd egg, old family photographs and a piece bedroom. Ages 6-10, free. of wall. But what happens when they move in together? Ages 6+, FAMILY GAMELAN TASTER WORKSHOPS, until 26 March. tickets from £10. DRAGON BABIES AT SOUTHBANK Regarded as one instrument played by lots of people, the Gamelan SNOW WHITE, 23 March - 10 April. With endless meals to prepare, a generates rich, sonorous and mesmerising sounds. Learn to play music never ending pile of dishes to wash - not to mention the huge mirror that and find out about the stories attached to it. Ages 6+, £10 adults, £5 needs polishing morning, noon and night - life’s never easy for the royal child. servants downstairs at the palace. And why does the Queen keep asking DRAGON BABIES, until 18 July. Bring your little ones to shake, rattle for more apples? Tickets £13.50. and gong! This fun session invites you to experience the sounds of Southbank Centre’s beautiful Gamelan (Javanese orchestra) and introduce your Dragon Babies to creative musical play through singing, movement and percussion. No previous musical experience is needed, LYRIC THEATRE HAMMERSMITH just a willingness to take off your shoes, sit on the floor and have fun! LYRIC HAMMERSMITH, Lyric Square, Kings Street, London, W6 0QL, Ages 3-5 years, £5 for one child and adult. 020 8741 6850, www.lyric.co.uk THE REAL MERMAID, 5 March. An exciting adventure on the high seas with pirates, monstrous sea creatures and mermaid treasure. Follow the BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL intrepid Amelia Buttersnap on her journey full of magic and mutinous VICTORIA PALACE THEATRE, Victoria Street SW1E 5EA, 0844 248 5000, rats. 11am and 1pm, tickets £8. www.billyelliotthemusical.com THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER, 12 March. Shoes! Ah, new Set against the background of the 1984/85 miners’ strike, Billy Elliot the shoes... Delightful on the feet. Soft, dancing shoes; swarthy pirate shoes; Musical is the inspirational story of one boy’s struggle to realise his silver buckle and silken souls. No one makes shoes like an elf. 11am and THE RAILWAY CHILDREN dream to dance against the odds. Featuring a timeless score by Elton 1pm, tickets £8. John, sensational dance and a powerful story, Billy Elliot is an uplifting LEAPER - A FISH TALE, 19 March. Using a signature blend of intricate and spectacular theatrical experience that will stay with you forever. LORD OF THE FLIES, 15-19 March. When a group of schoolboys Tickets from £29.50, family tickets from £105. puppetry and mesmeric music, Leaper follows one fish’s arduous quest against the ever-growing natural and manmade challenges of the sea. survive a catastrophic plane crash, what starts as a desert island 11am and 1pm, tickets £8. adventure quickly descends into a struggle for survival in a darkly TWELFTH NIGHT sinister world of superstition and immorality. William Golding’s 20th 12+19 March, Sackler Studios, SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE, century classic Lord of the Flies explodes onto the stage in a remarkable 21 New Globe Walk SE1 9DT, 020 7401 9919, production direct from London’s award-winning Regent’s Park Theatre. www.shakespearesglobe.com/education CHURCHILL THEATRE BROMLEY Ages 11+, tickets from £16.90. CHURCHILL THEATRE, High Street, Bromley BR1 1HA, 0844 871 7620, ‘Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank’ productions are created for SING-A-LONG-A-FROZEN, 20 March. A full screening of Disney’s young people. This is an opportunity to attend a full-scale, fast-paced www.atgtickets.com 90 minute performance within the glory of the Globe Theatre, the JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOUR DREAMCOAT, 1-5 Frozen with lyrics on screen to help you sing along during the film. architecture for which Shakespeare wrote. Packed with laughs, love March. Retelling the Biblical story of Joseph (Joe McElderry), his eleven Introduced by a live host who will guide you through this interactive and music, Twelfth Night explores themes that children will recognise brothers and the coat of many colours, this magical musical is full of screening by showing you how to use your free prop bag, warm up your from their own lives and will leave children and adults alike buzzing with unforgettable songs including Those Canaan Days, Any Dream Will Do singing voices and teach you some dance moves with the help of the the thrill of live theatre. 2pm, tickets from £5. and Close Every Door To Me. Tickets from £12. Singalonga Princesses. Ages 5+, tickets from £15.90.

familiesse.co.uk march 2016 - families south east 15 Fun Family Photo Sessions Herne Hill Studios are a Professional Photographic Studio specialising in Family Portraits and Child Photography We are currently offering discounted session fees reduced from £20 £49.99 to only £20.00 for all bookings during February & March. EGGcellent Book your session now! Free Easter admission Adventure 29 March–8 April 10:00am –4.30pm

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16 famili es s outh east - march 2016 familiesse.co.uk