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Liz and Jack finally reach their destination – Brecknock Primary School |
Over an hour’s walk just to get Jack to school
Parents hit by places crisis embark on trek to show how long it will take kids to get to class
THERE was a short stop to check for dragons, a toilet break, some tears of tiredness and a few dicey moments as they crossed some of Camden’s busiest and most polluted main roads.
But after an exhausting 70-minute expedition yesterday (Wednesday), Dr Liz Taylor and her son Jack Power finally made it to school.
A critical shortage of school places has meant the family, who live in Belsize Park, will face a daily two-mile trek to Brecknock Primary School in Cliff Villas, off York Way – the only school in Camden which has offered Jack somewhere to go in September.
Afterwards, Dr Taylor said: “The purpose of the walk today was to see if this is going to be possible. I don’t think it is – it has taken around an hour and 10 minutes. If I had to do that every day it would be incredibly stressful for me and any child.”
Dr Taylor is heading a parents’ campaign for a new primary school in Belsize which is becoming more than just a mild headache for the Town Hall’s education chiefs. Scores of families still don’t know where their children will go.
Yesterday’s experiment hammered home the difficulties facing families in Belsize. Even if they hadn’t gone by foot, the journey involves at least two buses. Dr Taylor, who was rejected by all the local community schools she applied to, was joined by several other parents and children facing similar problems. Her neighbour has been forced to pay £1,500 a month to send his son to a private school.
Another mother, Olga Calavia, said: “We pay our taxes, which are used to support community schools, but we are not able to access them.”
Parent Shirly Nebe said: “To get into a religious school you have to have a letter from a religious leader. I am Jewish. If I went to my rabbi and asked for a letter to get into a Christian school they would kick me out of the synagogue.”
Lib Dem councillor Alexis Rowell, who organised the walk, said: “More children are unplaced in Belsize ward than anywhere else in Camden.
“The problem is getting worse and the council has completely underestimated it.” |
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