Anger after child offered place at school six miles from home

Several children at Swiss Gardens Primary School in Shoreham have been left disappointed after not being granted a place at a secondary school in their local community.

Parents have claimed that some 45 per cent of the year group at the school have not received a place at any of their chosen school preferences and have instead been placed outside their local catchment area.

Amy Boyse, who lives in Shoreham, said her son Ollie could now face a six-mile trip to school each day after failing to get a place at Shoreham Academy, Sir Robert Woodard Academy in Lancing or Steyning Grammar School.

She said: “My son, like many others, had applied for three great schools in their catchment and locality.

“We were encouraged to visit all of these schools and my son and many others also attended taster sessions at some of the schools on offer to them.

“They have all been getting very excited at the prospect of attending one of our three catchment schools.”

However, she said Ollie and other children were left disappointed and “shocked” after not securing a place at any of them. Ollie, instead, was offered a place at St Andrews Church of England High School in Worthing.

Amy had hoped Ollie could attend Shoreham Academy, left, Steyning Grammar School, or St Robert Woodard Academy (Image: Sussex News and Pictures)

Amy said: “Our children are left feeling anxious and baffled. St Andrews is a school we didn’t know anything about, let alone viewed. If I had looked around schools in Worthing, neither I or my child would have chosen it.

“Our primary school does not have any transition programmes in place with the school because they have not historically gone there - why would they when it is around six miles away on the other side of Worthing?

“We shouldn’t have to drive past the school we would like to go to, to get our children to the school they have been placed at.

READ MORE: Ford girl faces 30-mile walk to and from St Andrews school, Worthing

“Our children deserve a catchment school where they will continue to thrive within their own community.”

Amy claimed that the council knew there was an increased number of children that would need a secondary school place in the area, but accused them of not doing enough to address the issue.

A petition, calling on the council to “give all children in Shoreham the opportunity to attend a local catchment secondary school” has attracted more than 2,000 signatures.

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A spokesman for West Sussex County Council said: “We do everything we can to offer every child one of their preference schools. However, there will be a small number of families to whom we are not able to offer a preference to.

“This can be for a variety of reasons as detailed in our oversubscription criteria policy and we recognise how frustrating this can be for families in these situations.

“We have worked with schools across Adur and Worthing to put in place measures to help ease some of the pressure this year on secondary school placements here. This includes Shoreham Academy taking a maximum 30 additional pupils into Year 7 next year, and all Lancing and Worthing schools agreeing to take a limited number of extra pupils.

“Where schools are oversubscribed, children are offered a place at the nearest available school with space, in line with our admissions policy.

“Our schools admissions team is on hand to offer support to families in this situation and provide further advice on the options available, including the appeals process by emailing admissions.south@westsussex.gov.uk.”

He also said that pressure on secondary school places in Adur and Worthing is expected to significantly drop in future years due to a reduced number of children in the area’s primary schools.