Bristol youngsters may have to travel miles to new primary schools
UP to 50 families could be forced to send their children to primary schools more than two miles away from home, the city council has revealed.
Parents were told by education officials at the Council House last night that between 10 and 20 per cent of the 278 children still waiting for primary school places could be left disappointed.
-
Parents protest
Almost 300 families in the areas of north and east Bristol are still waiting to find out which schools their children will be attending when the next academic year starts in September.
Most of these will be within walking distance of the children's homes, said city council officials – who define "walking distance" as within two miles of a child's home.
But it still means that between 10 and 20 per cent will have to make transport arrangements to get to school in the mornings.
And the problem could be further compounded by news that another 250 families, some of whom will apply for schools in the already stretched areas, have submitted late applications for primary school places. The city council could end up paying petrol expenses or giving free bus tickets to the affected families, parents were told at last night's meeting.
The council has also promised to look again at controversial rules regarding catchment areas and guidelines which give priority to children seeking places at the same school as their siblings.
Families will have until the middle of next month before they are given a final decision on the schools at which their children will be allocated places.
Parents spoke to the Post of their stress and frustration over the wait.
Mum-of-two Natalie Hills, 32, from Bishopston, will see her first son starting school in September but still does not know where that will be.
She said: "This is the most important thing that you can do for a child and we are very stressed and upset about the way this has been handled. It's going to be a nerve-racking month for us and I also hate to think that the stress might be wearing off on the children, too."
"There certainly needs to be more clarity because there has been a complete breakdown in communication during this admissions process which is only just starting to be rectified.
"Behind the scenes there has been a complete lack of joined-up thinking and a lack of creativity which has made life really hard for us."
Austin Milne, 38, and his wife Rachel, 33, also from Bishopston, were at last night's meeting.
Mr Milne said: "It's good that someone has listened to us but there's a real feeling of frustration among the parents about this whole process.
"They were receptive to ideas last night, which on the one hand is great but on the other hand is a real concern because they have obviously not thought much out for themselves."
After last night's meeting, which was open to parents only, a city council spokeswoman said: "The council is negotiating with primary schools to add approximately 250 additional places in the areas of greatest need.
"These are sometimes difficult decisions for schools to make – balancing the needs of current pupils with those of the wider community. The aim is to provide places within walking distance of home."
153 Comments
View all
by Claire, Ashley Down
Saturday, March 28 2009, 12:28AM
“Liz
I do believe that the council (CYPS) will force an extra class at Sefton Park.
I do not believe that consideration will be given to the overcrowding at the school. The CYPS will disassociate themselves from the impacts of this expansion and leave the problems completely in the hands of the school itself, to deal with on its own.
They will horse-trade until they are blue in the face. They will not allow extra space (grounds of Ashley House) to be passed to the school until there is tacit agreement from the school not to oppose demolition of Ashley Grange. When the school has agreed not to oppose demolition the CYPS will allow the kids to use the grounds, not before.
Once Ashley House has been demolished the CYPS will re-introduce the idea of expansion of Sefton Park as the only viable option to alleviate the lack of primary school places in the future.
It will be claimed that the new Brunel School (at 1FE) will only be sufficient to accommodate the children from the new housing development there and that expansion of Sefton Park is the only viable option.
The bare-faced bribery will continue as it has in the past.
This sequence of events I see as inevitable until it becomes obvious to everyone that Kate Campion must be removed from her position.
The CYPS MUST be re-organised and officers replaced.
If BPAC support the current CYPS proposals without digging under the surface they will find that they have indeed been presented with a short term workable solution. They will also realise, in the not too distant future, that they have been duped into thinking that the CYPS really prioritises children's well-being above the career aspirations of it's individual officers.”
by John Campbell, BPAC
Thursday, March 26 2009, 7:41PM
“Denise, I apologise for slighting you. You did indeed quote Dominic correctly. I failed to read his post attentively enough - it was rather long and I've read lots of his stuff before (I am a fan). He and I do not agree on everything, however, and Sefton Park may be a case in point.
