Starting secondary school is always a big step, but the move is even harder when children don’t get into their first choice school with all their primary friends. When Justine Jenkins sent her son Aiden to Tywyn Primary in Neath Port Talbot aged three, she understood it was a feeder school for nearby Ysgol Bae Baglan.
Justine’s two older daughters Hope and Abigail moved on from Tywyn Primary to Ysgol Bae Baglan and she said she was never aware that the rules meant you had to live in catchment. So she was shocked and upset when Aiden, 11, was turned down for a place when they applied earlier this year.
Now the schoolboy, who lives in Cwmafan, will go to Ysgol Cwm Brombi l in September while all his friends from primary transfer to Ysgol Bae Baglan.
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“We appealed but our appeal was turned down. Aiden is devastated and he’s been crying loads,” said Justine, "We live about three miles from both schools.
“We were never made aware the admission rules had changed. Aiden wanted to go to school with his sister and his friends. Hope starts in year 11 at Ysgol Bae Baglan next term and my older daughter Abigail who is 18 left two years ago.
“Only two of Aiden’s classmates are going to Brombil and his best friends are all going on to Bae Baglan. We were just told there are no places and our address in Cwmafan is out of catchment.
“I think it will affect him socially to go to a school without all his friends. We’ve been told he’s second on the waiting list, but I can’t see anyone dropping out by next month.”
Justine said both secondary schools, which take children from three to 16, are popular, but Aiden wants to go up to the same high school as all his friends.
A spokesperson for Neath Port Talbot Council said: “The vast majority of pupils within Neath Port Talbot receive their first place choice when applying for admission to secondary school upon transition from the primary phase. On occasion though some schools become oversubscribed and there is a need to limit entry placements on the basis of the capacity of the school.
“The council has a long established admission policy which is based on the Welsh Government School Admissions Code. The policy sets out the criteria to be used where there is an oversubscription with priority given to pupils living within the catchment area of the school.
“Applications for pupils to attend a school outside of the catchment area will be considered as ‘preferred placements’ provided there are sufficient places available. In the case of Ysgol Bae Baglan, 16 applications for entry in September, 2022, were rejected due to oversubscription; three of these applications were from pupils in Tywyn Primary School.
“ Parents are informed they may appeal a decision in accordance with the council’s admission policy and Welsh Government code which is heard by an independent appeal panel. All three Tywyn pupils have been offered alternative placements at their own catchment school which is Ysgol Cwm Brombil.
“While the council’s admissions policy is consulted upon and agreed by elected members every year, the rules surrounding oversubscription have remained unchanged and have been in place for a number of years.”
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