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North London IN THIS ISSUE Children’s Parties Education Parenting Plus What’s On, Easter Fun and much more inside! Issue 129 March/April 2018 familiesonline.co.uk Growing Family? Moving into your next home. Buying your first home was an exciting, nerve racking experience and a leap of faith onto the property ladder. Buying your next home, when your family is expanding, can be equally as exciting yet challenging at the same time. You may be embarking on the next chapter of your life when two become three, or maybe a further new arrival is on its way. Buying and selling a home together and becoming part of a “chain” of transactions can become frustrating and mysterious, with numerous buyers and sellers involved. A longer chain means more people involved and it may potentially take longer for everyone to be ready to exchange contracts and agree a completion date. If one party delays then the whole chain will be delayed, so be patient and make sure your agent can provide you with regular updates on the whole chain and not just your property. This is so that you can realistically manage your expectations as to when you will be moving. Moving in the early years of your children’s life will mean that you are able to make sure that your new home is within the catchment area of the perfect school for your children. When planning your move, it is important to factor in that it will take around 12-16 weeks from a sale being agreed to the actual move in date. Most schools have deadlines for enrolment and you will either need to have exchanged contracts or have completed to enrol your children for the start of the following term. It is crucial to make sure that your agent and solicitor are aware of any time critical dates so that the whole chain is made fully aware. Being clear with dates will help any last-minute issues with school placements. If you can only move during school holidays then make sure you tell your buyer and seller at the point of offer. Ensure that your budget has been properly considered. Moving home is expensive; you will have agent’s fees, solicitor’s fees, surveyors fee and most likely a higher amount of stamp duty than your first property. Your solicitor will be able to advise you on this. On the day of completion, be organised and prepared, as the time of completion can be affected by how many people there are in your chain. Your solicitor will be unable to complete the purchase of your new home until they have received the funds from the solicitor acting for your buyer, who in turn could be waiting for funds from their buyer. This sometimes means that completion doesn’t take place until early afternoon. Aim to have your removal company packed up and ready to leave around midday but be prepared that you may not be able to collect your keys to your new home immediately. Your removal company will have experience of sometimes having to wait to unload and they are there to assist you along the way. Have a ‘moving day box’ packed and in the car including a flask, snacks and something to entertain the children in case you do face delays in key collection. Buying and selling your home at the same time will only be as stressful and frustrating as you make it. If you are realistic with your timings for the move and make sure you communicate any critical dates or timeframes you have with your solicitor and agent then this will increase the likelihood of them being achieved. Be mindful that you may incur delays on the way that are not within your control as synchronising a chain of people with different needs and their own timeframes can sometimes be challenging. Call: 0207 722 9898 or2 Families visit: North Londonattwells.com familiesonline.co.uk Welcome to the March/April issue! CONTACT US: UPCOMING ISSUES IN THIS ISSUE: May/June 2018—Summer 3 Local News Families Camps & 6 Education North London Activities 8 Open Day Listings North London Deadline : 9 Easter Craft Fun 2 April 2018 10 Parenting IN THIS ISSUE Magazine Children’s Parties 12 Parties! Send in your Education Parenting 14 Summer & Easter Camps Publisher: Heather Waddington news, stories Plus What’s On, Easter Fun and much more Managing Editor: Lisa Ralph and advertising inside! 15 What’s On bookings to the 20 Children’s Theatre PO Box 2378, Watford WD18 1RF Issue 129 March/April 2018 familiesonline.co.uk details left. Front cover image credit T: 01923 237 004 22 Clubs, Classes, Parties & www.depositphotos.com Activities M: 07402 613 042 For families from birth to twelve. E: [email protected] Read by over 60,000 local families www.facebook.com/FamiliesNorth www.FamiliesNorthLondon.co.uk 6 times a year. @FamiliesNthLon Chilly Powder - Summer in the Alps The Alps may be an obvious destination for the ski season, but how about a summer visit? Summer offers enough green (the mountains) and blue (the sky) to set you up for the whole year - and plenty of fresh air to fill your families’ lungs. With reasonably priced flights from London airports to Geneva then a short drive to Morzine, there is a warm welcome waiting from Paul and Francesca Eyre at Chilly Powder. With the main chalet - Au Coin du Feu - plus two chalets next door, you can organise your own meals, or join the party at ‘Au Coin du Feu’ for dinners that you usually only dream of. Family friendly early evening meals for the children and a daytime crèche for little ones not quite as active as you, with drinks in the bar for the grown ups – or in the Jacuzzi on the terrace – Paul and Francesca will make you wish that this was home! For more about Chilly Powder chalets for summer and winter visit www.chillypowder.com and more about summer in Morzine visit summer.morzine-avoriaz.com Children’s Technology Authors Top Good for Kids the Charts in Learning Recent research indicates that a staggering 96% of teachers Libraries believe technology has a positive impact on the way children The kids are taking over the libraries! Seven children’s authors— participate and learn, whilst 56% believe pupils are more Julia Donaldson, Daisy Meadows, Roderick Hunt, Francesca engaged, according to a survey conducted by Smoothwall, a Simon, Adam Blade, Jacqueline Wilson and Roald Dahl—are web filtering provider for schools. among the top 10 most borrowed authors in UK libraries, An impressive 86% of teachers also say that technology has according to figures from annual data released by the British made them perform better and prepare more varied and Library. exciting lessons. And parents are on board too. A survey David Walliams’ popularity continues to soar and he’s now the conducted by The Knowledge Academy shows that 91% of nineteenth most borrowed author, up from forty first place in parents believe technology makes it easier for them to be 2014-15. involved with their child’s education and 68% say technology has increased their ability to help children with school work. Jeff Kinney does not make it into the top ten authors but his Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is clearly a big hit with kids with However, there are some concerns. At least a third of eight titles in the series featuring in the top 10 most borrowed teachers are worried about using technology in class because children’s fiction titles. they cannot control what each child is doing. A similar number of parents also think children already have too much For parents looking for something for their ‘reluctant reader,’ this access to technology and don’t need it at school. library data provides a helpful guide to what other children love. www.smoothwall.com For more details, visit www.bl.uk/plr. www.theknowledgeacademy.com Families North London is part of Families Print Ltd, a franchise company. All franchised magazines in the group are independently owned and operated under licence. Families is a registered trademark of LCMB Ltd, Remenham House, Regatta Place, Marlow Road, Bourne End, Bucks SL8 5TD. The contents of Families North London are fully protected by copyright and none of the editorial or photographic matter may be reproduced in any form without prior consent of Families North London. Every care is taken in the preparation of this magazine, but Families North London; our distributors, the franchise company, Families Print Ltd, and Lifecycle Marketing cannot be held responsible for the claims of advertisers nor for the accuracy of the contents, or any consequence thereof. familiesonline.co.uk Families North London 3 Local News Incredible first year for All Star Cricket All Stars Cricket provides boys and girls from 5 to 8 years old with an opportunity to become a star. The national curriculum of fun, cricket activities and games provide children with the basic movement skills to begin a lifelong love of physical activity. The programme is a paid for product that has a RRP of £40, although this can vary across the Country. The cost includes the 8 week All Stars Cricket programme (1 x hour session per week for 8 weeks) and the pack; including a bat, ball, rucksack, cap and t shirt (personalised with their name) – all delivered to your door. The pack also includes an Activity book that allows children and parents to engage with the programme using several weekly challenges to earn ‘star awards’ like bowling, catching, running, and teamwork.

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