School playgrounds in the Bristol area that have been deserted will again be filled with noise and activity on Monday when pupils return after the half-term break.

Except for one.

The playground surrounding the ornate Victorian red brick buildings in which generations were educated at Fairfield School will not echo to the clamour of children.

The place in which generations of Bristolians were educated is presently being used as a pupil referral unit and offices.

Meanwhile, nearby schools are over-subscribed.

More than 300 children have not been given a reception class place for September. The problem is most severe in the centre and north of the city, and there has been talk of four-year-olds having to be bussed to school.

Earlier this week, Bristol's education chief, Councillor Peter Hammond, attempted to quell alarm over the shortage of primary school places by issuing a statement which concluded "parents should be reassured that every child will be offered a place for September".

Oh, Mr Hammond, I truly wish that your words could reassure me.

But as a parent of two children living in north-west Bristol – a popular area of the city for families – I know how difficult it is to get a place at a decent local primary school from the experiences we had seven years ago when our eldest son was starting school.

Yes, that's right – seven years ago. Yet it looks as if the problems that existed then still haven't been addressed.

And in the meantime, the former Fairfield School building in Montpelier – which has been replaced by a newer, bigger school in Horfield – has become the elephant in the corner of the playground that the council prefers not to be reminded about.

But before contemplating the absurdity of a school building lying empty while primary schools nearby are having to turn away children who would once have qualified for a place, let's go back to 2002, the year in which my eldest son was to start school.

In that year, so many parents had their applications for places at Sefton Park School turned down that public meetings were called.

We had friends who had bought houses just streets away from the school who were understandably furious to find their children had been allocated places elsewhere. One family discovered they would have to transport their four-year-old to and from Millpond Primary on the other side of the M32.

Such was the outrage that a compromise was agreed whereby the usual two-class intake into Sefton Park was increased to three classes, and temporary classrooms were set up in the school grounds.

Unfortunately, this created problems of its own, which has made local parents fear the worst about plans to expand Sefton Park. As one friend whose child was in the 2002 three-class intake put it: "They've increased the number of classes – but not the size of the playground."

Cramming children into schools that don't have sufficient space is bad enough. But if we've reached the stage where the council is seriously considering bussing four-year-olds to school, then surely it's time to look at other solutions.

Many parents in north-west Bristol believed the shortage of primary school places could be addressed by turning the old Fairfield School into a primary school after the secondary school that had been there since the late 19th century closed to move to newly-built premises in 2006.

But instead, back in November 2005 an appraisal into uses of the old Fairfield School buildings was conducted for the council's Central Support Services department following questionnaires sent to nearby residents based, according to the appraisal, "on the reasonable assumption that it would be sold to a private developer for primarily residential use".

That, of course, was back in the days when the property market was booming.

Now it seems that this option is not being pursued, yet no long-term decision has been taken on the future of the old Fairfield School buildings – despite the lack of school places in the area being exacerbated by the decision in 2007 not to build a school on the Brunel site of City of Bristol College.

The council is said to be concerned about the limited outside space on the old Fairfield School site – even though it is apparently considered acceptable for children to be walked from Sefton Park to the Brunel site to use the playing fields.

For parents living nearby who have children starting school in September, however, there are more pressing concerns – such as whether their children will be among those who Mr Hammond says may be offered "practical free travel arrangements".

And for all of us in Bristol, there should surely be concern about the prospect of four-year-olds being bussed past the former Fairfield School, where there are now parked cars in the playground instead of children.