I do not have a strong view on school size, since you raise the matter. My instinct would be to say that the optimum size for a primary would be two-form entry and for a secondary four-form entry, but that there are many smaller and larger schools that work very well.”
by BB, Bristol
Thursday, March 26 2009, 2:50PM
“You lot need to keep up with the action. This article's run its course, get onto "£1m to solve Bristol's primary school places crisis ¿ for now". Much more interesting and I'm sure that Jo and Claire can keep their catfight going over there.”
by Liz Haydon-Turner, Bishopston
Thursday, March 26 2009, 1:38PM
“Claire - just to say, yes, those of us up here - from BPAC - have asked the council to consider options such as using Ashley Grange and the grassy area in front of it to help relieve pressure IF an extra class is to forced into Sefton Park infants, also about the Brunel site being expanded to take account of Allen House to that perhaps a 2FE new school could be built and kids from 'bulge classes' at overcrowded schools be moved there as the year 1 cohort in due course. We've also repeatedly asked about using Fairfield as a primary site.
Going forward we'd also hope to work with the SPPROG lot to help ensure that the funds originally promised for the refurb of Sefton Park - which were on the table before the expansion issue came up - are not forgotten and are applied to the school.
Just for the record.”
by Claire, Ashley Down
Thursday, March 26 2009, 1:30PM
“I see we've progressed to 4 syllable words. Well done Jo. Let's move on to joined up handwriting next week shall we.”
by Jo, Bristol
Thursday, March 26 2009, 1:03PM
“Claire, ouch! You are not really that erudite, are you? You have made a couple of very basic spelling and syntax mistakes, I must say¿maybe you should take your own advice and go for a walk and cool off. You are going down in my estimation!”
by Claire, Ashley Down
Thursday, March 26 2009, 11:34AM
“John
Of course AGRO are not openly hostile to the addition of an extra class in 2009. They happen to be a bunch of very concerned, caring people who understand the dire situation that these parents are in. They have no choice but to sacrifice the welfare of there own children so that your's may be accommodated. They probably thought that you might appreciate their position.
Did you perhaps consider supporting them in their attempts to open up the grounds of Ashley House to provide extra space for this increased influx - or did that not occur to you?
Did you express your concern over the overcrowding that this extra class will cause - or did that not occur to you either?
Did you, in fact, offer any support to pressure for additional facilities to help these schools cope with this increased burden which is being put on them?
I doubt it.
Jo
Glad to hear that you found a dictionary. That should be a great help to you in the future.”
by John Campbell, Bishopston
Wednesday, March 25 2009, 11:16PM
“Claire, I am aware of the situation at Sefton Park; I go there every day to drop off and pick up my daughter who goes to the pre-school and talk to many parents with children in the infants' school. They are all very sympathetic to our plight.
Three members of AGRO, parents of children at the school who have spent a lot of time campaigning against the expansion, came to the last BPAC meeting to offer us support and advice. Perhaps you regard them as quislings, but they are not hostile to a one-off emergency extra class at Sefton Park this autumn in view of the scale of the problem in North Bristol.”
by Jo, Bristol
Wednesday, March 25 2009, 6:38PM
“Claire, I feel really insulted now. You doubt my ability to understand basic English. Was there anything in my posts that gave any hint that I might be struggling with your long words and complex sentence structures? I¿ve got one of them things at home you quote from¿a dictionary! I think mine¿s got more pages than yours though, as it¿s the Shorter Oxford English version. But still, I cannot claim to be more intelligent than you, of course, I bow to your grey matter and am awed by your powers of reasoning and argument. Well done, and please move to the top of the class! PS: could do better on punctuation though.”
by Martin, Bishopston
Wednesday, March 25 2009, 4:21PM
“Yawn”