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Schools Admissions = Absurd Or What
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Ex FH Pat


Posts: 112
Joined: Oct 2009
Post: #1
22-04-2010 08:13 AM

COLIN Lewis lives directly opposite one of the most oversubscribed secondary schools in the country.

But the Royal Mail manager was still confident of a place for his son – given he can see the school gates from his front door.

So the dad-of-two was gobsmacked when he found out his application for 11-year-old Taylor to get into Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College had been unsuccessful.

To his amazement, he found out the school in Jerningham Road, New Cross, uses the distance from its sister site, five minutes’ walk away, to determine who gets a place.

Mr Lewis, who also has a 16-year-old son, said: “I live right opposite the lower school, literally a few seconds walk, but their catchment area is only based on the upper school.

“My son would have three years of education in the lower site, yet kids from much further away in Brockley will have got places instead.

“That means more parents in cars travelling to pick up their kids from Haberdashers’ and probably myself having to use a car because my child doesn’t get into the school closest to him.

“I find it ridiculous.

“The last person to get a place lives 18 metres closer to the upper site than I do.

"My son’s missed out by 18 metres – it’s hugely frustrating.”

Hatcham College, part of the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation, is one of the most oversubscribed secondary schools in the country with 12 applications for every place available.

In 2008, the federation took control of Monson Primary School in Hunsdon Road, New Cross, renaming it Hatcham Temple Grove and guaranteed every pupil a place at Hatcham College.

The primary school was largely destroyed on Tuesday last week after a huge fire swept through the building.

Sharon Oliver, registrar at Haberdashers’, said: “Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatham College is compliant with the School Admissions Code of Practice.

“All applications are considered under the published admissions policy, which parents have had the opportunity to consult on since Hatcham College became an academy in 2005.”

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Schools Admissions = Absurd Or What - Ex FH Pat - 22-04-2010 08:13 AM