Brighton toddler misses out on school place by three metres (From The Argus)

Why can't we open more schools, instead of spending money on follies? It seems like we close schools all over the place but don't open or build any new ones.

this problem sems to be nationwide. my main concern is the style of reporting - living in Brighton I am fully aware of the religious hatred, epecially toward Catholics, but the style of writing is incredibly insulting. Religious schools actually perferm better in exams and with pastoral care - children will be better educated and more socially, racially and religiously aware. Please can the media, especially in Brighton, stop tarnishing Catholic schools as though they are an institution to be avoided like the plague. The very fact that a Catholic school has places left and is willing to take in a child who i presume has not been Christened is lucky, and is something the parents should be grateful that there are Catholic schools to offer places, otherwise their child would have no place at all.

Also, private schools are incredibly religious and teach Latin, Classics and Philosophy. If they are uncomfotable with a Catholic school, I shouldn't think sending their darling to a private one would protect them from those **** Catholic religious types, but expose them to their bizarre and pointless wicked ways even more.

Heathens!

Im getting really bored of this

Get over it


(security must have been intended for the squaters story - YEAH-WASH)

Hmm! A difficult one. Schools have to have a catchment area I suppose, in order to ensure that the children living nearest can attend. That's reasonable. They also have to have a capacity limit to enforce the 25 to a class law.

If the couple concerned don't want to send their child to a Catholic school, then what about Westdene or Hertford? Not local, but not Catholic.

As an ex-Catholic however, I don't actually think any child would suffer by attending a Catholic school. I'd suggest they go to the school and discuss it with the Head Teacher, before making their minds up. They might be surprised at what they find.

siobhan87 wrote:
this problem sems to be nationwide. my main concern is the style of reporting - living in Brighton I am fully aware of the religious hatred, epecially toward Catholics, but the style of writing is incredibly insulting. Religious schools actually perferm better in exams and with pastoral care - children will be better educated and more socially, racially and religiously aware. Please can the media, especially in Brighton, stop tarnishing Catholic schools as though they are an institution to be avoided like the plague. The very fact that a Catholic school has places left and is willing to take in a child who i presume has not been Christened is lucky, and is something the parents should be grateful that there are Catholic schools to offer places, otherwise their child would have no place at all. Also, private schools are incredibly religious and teach Latin, Classics and Philosophy. If they are uncomfotable with a Catholic school, I shouldn't think sending their darling to a private one would protect them from those **** Catholic religious types, but expose them to their bizarre and pointless wicked ways even more. Heathens!

Just a quick question. If you live in Brighton, how come your location says St Albans??

I'm a student in Brighton Peacehaven Paul. No need to ask where you come from :)

siobhan87 wrote:
this problem sems to be nationwide. my main concern is the style of reporting - living in Brighton I am fully aware of the religious hatred, epecially toward Catholics, but the style of writing is incredibly insulting. Religious schools actually perferm better in exams and with pastoral care - children will be better educated and more socially, racially and religiously aware. Please can the media, especially in Brighton, stop tarnishing Catholic schools as though they are an institution to be avoided like the plague. The very fact that a Catholic school has places left and is willing to take in a child who i presume has not been Christened is lucky, and is something the parents should be grateful that there are Catholic schools to offer places, otherwise their child would have no place at all. Also, private schools are incredibly religious and teach Latin, Classics and Philosophy. If they are uncomfotable with a Catholic school, I shouldn't think sending their darling to a private one would protect them from those **** Catholic religious types, but expose them to their bizarre and pointless wicked ways even more. Heathens!

You're assumptions are quite harsh regarding 'religious hatred, especially towards Catholics' - your assumptions are also incorrect regarding this particular Catholic school.

I do not know the family but can understand their concerns - Balfour & Downs schools are both Outstanding with Ofsted whilst St Joseph's is Satisfactory. I feel this is the main reason for their opposition to send their child to this school - which is fair enough.

In terms of their religious or non-religious views - this is their choice and you cannot slam someone for choosing not to send their child to a Catholic, CofE or otherwise religious school if this school does not follow their personal beliefs. Likewise, if your child was sent to a Church of England school I'm sure your preference would be for a Catholic school instead.

Personally, I feel that the quality of the school is paramount to a child's education, (regardless of faith), and would fight all the way to ensure they were not placed into a 'Satisfactory' or 'Inadequate' school as per Ofsted reports.

