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NO PLACES AT SCHOOL FOR 133 CHILDREN
Parents demand action as autumn primary crisis looms
TEMPORARY classrooms may be built in playgrounds to cope with a primary school places crisis that has left children in limbo this autumn.
At least 133 Camden children due to start primary school this autumn have been left without places in a squeeze that has hit hardest in the north of the borough. In Belsize ward, nearly a third of children cannot find places in infants schools.
Demands from parents have prompted councillors to call a summit tonight (Thursday) at Swiss Cottage School at 6.30pm.
They will face parents from Hampstead clutching letters saying they should apply for primary schools as far away as King’s Cross because waiting lists there are shorter.
Parent Dr Liz Taylor, who raised the alarm in the New Journal in April, said: “These figures show a shocking problem with primary school place planning in Camden. Our children cannot wait years for a solution from Camden Council, they need an appropriate, local school space that they can walk to and within their community this September.
“There are a lot of upset and angry parents and we will be pressing very strongly for action.”
Anger is focused on the shortage of places at popular community schools such as Fitzjohns and New End, and the feeling that a surge in demand was either unforeseen or ignored by the Town Hall.
Finchley Road mother Sadat Simmons, 37, who failed with four applications to schools in West Hampstead and Hampstead for her daughter Samira, aged four, said: “It is incredibly frustrating and disappointing when you miss out. They must have known there was a shortage of places, but they haven’t done anything to expand the local community schools. Now she could spend three months on a waiting list while other children are going through a rite of passage, forming friendships. We did everything we could in terms of applications but you still end up with nothing.”
Guluzar Kartal, 34, also from Finchley Road, was advised to apply to schools in Holborn, King’s Cross and Kentish Town. Ms Kartal said: “To be told that you are not being accepted by schools around the corner because of distance rules, then have schools suggested that are miles away, is shocking.”
Several boroughs in London have been affected by a demographic trend that has seen an increase in children of primary school age this year. But the Town Hall’s education chief, Cllr Andrew Mennear, said yesterday that the recession made this year’s places squeeze more urgent and insisted that the council was acting in the long and short term. He added: “There are always some parents who put in speculative applications before taking up places in private schools (and freeing up places). My concern is that this year we may find fewer families choosing to take up the private route because of fears of the recession. I am intensely sympathetic to the circumstances of parents who have not found a place and I want to be able to help. We have called the meeting because we want to explain to parents what the situation is and what other arrangements can be made.”
While a spike in applications had been foreseen, he said, a plan to expand Emmanuel School by 15 places meant that, “on paper”, Camden would have sufficient classes for its infants. Cllr Mennear said the system of government funding did not allow the council to move that class capacity to where it was needed, chiefly in the Hampstead area.
He pledged to chase more funding, and set up urgent talks on extra classes for the children who missed out in this round of applications despite a chronic lack of physical space in primary schools. “I couldn’t rule out a temporary classroom on a playground,” Cllr Mennear added. |
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YOUR COMMENTS:
Over 100 local residents turned up last night to the meeting. Most were parents with no school places for their 4 year olds for this September. I think this clearly demonstrates to Camden Council the size of the problem locally and the strength of feeling that something must be done. We will not let Camden Council ignore the lack of appropriate local primary school places any longer. This is not a new issue - i believe the Council has relied on the "problem" disappearing in previous years, as parents without places for their children make alternative arrangements. It is clearly not acceptable to expect a child who has been in full time nursery (provided by Camden Council) to suddenly be back at home waiting for an appropriate school place to come up - whilst his classmates are carrying on in school. As a single mother, this would mean me finding a private nursery place, a private school or a fulltime childminder - or moving. The alternative - to travel to a school an hours journey away is not a realistic option for a working Mum (or indeed any parent). Four hours commuting to and from a school is just not possible. Two hours commuting for a 4 year old is unacceptable, unhealthy and ridiculous when six of our closest schools are all less than 3/4 mile away.Camden Council have agreed to form a working group with local parents to find a short term solution for our children and are looking into setting up "bulge classes". They have also agreed to work with parents to find a more permanent long term solution. The Government needs to look at the funding it provides Camden Council and provide any assistance needed.
Liz Taylor
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