Published: Thursday, 6th March, 2008 11:30
Parents' fury at schools places disappointment
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ANGRY parents were in a state of rebellion yesterday after hundreds of youngsters were told they are being denied places at the secondary schools of their choice.
Tempers were running highest in Whitley where scores of primary school pupils living within the John Madejski Academy catchment area have lost out and will be forced to travel more than six miles across town to Highdown at Emmer Green or Prospect in west Reading.
Teaching assistant Mandy Walsh, whose son Kristopher goes to Whitley’s Christ the King Primary School, lives just 0.8 miles from the Academy as the crow flies.
She said: “According to the criteria they have offered places to children living 0.614 of a mile from the school.
“I live only .224 of a mile out of that area and they want to send him to Prospect. I drove the route to Prospect on Tuesday just to see, and it was 6.1 miles away from my house.
“That doesn’t make any sense at all! Myself and the other parents can’t believe this.”
The situation has been aggravated by Wokingham Borough Council’s planned closure of Ryeish Green School at Spencers Wood, where traditionally many Whitley children have been taught over the years.
Whitley ward councillor Mike Orton is demanding an urgent meeting with Academy principal Catherine Shaw and Director of Education Anna Wright.
He said: “I have every sympathy with parents and pupils who have not been accepted to the Academy. There is an appeals procedure but the numbers in the designated area who can’t get in are very large. I’m asking for an urgent meeting with the Principle and Director of Education.
“There were 180 places allocated to John Madejski Academy. All children within a 0.6 mile radius who wanted one got a place, 99 did not get their preferred place there, of which 57 are in the designated area.
“The Academy determines its own admissions.”
He added: “The closure of Ryeish Green by Wokingham Council has made the situation worse, as preferred places that were available last year are no longer available. The Academy has become very popular.”
Reading West MP Martin Salter – agovernor at John Madejski Academy (JMA) – said: “I have been contacted by concerned Whitley parents and in my capacity as local MP I will be talking to the school later on this week.
“I would obviously be very concerned if the fantastic new facilities are not in a position to meet the needs of Whitley children.”
He added: “The JMA has seen a remarkable turnaround.
“Only a few years ago in the dying days of Thamesbridge College a lot of people were complaining when they were offered places there and people were saying the exact opposite of today.”
John Cosgrove, headteacher of Christ the King Catholic Primary School in Whitley’s Lulworth Road, said yesterday he was “extremely disappointed” that only nine of his Year 6 pupils have been offered Academy places.
He said: “I have talked to the children and they are very disappointed, the families are disappointed and I am disappointed.
“You could not be closer to JMA than our school, we are practically next door to each other, and these children have watched since the development, were looking forward to going there and now most of the children who had the Academy as their first choice appear to have been offered places at Prospect.
“These children have not come from nowhere. The council must have known how many children in this year group are in the area, and so why are there not provisions for them?
“We have been trying very hard to encourage children and their families to work together and to value education. We are part of the Whitley Excellence Cluster with JMA and have been building strong links.
“I do feel very, very sorry for the children who have not got places and this decision does not help what we have been trying to achieve in this area.”
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