Beanigan wrote:

siobhan87 wrote: this problem sems to be nationwide. my main concern is the style of reporting - living in Brighton I am fully aware of the religious hatred, epecially toward Catholics, but the style of writing is incredibly insulting. Religious schools actually perferm better in exams and with pastoral care - children will be better educated and more socially, racially and religiously aware. Please can the media, especially in Brighton, stop tarnishing Catholic schools as though they are an institution to be avoided like the plague. The very fact that a Catholic school has places left and is willing to take in a child who i presume has not been Christened is lucky, and is something the parents should be grateful that there are Catholic schools to offer places, otherwise their child would have no place at all. Also, private schools are incredibly religious and teach Latin, Classics and Philosophy. If they are uncomfotable with a Catholic school, I shouldn't think sending their darling to a private one would protect them from those **** Catholic religious types, but expose them to their bizarre and pointless wicked ways even more. Heathens!

You're assumptions are quite harsh regarding 'religious hatred, especially towards Catholics' - your assumptions are also incorrect regarding this particular Catholic school. I do not know the family but can understand their concerns - Balfour & Downs schools are both Outstanding with Ofsted whilst St Joseph's is Satisfactory. I feel this is the main reason for their opposition to send their child to this school - which is fair enough. In terms of their religious or non-religious views - this is their choice and you cannot slam someone for choosing not to send their child to a Catholic, CofE or otherwise religious school if this school does not follow their personal beliefs. Likewise, if your child was sent to a Church of England school I'm sure your preference would be for a Catholic school instead. Personally, I feel that the quality of the school is paramount to a child's education, (regardless of faith), and would fight all the way to ensure they were not placed into a 'Satisfactory' or 'Inadequate' school as per Ofsted reports.

Finally someone understands that the main priority for some of us is actually the quality of the school. We have been allocated our closest school but it is only classed as 'satisfactory' by Ofsted. Other local schools are either 'Outstanding' or 'Good' but despite our following the council's admission advice to the letter we still couldn't get our son into one of the better schools - none of which are more than 1350 metres from our home even using the councils measurements.

why doesn't the council set up a notice board giving info on places that are not wanted, people can then swop.

Regarding living 2 miles from a school, is that really unreasonable, my primary school was 5 miles away and my secondary 15 miles, a lot more schools have been built sinse then, maybe we have become spoilt and expect too much instead of being grateful for what we have.

At the end of the day you dont need an education to get up the duff at an early age and spend the rest of your life sponging off the social so most kids should be fine whatever school they go to

Ming wrote:
At the end of the day you dont need an education to get up the duff at an early age and spend the rest of your life sponging off the social so most kids should be fine whatever school they go to

Unfortunately my son won't have the chance to take this option so a decent education has to be our fall back option..

it seems very unfair that the boundaries are SO rigid. i mean, 3 metres. trouble is, in areas of dense population(and i don't mean stupid) there will never be enough school places. it is a shame that some folk have to travel, but that is the way of the world. balfour to davey drive is not that far to walk, in fact probably nearer than patcham. the difference is that there is a bus to patcham. as for the family from the king alfred area, you should have been offered places at st andrews, west hove or st peters. even portslade infants is nearer, and easy to get to by bus. your council is a waste of space if they cannot sort out this mess.

Ming wrote:
At the end of the day you dont need an education to get up the duff at an early age and spend the rest of your life sponging off the social so most kids should be fine whatever school they go to

All be it a bit more quickly if they go to a Catholic School then...

At the end of the day it's the parents that make the school what it is. Parents who take the time and touble to interact with their children and teach them in their early years instead of plonking them in front of a tv and letting them get on with it make the school. If more parents where interested in their child's education then there would be more schools around that are 'outstanding' or 'good'

siobhan87 wrote:
I'm a student in Brighton Peacehaven Paul. No need to ask where you come from :)

Ta. Just curious :-)

I also cannot understand why the schools over subscribed do not employ another teacher so it would give the people who maybe missed the chance to get their child into their first choice of school. Seems more logical than building another school IMO

If the child’s parents don’t want a Catholic School why do they not accept some of Brighton’s other primary/infant schools that always have places. Whitehawk, Hertford, Fairlights, Carden etc? The “Surrenden” area of Brighton maybe a very expensive place to live but it does not give the residents automatic right to a good school.

Bigwood Ave, Surrendean rd.

Is there some social engineering going on?

