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Sixteen children turned down for places at Wolvercote school (From The Oxford Times)
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Sixteen children turned down for places at Wolvercote school
7:58pm Thursday 4th March 2010
SIXTEEN families in Wolvercote have been told there is no room for their children at the local primary school.
The reception class at the primary school in First Turn has been filled with 30 pupils, leaving other villagers facing a drive to other schools, including North Kidlington Primary about four miles away.
Mum-of-two Alex Barratt, 35, of Lower Wolvercote, has been told there is no place for her daughter, Edith, four next month, in September.
She said: “This is devastating. Living in the village, with Edith in the pre-school, we thought she would get a place.
“We moved to Wolvercote about five years ago because it is a village with a strong community bond and a village school serving the children who live here.
“Wolvercote is making an effort to be a low-carbon village and I don’t want to have to drive my daughter four miles to Kidlington.”
Mrs Barratt said parents would try to appeal both as a group, and as individuals.
Headteacher Anna Ballance said: “Sixteen families in the Wolvercote area have been affected and I have great sympathy for them.
“The school is not enormous – there are 220 pupils here, including the nursery, and there are 30 places per year group.
“Ten of the families are from the village, while the others are from other parts of the catchment area.
“Some of the children affected are already at our nursery and this is a big shock for parents who expect their children to get into the village school.”
Jean Fooks, Liberal Democrat county councillor for Summertown and Wolvercote, said a baby boom had put pressure on primary school admissions in the area.
She said 44 pupils were refused a place for the reception year at Wolvercote Primary.
Of those, 25 chose the school as their first preference, including the 16 from the school catchment area.
About 100 people attended a meeting of the Wolvercote Commoners Committee on Wednesday night where appeal plans were discussed.
Committee secretary Andrew Burchardt said: “We don’t want Wolvercote to become a ghost village as far as children are concerned because families feel they have to leave.”
Michael Waine, Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for schools improvement, said the affected parents would be written to.
He continued: “We’ve created an extra 338 primary places to enable us to offer a place [in September] to every on-time applicant from Oxfordshire.
“More than 95 per cent of applicants have received one of their top three choices at primary.”
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Your Say YourOxford
waylander_2, oxford says...
3:29am Fri 5 Mar 10
Green123, Witney says...
8:22am Fri 5 Mar 10
bigsis17bicester, bicester says...
12:33pm Fri 5 Mar 10
Bookman, Oxford says...
2:43pm Fri 5 Mar 10
The situation in Wolvercote is an absolute disgrace. It appears that a stricter residency test might have been applied. Clearly when the school was expanded to 5-11 years old the forward planning was inadequate. In a previous generation the council would have had a conscience about this and brought in temporary classrooms until they sorted out the mess. Instead they send Wolvercote children to schools in areas with no direct transport connections to the village. This is additionally thoughtless. I wish the aggrieved Wolvercote parents good luck with their justified protests.
Thinkingoutloud, Oxford says...
6:38pm Fri 5 Mar 10
Any One, OX1 says...
6:41pm Fri 5 Mar 10
is this something that should be thought about when deciding to bring another child into the world?
or should all parents be given whatever free school place they want?
rugrat, Oxford says...
3:38am Sat 6 Mar 10
What a pity that a decent journalist wasn't on this story. The problem has been brewing for years. No-one listened when people pointed that lots of new houses were going to be built in north Oxford, but there were no additional school places. No-one listened when local people said that the Bishop Kirk site shouldn't be sold because an extra primary school would be needed in north Oxford. No-one listened when the Wolvercote governors said that the catchment area shouldn't be decided by a circle drawn on a map, but some intelligence should be used and pupils from Lower Wolvercote should have priority. No-one is listening now about the impact of developing the paper mill site or about the proposed northern gateway.
All the County Council cares about is being able to use smoke and mirrors more cleverly than the opposition to "prove" that it is providing value for money so that its members get re-elected to the gravy train.
How sad, and how devastating for the families involved.
Thinkingoutloud, Oxford says...
9:42am Sat 6 Mar 10
JanetJ, oxford says...
11:32am Sat 6 Mar 10
Thinkingoutloud wrote:Still quite a hike though from Lower Wolvercote to Cutteslowe for a 5 year old. Would the County have to provide transport for the children without a place at their local school?
I don't think its the County Council's fault. I expect there are plenty of places but the nonsense of 'parental choice' means that parents are moving their little darlings all over the city to get a place of 'their choice'. Obvious outcome is that some parents will not get the school of their choice if the popular ones fill up first! I would still be interested to hear if any of these upset parents chose Cutteslowe as one of their preferences. I've heard its a very good school just not in the right social area for some parents!
fourmi, Oxford says...
7:29pm Sun 7 Mar 10
If people were applying for schools outside their catchment area then fair enough, but why should you have to work out what is the least popular "local" school so that you stand a chance of getting a place? Is that really what the preference system was designed for?
I have no idea if anyone applied to Cutteslowe (which is a perfectly fine school) as a 2nd preference, or if Cutteslowe is full. I certainly haven't heard of anyone in Lower Wolvercote being offered a place at Cutteslowe as an alternative to Wolvercote. As the report says, they seem to have been offered Botley, Eynsham and North Kidlington.
Another point: the rules have now been changed for 2011 so that priority is given to Lower Wolvercote. The change was meant to be in place for 2010 but the council were slow to implement. This could have led (and could lead in the future) to the ridiculous situation of children on St Peter's Road and Ulfgar Road (adjacent to the school) not getting a place.
What is actually required is more school places throughout North Oxford, and an absolute embargo on new housing until this is resolved.
Thinkingoutloud, Oxford says...
8:01pm Sun 7 Mar 10
How many children in Wolvercote Primary do not live in Wolvercote?
I suspect it is more 'parental choice' nonsense. I agree with fourmi - local schools for local children...but would the parents of wolvercote be so happy if the school was not a good school.. somehow I doubt it!
Pierre My, East Of Green Road says...
9:08am Wed 10 Mar 10
....
How did you ever get to be secretary, if the school is full that means that there are plenty of children in the "village" (I thought the school was next to a council estate) so how is it going to turn into a ghost town?
Any One, OX1 says...
10:16am Thu 11 Mar 10
There is an excellent bus service in Wolvercote, although most families use one of their cars to drive even to Upper Wolvercote. Check the driveways.
Parents and children gather outside Wolvercote Primary School
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JanetJ, oxford says...
8:17pm Thu 4 Mar 10