Parents go it alone as pupils miss out on Northampton school
Children who were denied a place at their over-susbscribed secondary school in Northampton are now being privately taught by their parents, in parish council offices nearby.
Parents of the six youngsters, all aged 11, have vowed they will be willing to take their case to court to secure their children a spot at Caroline Chisholm School, and are now conducting their education themselves in protest at Wootton Community Centre.
All six were rejected from their first choice in March, in a situation made worse by the fact that Caroline Chisholm's principal, Tony Downing, has said the school could cope with the intake.
Two have siblings already attending the school, judged "outstanding" by Ofsted, and all six families have lived within the catchment area for at least a decade, sending their children to the feeder primary.
And the parents have discovered that four families had children accepted to Caroline Chisholm – after renting properties in the catchment area during the admissions' process, and then moving elsewhere.
One mother, Dalbir Shoker, said: "We don't want to send our children to Caroline Chisholm just because it is a great school and is popular. It's because it is our local community school, where all our children's friends go, who they have grown up with.
"They simply don't understand why they cannot go to school like everyone else.
"The situation clearly isn't ideal and we don't want to be teaching them ourselves, because we know they need the structure and benefits of a proper education."
Another, Nisha Gadhia, said the fight to get places at Caroline Chisholm had disrupted the lives of the group, and added: "They say every child matters, but clearly ours don't.
"This is all we have been able to focus on for the past seven months, and this week we have had to tell them they won't be going to school like everyone else – after our appeal failed."
The parents are having to pay for support workers to come into help with their children's curriculum, and Northamptonshire County Council – the local education authority (LEA) – has said it will not pay for them to rent space at the community centre.
Ceri Matthews, whose son Jack was turned away from the school, said: "We feel like we have been socially excluded from the school.
"We are in a credit crunch, and are having to spend to give our kids an education."
Five of the youngsters were given places at Roade School, which would have resulted in a 400-a-year bill for transport, as they live outside the catchment area.
A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said far more applications for places at Caroline Chisholm were submitted to the authority this year than there were places available.
He added: "Unfortunately, this means that not all the children who applied for a secondary school place at Caroline Chisholm School have been allocated one. It has also meant that not all children who live in the linked area and who have attended feeder primary schools have been allocated a place.
"There are currently 37 children on the waiting list for a place in year seven at Caroline Chisholm and of those 37 there are 12 children that live in the linked area.
"A place at an alternative school has been offered to all 37 pupils."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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