Read letters
Primary school children hit by admission rules
I couldn't agree more with
Kristan Akerman who said she
was effectively given no choice
of schools for her daughter
(Letters, May 7).
My daughter also missed out on
a place at both Elm Grove and
St Luke's primary schools and
has been offered a place at Fairlight
Primary School.
I live about 500m from Elm Grove,
which according to the local education
authority is too far away. This
means that in September we will
need to continue our journey each
day past Elm Grove to get to
Fairlight - complete madness.
I'm Brighton born and bred, as is
my daughter and her father. I now
find myself in the position that if I
want my daughter to go to a school
that doesn't underperform I either
need to pay inflated house prices to
live on top of the school gates, marry
someone who has a child who
already attends to get in via the sibling
rule or leave my home town
altogether.
I will now sit patiently on a waiting
list with the other 200 or so parents
who didn't get into Elm Grove -
with zero chance of getting a place.
The appeals process would appear to
be a complete waste of time and
energy.
No wonder people opt for independent
schools.
Kerry Burnett,
Sandown Road,
Brighton
Like Kristan Akerman (Letters,
May 7), we also have a four-year-old
daughter who is starting school this
year. After a lot of consideration
and looking around the schools we
submitted our form with three preferences
- St Luke's first, then Elm
Grove and then Queen's Park.
We have been given a place at
Fairlight Primary, even though this
was not one of our preferences.
I feel that the whole system is
completely unfair.
When buying our house we
thought it would be a good area
knowing we were going to have a
family and knowing that there was a
choice of good schools all within a
short distance.
The local education authority
tells you before you apply for the
schools what a huge decision choosing
a school is and before making
your preference you should visit the
schools, read their Ofsted reports
and prospectuses to ensure you
choose the best school for you and
you child. What is the point in any of
this if you aren't going to get one of
the schools you want?
This has caused us so much stress
and worry at a time which should be
fun and exciting for us all.
Sarah Ray,
Carisbrooke Road, Brighton
I feel it is a great shame that the
"golden halo" effect is now affecting
primary schools in addition to secondary
schools in the Brighton and
Hove area (Letters, May 7). While I
sympathise with Kristan Akerman's
situation it is a tragedy that league
tables, coupled with Ofsted reports,
affect parents' choice when primary
schools are generally of a good to
high standard.
What the tables do not reflect is
that Fairlight is a primary school
with a mixed intake in competition
for pupils with other nearby primary
schools that draw in higher ability
children. It also tends to receive children
from outside the area where the
parents have not received their preference
and look for the earliest
opportunity to move them out again
when a place becomes available.
I am happy to say that all three of
my children attend Fairlight and I
am more than satisfied with the
standard of education they have
received so far.
Sam Reeve,
Park Crescent Terraces, Brighton
2:21pm Friday 9th May 2008
Print 
Email this
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
