FIFTEEN York children have been told they can not join their older brothers and sisters at primary schools across the city this year.

The affected families are now faced with having to separate siblings this academic year, because City of York Council said it did not have enough space at their preferred schools.

About 155 children in the city have not get their first preference at primary schools this year – leading to 52 appeals to the City of York Council – compared to 30 last year.

Three families faced with having to separate their children all have older children at Scarcroft Primary School and have appealed but the council has upheld its decision – leading to one father calling for an overhaul of York’s education policies.

Captain Ian Weatherstone said his son and daughter, Samuel and Olivia, relied on each other for support while he was serving overseas with the British Army, and said his family had been left deeply upset by the separation.

Olivia, four, had hoped to join seven-year-old Samuel at Scarcroft Primary School, on Moss Lane, in September after they had both attended the school’s nursery school, but Olivia was offered a place at Bishopthorpe Infants.

Ian, based at York’s Imphal Barracks, is often called away overseas, meaning Joanne – who runs her own business – often has to act as a “single parent”.

He said his children shared “a close bond” and supported each other when he was away.

He also said the situation left the family with practical problems, such as how to pick up Samuel and Olivia from different schools more than two miles apart at the same time. Olivia’s friends were all set to attend Scarcroft Primary School, and his the family had been left “devastated” by the decision.

He said: “Olivia does not quite understand why she and Samuel both attended the nursery at Scarcroft, and then Samuel got a place at the school and she didn’t and all her friends are going but not her.

“We are trying to paint it as a big adventure, starting somewhere new, but she is just bewildered. When dad’s away, you turn to your brother and sister for support. Olivia just won’t have that any more.

“Being in the military, you have to go to places around the world at very short notice and with very little contact with your family. You just want that family to be happy.”

Two other families are also facing the same problem at the same school for the coming academic year. Paramedic Malcolm McDonald and his wife, Helen, a nurse, hoped to send their daughter, Lucy, to Scarcroft, which her elder brother Joseph attends, and Emma and Richard Morgan, who co-own a York business, had hoped to send Milo to join his sister Clover at the school.

All three families applied, were turned down and appeared before an appeal board without success, even after York Outer MP Julian Sturdy wrote to the board on their behalf. Ian said he was concerned Joanne would be physically unable to meet both their children to take them home at the end of the school day while he was away.

“Which child do you drop off first and which child you say sorry you cannot play with your friends before/after school?” he said.

Ian also claimed a spare classroom at the school could be used to accommodate both his children and all those on the waiting list. Figures showed Scarcroft could take up to 360 children – the minimum being 315 – and 330 were currently on the school roll.

Records also showed that, in 2007/08, the school reduced the infant class size from six to five due to the lack of applicants.

Ian said: “All that we seek is to see Scarcroft Primary School reinstate the number of infant classes from five to six in order to counter the stressful, needless appeals systems which do not find places for catchment children and those children that have siblings at the school.”


Council says it stuck to the rules when allocating places

KEVIN Hall, City of York Council’s assistant director for adults, children and education services, said: “This year, the local authority received 72 applications from parents and families who chose Scarcroft School as one of their preferences.

“School places are allocated using criteria agreed by the local authority with all schools.

“School admissions in York are also subject to the national code of practice.

“Priority is given to children who live in the catchments area of the school. The number of places that are available depend upon the physical capacity of the school and infant class-size regulations.

“For September 2011, the council was able to allocate places to 46 children who all live within the catchment area of the school. Unfortunately, because of the popularity of the school and the number of children seeking a place, the authority was unable to admit all of the children to the school.

“Parents have a right of appeal in these circumstances and an independent appeals panel has recently considered a number of cases concerning Scarcroft School admissions, and upheld the decisions of the local authority.

“Across the city, the local authority received 1,946 applications for a primary school place and was able to offer 92 per cent of parents their first choice of primary school, and 98 per cent of parents were offered one of their first three preferences.”

It is thought intense pressure on primary school places, due to the rising birth rate, is fuelling the rise in appeal rates.