samc3

Hi As long as the chickens have something to scratch in they should be fine. You could use sand, gravel etc on top of the patio slabs to give them something to scratch, but do make sure they don't get bored. You could even lay grass rolls every now and then for variety!! I have three chickens who's house is on concrete slabs to protect from foxes. We put snowflake woodchip on this, but ours also have a large outside garden run so they get both hard and soft surfaces. If you want to find out more about urban poultry keeping, I am running a conference in Crookes on Saturday 17th September 10 -3pm (Inc Lunch) with workshops run by experts on healthy chickens (illnesses, diseases, causes, symptoms and treatment) happy chickens (accommodation, bedding, essential needs, broody hens,etc) and breeds and showing. Its for novices as well as experienced chicken keepers. Its £50. If you are interested do check out the website:- http://www.talkchicken.co.uk Good luck with the chooks.

Read Westways Ofsted report again - good progress and children leaving school above average, excellent support for SEN and children developing really well emotionally and socially - the funny thing about the report is that the inspector fell over a tree root on the first day and from then on put the boot in - you might note the continual references to grounds!

Pippadoll - where are you getting your information from? Westways is such an amazing school and under Melany Holmes is absolutely thriving. If you had recently seen the excitement of the children taking part in International Week where all children tried out art, food, language and dance from throughout the world you would have been impressed. My kids go here - I never wanted them to go to any other school and I have never questioned my choice, nor have any of my friends who also send their kids there. The teachers are great (I am a teacher at another school so maybe can appreciate more how the teachers at Westways use imagination in the curriculum) and they always go the extra mile to support the childrens learning. I have recently volunteered to take Y5 to the Bishops House and I thought they were an amazing bunch of kids.Polite, well mannered and interested and most of all fun. I also help run the Wildlife Garden there (Best in Sheffield 2 years ago and Gold Award this year) and support the Gardening Club. There are an enormous amount of clubs to choose from - my kids do Drumming, Oboe, Maths Club, French Club, Animation and Arts Club. A really excellent school with above average results which educates the whole child - who can ask for more.

To be honest students live anywhere - the further above Crookes Road you are the less there are if that helps. With regards to schools, you can't really go wrong as both Westways and Lydgate are very good - go and visit them both. You also could consider Broomhill Infants although you have to pray you can get into your chosen junior class at Y3 when the time comes.

Howells Solicitors or Sheffield Law Centre or a CAB. Do check your household and car insurance if you have any as often they tag on free legal advice as part of your payment. Also, are you members of a union - if so they have specialist employment solicitors they can consult for you. Good luck

We have had this done but I can not recommend the people we used - Basement Dreams - it was a total nightmare. But £12,000 is about right but you must get Building Regulations approval and ensure the window meets the standards required to allow it to be an emergency exit in case of a fire. It has to be a certain size to get out off. If you do not fit a window which meets the standards you will have to fit fire doors etc. If you do not do this you will have difficulty selling it as anything but a cellar in the future and you will have difficulty proving you haven't jeopardised the structure of your building. All i can really say is make sure you are very clear with your builders exactly how they are doing it and what is included - check they are legally allowed to do the electrics or Building Regs will not sign off the job (I speak from bitter experience) - think about insulation and make sure the radiators are bigger than the BTUs suggested as cellars do feel cooler and seem more difficult to heat. I don't in anyway regret getting it done but be ready for a vast amount of disruption and mess!!

Besides the advice about the landlords furniture and permission for work you will also have to consider planning permission, permission to lower curbs etc etc etc. The landlord is unlikely to offer you longer than a years tenancy - is it really worth it as after all the expense you can be out with 2 months notice. Also if he doesn't like the work and how it is being done he could have grounds for eviction. Speaking as an ex housing adviser I would say not to consider this at all as it blurs the line between tenants and landlords responsibilities. Also from a green point of view changing front gardens to drive ways is a major contribution to flooding so is not encouraged any more. Hope this helps

If you want a great school in S10 then I would say Westways Primary School is one of the best. Both my kids go there and have thrived - the teachers and head are great and really believe in educating the whole child, not just teaching to pass tests so they look great in league tables. Many if not the majority of parents appear to work at the University or the Hospitals and there are many international children which makes it even more interesting. Lots of extra-curriculum activities as well. Happy children, happy school!

It all depends on the type of tenancy you have. If you have rented a house on a joint tenancy with others ie all of you signed the same tenancy agreement for the whole house then a lock on individual doors are not required. If however, you have signed a tenancy agreement for one specific room ie rm1 and pay rent for only that room then the landlord can come into the common parts of the property but not your room and you should be able to secure your room. Talk to Housing Aid?

I saw this last week and was really concerned, especially in the light of what is currently happening in Walkley. Saxton Mee has recently fenced off an area of land which has been used as a community park for many many years saying I think that they own it because noone else does!! There is a real fight back going on but it seems to me that Saxton Mee might be eyeing up small overlooked plots and fencing off in a form of land grab. Can they do it? Is it legal? Well...., they did it in Walkley so I would love to know what is going on on Lygate Lane. Anyone know?

What about walkley community centre on fir street walkley - visit their website http://www.firstreet.org.uk

I would really advise her not to. Why does she want buy it? If she thinks it makes her in someway more secure then she should think again. She has security of tenure until she dies and someone else has full repair responsibility - if any thing goes wrong it isn't her problem at all. If she brought it she would have responsiblity - if the flat is in a block then if the council does improvements or repairs she will have to pay a proportion. Say there are ten flats and the council decides to re-roof and it costs £60,000 she would be responsible for £6,000. In addition, it could be hell if she tired to sell it as ti might be impossible for someone to get a mortgage on a council block maisonette. Often elderly people want to buy the house to be able to pass it on to their children - however, plans do not always work out - if she had to go into a home then the flat might have to be sold anyway to pay for the care. I really would advise her not to do this - a maisonette has many problems attached to it and she shouldn't risk it. May I suggest she gets independent advice from a CAB which can point out the pros and cons.

Try Walkley Community Centre - we support quite a few conferences and we are well within budget - off road parking and nice building. Visit our website for more details http://www.firstreet.org.uk

Both my children go to Westways and it is absolutely brilliant. The teachers are super and the head is great. What I love most about it is how it is so inclusive as well as emphasising the importance of educating the whole child. It understands that all children have strengths and that not all children are going to be high academic achievers but can achieve in their own areas and they celebrate this. The mixture of children from so many back grounds is also one of its strengths. Westways also have many extra curriculum activities (mine do French, recorder, drumming and computer animation) and a really good after school club. I can only concur with a previous poster - make an appointment to see round the school and also to meet the SENCO to discuss the support that might be possible and then decide. Lygate is a very good school so whatever you chose it should be fine. Good luck. PS what I also like about Westways is when my eldest did their KS1 SATs he thought they had a really "great week doing nothing but quizzes"! No stress, no fuss just low key assessment - marvellous.

Mr Benns up on Crookes is a cornucopia of fancy dress and there is also a hire place on South Road Walkley.