A Ruddington mum says she feels "let down" by Nottinghamshire's school offers system after her son was allocated a place in Hucknall. Nottinghamshire Live has been reporting on concerns raised about some children facing bus journeys of almost two hours to get to school from September due to the places they have been offered.
One Ruddington parent recently shared that his step daughter had been offered a school place in Eastwood, a journey which he predicted would take around two hours on public transport. One councillor then said around 12 Rushcliffe families had been given school places in Eastwood.
Alex Perry, 40, now says her son has also been offered a school place far from home. Rayan Perry, 10, currently attends primary school in Wilford Village and had been hoping to attend the Rushcliffe Spencer Academy, in West Bridgford, from September.
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Other choices included The West Bridgford School and The Nottingham Emmanuel School. But the family were recently informed that Rayan had been offered a place at The Holgate Academy in Hucknall - a bus journey of around an hour and a half.
Alex Perry said: "I've never even left Rayan home alone for an evening, let alone let him travel for over an hour on his own on public transport. He'd have to be travelling to Nottingham and then changing buses there and I just know he'd really struggle.
"I would also struggle to take him as well though because I'm a single parent, trying to juggle two children and work, and in rush hour it could be nearly two hours there and back from the school." Alex also said Rayan's ADHD diagnosis made her worried about how he would cope "emotionally and psychologically" with going to school so far from home.
The family are now appealing the Hucknall offer and a letter in support of that has been written by their local county councillor, Matt Barney. The letter reads: "Apart from the consequence of Rayan not being placed in a school anywhere near his contemporaries or indeed a community that he has any connection with, I am also extremely concerned that Rayan will not realistically be able to make the highly complex and long bus journey through the city to get there.
"As a parent, I could not imagine my own 10/11 year old making such a journey." Nottinghamshire County Council says letters in support of an appeal would be presented to a panel "along with all other relevant information."
Speaking about the wider schooling demand in Rushcliffe this year, Peter McConnochie, Nottinghamshire County Council's Service Director for Education, Learning and Inclusion, said: "This year, the vast majority of children in Nottinghamshire have been allocated a place at their preferred school. In Rushcliffe, 91 percent of families were offered their top preference school, and 97 percent received one of their preferences.
“Demand for school places in the Rushcliffe area is high and schools' own oversubscription criteria are applied when places are allocated. Applications for school places must be considered against the oversubscription criteria, it is a statutory process and it is not possible to intervene or influence this process.
"We do our utmost to offer parents a preferred school but when this is not possible, families may not receive the offer that they were hoping for and I understand the disappointment and frustration this may cause." An extension to the Rushcliffe Spencer Academy is due to be completed in time for children starting in September 2024.
There have been calls for a temporary solution for this year's families whilst that extension takes place, something the county council has not specifically commented on. In terms of Rayan Perry's case, one of the difficulties was that his current primary is a feeder for The Nottingham Emmanuel School, but he does not live in the catchment area for it.
Catchment area schools include The Rushcliffe Spencer Academy and The South Wolds Academy. Although unsuccessful with The Rushcliffe Spencer Academy, Alex Perry says she intends to use the fourth unused fourth preference to put in a late application for Rayan to go to school either at South Wolds or in East Leak.
Peter McConnochie: "We do sympathise with this family's situation... If The South Wolds Academy, a catchment school, had been listed as a preference, this would have been allocated and a place offered on national offer day. Unfortunately, no additional information about the child’s needs was provided which would also have been taken into account by the schools when considering the application.
"This does shine a light on the importance for families of reviewing the guidance provided very carefully. It cannot be stressed strongly enough that by listing only one or two preferences, parents substantially reduce the chances of getting their child into one of their preferred schools.
"The council is not permitted to guarantee an offer of a place at any specific school. We have contacted the families affected to offer further advice and support and to help them understand more about the options available to them, including lodging an appeal."
Alex Perry added: "I have told Rayan about the offer but I think it went over his head a bit. He just said 'well obviously that's not happening so what are we going to do about it?
"I'm really glad that it is going over his head for now because I know he would struggle emotionally and psychologically with having to go to school so far away." Speaking previously about school demand in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire County Council said: "Demand for school places in the Rushcliffe area is high, so when a particular school receives more applications than places available, the school's own oversubscription criteria is applied.
"The local authority seeks to offer a place at the next preferred school, places allowing. We repeatedly advise parents to make use of their four preferences and, despite this, 65 per cent of parents and carers in Rushcliffe did not."
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