GardenSnail wrote:
I also cannot understand why the schools over subscribed do not employ another teacher so it would give the people who maybe missed the chance to get their child into their first choice of school. Seems more logical than building another school IMO

It's not as simple as that is it. If you create an extra class at the entry level of the school, you also need to create extra classes for when they progress through the school in subsequent years. Plus the extra classrooms of course. You have to draw the line somewhere.

The Council will argue that they've got enough school places to fill demand, but as with secondary schools primary schools aren't spread equally geographically throughout the City of course.

eee wrote:
If the child’s parents don’t want a Catholic School why do they not accept some of Brighton’s other primary/infant schools that always have places. Whitehawk, Hertford, Fairlights, Carden etc? The “Surrenden” area of Brighton maybe a very expensive place to live but it does not give the residents automatic right to a good school.

It sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder. This isn’t about locality’s where we live, it’s about decent schools giving decent education. Schools with such shockingly poor results and ofsted reports should be shut down or staff sacked and new staff recruited. Why any of us have to send our children to poor performing schools, regardless of our locality, wealth , background or otherwise is a poor state of affairs.

The local problem of school places is now spilling over from Secondary to Primary schools. The council has seen this problem rise year on year and have had plenty of evidence and time to address the issue's. Brighton as a city needs to not only atract young hard working famillies but also to maintain the famillies already here as clearly the council seem to shy away from offer solid plans and ideas to resolve this issue, especially at a time when potential land,sites and even labour is going begging in the city.
If we just sit on our habds and make no demands for better infrastructure, economic balance will shift to the short termed hen party,club and strip bar market, which when the pound becomes strong again will return the the usual Euro hotspots via Easyjet.
You pay for the council so now is the time for the council to address the whole we want to be sustainable issue and get this problem fixed as it is a disgrace!
This is not just and issue of schools being oversubscribed, or middle class postcodes, it about schools that are busting at the seams for lack of space! come on Brighton council pull your finger out and stop tinkering!

It sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder. This isn’t about locality’s where we live, it’s about decent schools giving decent education. Schools with such shockingly poor results and ofsted reports should be shut down or staff sacked and new staff recruited. Why any of us have to send our children to poor performing schools, regardless of our locality, wealth , background or otherwise is a poor state of affairs.

I do not have a chip on my shoulder at all as my child goes to Balfour Infants. I wonder what the parents would have thought if their child was offered a place at either St. Bernadette’s or Cottesmore St Mary's? Let’s face it these two schools are most probably the best in Brighton when it comes to either state or church school.

siobhan87 wrote:
this problem sems to be nationwide. my main concern is the style of reporting - living in Brighton I am fully aware of the religious hatred, epecially toward Catholics, but the style of writing is incredibly insulting. Religious schools actually perferm better in exams and with pastoral care - children will be better educated and more socially, racially and religiously aware. Please can the media, especially in Brighton, stop tarnishing Catholic schools as though they are an institution to be avoided like the plague. The very fact that a Catholic school has places left and is willing to take in a child who i presume has not been Christened is lucky, and is something the parents should be grateful that there are Catholic schools to offer places, otherwise their child would have no place at all.

Also, private schools are incredibly religious and teach Latin, Classics and Philosophy. If they are uncomfotable with a Catholic school, I shouldn't think sending their darling to a private one would protect them from those **** Catholic religious types, but expose them to their bizarre and pointless wicked ways even more.

Heathens!

You mean the Catholic Church who, for years, covered up abuse by priests?????

Give me a break!!!

I do not care they might get higher exam results, my children will never go to a church school.

Ban religion on the under 18's, let individuals decide once they are at an age where they can decide for themselves.

I was not going to make a comment - but my password is: DRUG-WILL perhaps at the end of the day, this is one of the things what scares the S**t out of parents...

My daughter missed out on a place at Balfour Juniors, having already been at the infants and living on Hollingbury Park Ave (about 4 min walk away) because we 'lived on the wrong side of the road!"
We appealed and wrote about 15 letters, eventually they agreed and my child had a received very good education there.
Fight for it

rules are rules! don't have children if you don't like them!

15 years ago my sister wanted her son to go to Balfour although she lived in Hove because it was the trendy school at the time.She wanted me to tell the authorities that her son lived with me in Balfour Road.I refused because it seemed morally wrong as there were children living within the catchment area who might have lost out on their choice.So I believe the lottery system is the right thing to do