Bristol families still waiting for primary school places

Dozens of families in north-west Bristol are desperately hoping one of the schools in their neighbourhood will be bold enough to expand to take in their children.

They need either Bishop Road Primary in Bishopston or Henleaze Infant to become Bristol's first school to have four reception classes from September.

But the schools, although sympathetic to the plight of the estimated 45 four-year-olds in the area yet to be found a place, are understandably cautious about the implications of taking on extra pupils.

Last-ditch talks are going on this week to try to reach an agreement with one of the schools before Bristol City Council sends out letters next week finally offering school places.

If they fail, those children, many of whom will be barely four years old by the time they start school, will be allocated primaries several miles from their homes and will face lengthy bus or car journeys.

Mark Rowe, of Halsbury Road, whose daughter Hannah is one of those affected, said he had been told the nearest school with places was more than three miles away, in Sea Mills.

"It is completely wrong for a young child to have to travel so far out of the local community for schooling," he said.

Self-employed Mr Rowe, 40, and his wife Lucy, 39, have two younger children, Thomas, two, and Oscar, so making the journeys would be very disruptive.

Bishop Road is about 600 metres away from the family home, and Westbury Park and Henleaze Infants are each about 450 metres away.

Yet the Rowes' home is just outside the catchment area for any of them.

Clare Campion-Smith, the cabinet councillor for children, is keen to find both a temporary solution for the Rowes and similarly affected families, as well as a longer-term expansion of primary provision to meet the needs in the area.

The council is already considering scrapping the current system of "areas of first priority" for some popular schools and will also look again at its policy of ensuring siblings of all pupils already at the school are given priority over other children who may live closer.

But with space for a new school at a premium, governors of existing schools can expect further requests to consider expansion for future years.

The city council has still to offer places to 153 of the 278 on-time applicants who initially missed out on school places across the city. It also has to find schools for hundreds more late applicants.

Mrs Campion-Smith said: "In the short term, the council is dependent on the co-operation of heads, governors and school communities to get the extra places needed to cope with the demographic changes.

"To get a good solution that allows as many children as possible to be educated in their local communities, more places are needed in the north of the city.

"I am confident that parents with children at over-subscribed schools will be supportive of plans for extra places at these schools.

"They can probably remember the anxiety they faced as they waited to see if their eldest child would have a place at a local school."

Nicola O'Brien, chairwoman of governors at Henleaze Infant School, said: "I have immense sympathy for the parents who are in such a position. But we do not think our infrastructure would support a school with a reception year of 120. It is too many."

The Post was not able to contact Bishop Road school governors for comment.

THE STORY SO FAR:

October 2008: Deadline for applications for primary places for 2009

January 2009: At the end of the month, all on-time applicants should have been offered school places. But Bristol City Council was unable to make allocations to 278 families. Many parents with three schools within walking distance could not get children in to any of them.

February 2009: Intensive campaign by parents to highlight the problems and ask why the council had not predicted the shortfall. Talks begun with several schools about taking extra classes.

March 2009: Lib Dems, who took over control of council from Labour on February 24, try to step up action to find solutions.

April 2009: Council announces that 105 additional offers of places have been made.

Imminent: Report to councillors should outline where most of the extra places will be. Most offers to families still waiting for places - including late applicants - should go out from April 27.