A lot of people on this forum raised the issue of these hostels impacting on local schools when homeless families will be moved here. We are not just talking about new admissions but school transfers. Michael ( 24/10/14) explained that there will be not be an impact because the Council had said the families/childrens "permanent address" would not be the hostel & therefore not be eligible for admission to the local primary/nursery schools, he was given this information by the Council.

The issue has been raised by a number of individuals most recently & this issue cannot be ignored by the Council.

I have just checked Lewisham admissions policy for primary school/nurseries which is available on their website and it states that :

applicants must demonstrate that the address that they are applying from is their permanent home address & they need to provide council tax statements ( which they will be getting whilst at the hostel) ;
child benefit or child tax credit letters ( which they will have because they have lost their previous home to be homeless & the hostel is their new address & their permanent home unless a permanent offer of accommodation is made to them) ; utility bills ( which they will have at the hostel) etc. They will fulfill all these criteria.

Children who do not fit the above criteria but have social/medical reasons will also be given priority for schools of their choice with supporting documentation. There will be children from these groups in the hostels.

There will also be homeless households who were previously not Lewisham residents & wish to be rehoused in Lewisham for personal protection,medical reasons/etc -these individuals would be entitled to apply for admission whilst they are in these hostels & then express preference to stay in the area when the permanent accommodation is offered.

Homeless household parents will also want their children moved to local schools rather than travel several miles to get their children to their original schools - conisder the time and expense. This issue is ground enough to be considered as a transfer to the two schools from anywhere in the borough ( & outside) at the admission stage/appeals stage or any judicial review.

Homeless households can also amend their preferences or areas of choice in the borough where they wish to be housed permanently & in cases where they get admission or transfer to these schools this will be their home, so for them having to travel to another part of the borough does not arise (Michael 5/11/14).

The admissions limit for the two schools Fairlawn and Horniman was 90 for 2013/2014. Schools are already oversubscribed and all you need is a few children applying from these hostels & for the above criteria to apply, Lewisham Council will have a problem on their hands and the parents living here will be frustrated and distressed !. In my opinion the hostels will have an impact on the two schools.

We also have the Tyson Road development coming up at some stage which will also impact on these schools & services in the area.

The Council has spent over £3m buying these two properties and they cannot afford for this project to fail. I do not wish to be political but as for local councillors batting on our behalf , 152047 ( 28/10/14) has said it all, totally agree with your sentiments.