Bus passes for four-year-olds

In Bristol, we are accustomed every year to hearing from families disappointed that they have failed to get children into their secondary schools of choice.

But this year's scenes as parents find out that their infants have not got a place at any of the three primaries they asked for are even more distressing.

After all, 11-year-olds are capable of travelling independently by bus to a school a few miles away.

But four-year-olds? The prospect of parents or carers having to transport them plus younger siblings across the city on public buses is daunting – free bus pass or no.

The council's suggestion that it could lay on minibuses to move little ones in a group to a school that has places is no less troubling.

How will families build up a relationship with the school if it's in a completely different community?

All most parents want is to be able to educate their children in a local school, preferably within walking distance.

Bristol has just carried out a major review of its primary provision in the hope of getting closer to achieving that aim.

But while those plans will help in the medium and longer term, they do not address the immediate problems.

And these are not just confined to one small patch of the city. Large areas are affected, including some that have not been hit in the past.

A year ago, the Post revealed that scores of children who should be in reception classes were being kept at home because they could not get to schools they had been allocated more than two miles away.

This disgraceful situation was largely dealt with by providing extra temporary classes at two schools.

The primary population is known to be rising, yet the council has not yet said it will continue that provision, let alone offer more spaces where needed.

It needs to get a move on, so that buildings can be put in place and staff recruited in good time for the start of term in September,

Last year, there was a particular problem in Henleaze and Westburyr-on-Trym. Dozens of parents who did not get any of their preferred schools voted with their wallets and put their children into independent schools.

As a result of one appeal in that area, the council is now looking at scrapping "areas of first priority" for those schools that have them and going purely on geographical distance.

Meanwhile, this time around, hundreds more parents are having an unwelcome introduction to Bristol's education system.

They had been looking forward to preparing their four-year-olds for school and are now facing many more weeks of uncertainty.

Alienating families at this stage of their children's lives does not help develop confidence in the city's schools, which the council desperately needs to foster.

Don't think either that this is only concerning white, middle class professionals. Scores of parents in the inner city, many of whom speak little English, are extremely anxious about what is going to happen.

Nine months ago, when the then director of children's and young people's services Heather Tomlinson was explaining why the council was conducting its primary review, she confided that although many would think the plans too radical, she wondered if they were radical enough.

But the real question is: did they provide sufficient places quickly enough to meet demand?

We've seen the answer. And action is needed urgently to put that right.