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Youngsters face trek to new school
7:13pm Monday 12th May 2008
Children aged just four will have to travel three miles each day to go to school.
Parents in Brighton today said their worst fears had been realised by their primary school allocations for September.
At least six families from the Seven Dials area have missed out on places at any of the area's primaries, which are all oversubscribed.
Their children have been sent to Fairlight Primary, off Lewes Road, Brighton, instead.
The school is a mile and a half from their homes and has been unpopular because of poor results.
The situation has been made worse this year by the Government enforced implementation of an equal preference allocation system, which replaced the old first preference first scheme.
It means that a parent who lives close to a school but only lists it as their third preference for their child will get a place ahead of someone who lives further away but made it their first choice.
Your Say YourArgus
bobby bigballs, Brighton says...
7:51pm Mon 12 May 08
Carol Voderman, Dictionary Corner says...
8:04pm Mon 12 May 08
What are younsters?
william of orange, Brighton says...
8:24pm Mon 12 May 08
Carol Voderman wrote:Younsters come from Dudley..and are a bit like a Ginsters but with a higher meat and lower fat content.
"Younsters face trek to new school" What are younsters?
I also made the word "sterny" Carol is it a real word and do I get any points for that?
No - shame ...I'll have a vowel then please...
in the know, nr 7 dials says...
8:32pm Mon 12 May 08
The Wombat, Zog says...
8:42pm Mon 12 May 08
I bet if they were taking them to a friends birthday party or some-such, a mile-and-ahalf would be perfectly acceptable. Or if mummy and daddy were having an early evening G&T with the Smith-Gores they would manage to travel a couple of miles.
Mrs Doubtfire, says...
8:53pm Mon 12 May 08
tanya, says...
9:11pm Mon 12 May 08
Peter, Brighton says...
9:57pm Mon 12 May 08
LAJS, says...
10:43pm Mon 12 May 08
paul, brighton says...
10:59pm Mon 12 May 08
LAJS wrote:What you say is quite correct, but you entirely miss the point -- education doesn't come into the argument -- it is purely and simply class warfare - lazy, poor marxists wanting to drag down the aspiring middle classes.
It is ridiculous that kids should have to pass several schools on their way to a school miles away because the council can't do their planning properly. The council know how many kids lives in an area and should make sure that they can get into a local school, rather than having to trek through several major, hard traffic roads to get to school. Have you tried to walk safely with a 4 year old kid who has just been let out of school, it is pretty dangerous at the best of times. If you are a working parents it is even more of a nightmare to get to and from school and still manage to get your work hours in. This is also in the light of the council spending large sums of money to encourage people to walk and cycle to school and work. Would not it make sense to look at the councils planning of local facilities such as compulsory schools and safe roads to school be the the first thing to look at?
crazy, situation says...
11:18pm Mon 12 May 08
Kids should go to their nearest school,its simple and it worked fine for many generations,kids now have to suffer so that the government can try to fiddle the figures.Just because some areas like Whitehawk have poor performance results,they make everyone else suffer,thinking that mixing things up so kids from average areas are forced to go to school with kids from the other areas is a pathetic idea,now we have disruptive badly brought up kids spread all over the place,dragging ALL the schools down to sink estate level with them,its so unfair on the good kids that actually want to learn.And to make it worse,it is causing huge amounts of traffic and pollution.
LB, Hove says...
9:18am Tue 13 May 08
It skews the catchment areas for all the other schools in the city and leads to the situation described above.
If all schools funded by tax payers money used the same entrance criteria based on distance the situation would be significantly better for both primary and secondary education in this city.
The fact that we have state funded relgious (primarily Christian) schools in this country is, frankly, outrageous.
jo, brighton says...
9:20am Tue 13 May 08
crazy wrote:whitehawk is a very good school!
Families and children are suffering because the government wants to unrealisticly improve some school statistics at the expense of others. Kids should go to their nearest school,its simple and it worked fine for many generations,kids now have to suffer so that the government can try to fiddle the figures.Just because some areas like Whitehawk have poor performance results,they make everyone else suffer,thinking that mixing things up so kids from average areas are forced to go to school with kids from the other areas is a pathetic idea,now we have disruptive badly brought up kids spread all over the place,dragging ALL the schools down to sink estate level with them,its so unfair on the good kids that actually want to learn.And to make it worse,it is causing huge amounts of traffic and pollution.
!!!, Brighton says...
9:50am Tue 13 May 08
The Wombat wrote:Bang on!!! 3 miles a day, even for a young child, can only be a good thing. As for people continually using their cars to take their over-protected kids to school...you wonder why the end up spoilt. I've got a 7 year old and one who's 5 today, and I'll walk them as and when it is convenient. Too dependable on cars. Walking seems to be the only exercise I can fit in these days. Why don't we just ban 4x4's, unless there is valid reason for having one. Kids...get some exercise, stop whining, and parents...get fit!!!
I agree with Rob. I bet mummy or daddy is quite capable of getting the four-wheel drive into gear to drop the little loves off. Even at four years old, a bit of exercise won\'t hurt. I bet if they were taking them to a friends birthday party or some-such, a mile-and-ahalf would be perfectly acceptable. Or if mummy and daddy were having an early evening G&T with the Smith-Gores they would manage to travel a couple of miles.
david cameron-young, abingdon says...
10:40am Tue 13 May 08
bob, lewes says...
11:03am Tue 13 May 08
Wake up, sometimes you cant have everything in life you want..
Moose, Brighton says...
11:48am Tue 13 May 08
Yes 7 dials to Lewes Road isn't ideal... BUT... a mile and a half walk/cycle wouldn't hurt anyone? Or why not set up a group walk/cycle to school, or car share etc? Means parents and kids get off their backsides and reduces traffic, can't see the down side to that?
I can understand that fitting the hours around work is a pain, but if you have kids you must have realised that you'd have to work your life around them and be prepared to do so...?
Andi, says...
11:51am Tue 13 May 08
Joe, Hove says...
11:51am Tue 13 May 08
Besides, it's good exercise for the kids, and will help them stay healthy.
NotRecommended, says...
4:16pm Wed 14 May 08
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Rob, Brighton says...
7:44pm Mon 12 May 08
Saying that, they'll probably drive the kids to school no matter what the distance is.