Just over a week ago it was National Secondary School ‘Offer Day’ – when the parents and guardians of all current Year 6 children in Ruddington were informed by Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) whether (or not) they had been successful in getting their son or daughter a place at their first choice secondary school.
It brought good news for our longer term village residents whose children are pupils in their final year at St Peter’s Junior School and had applied to go to Rushcliffe Spencer Academy (formerly Rushcliffe School) – Ruddington’s usual ‘feeder school’. As happened last year, it was confirmed all will be able to stay with their current classmates to attend ‘big school’ in West Bridgford this September.
Unfortunately RUDDINGTON.info has learned that families who have moved into our village more recently are struggling both to get school places here and to secure their preferred secondary school for their kids. Their plight has been highlighted by Ruddington Borough Councillor Jen Walker, who was contacted by a distressed family who relocated from West Bridgford to ‘Wilbur Chase‘ {pictured top} a year ago and have faced an uphill struggle ever since.
The parent in this case has asked for her family not to be identified, nevertheless she wanted to share her own story with us about the situation they’ve faced. She managed to get one of their youngest children into James Peacock Infant & Nursery School but the other has had to remain at school in West Bridgford.
“I have tried to get my daughter into St Peter’s (the feeder school to Rushcliffe School) for the past year and a half with no success – and made an appeal that was unsuccessful” she reveals. “I approached other feeder schools like Rose Cliff Spencer Academy and was told that there would be no point as there is a really long waiting list and Edwalton children would get priority.”
The family moving to Ruddington seems to have exacerbated the problem – because NCC’s ‘Offer Day’ saw her daughter allocated a place at South Wolds Academy in Keyworth rather than at a much nearer secondary school with her friends in West Bridgford.
“We have paid a fortune for our new home but were prepared to pay this cost since we would still be in the Rushcliffe School catchment . We were also made aware that Avant Homes has paid a significant amount of money towards the expansion of Rushcliffe School to be able to accept children from the growing number of houses in Ruddington. However this has failed, and so my daughter has been denied a place at the school of her choice. South Wolds is practically in the middle of nowhere and totally out of direction. Logistically I would never be able to get three children to three different places and get to work on time” she explains.
“Since finding out the decision on March 1st I haven’t been able to sleep and am suffering extreme anxiety. At the end of the day we didn’t pay premium house prices to end up in a school that is not our first or second choice. We should get a place since we live in the development that has paid a levy to the expansion of Rushcliffe and it’s not fair my child doesn’t benefit from this. All her friends are either in the West Bridgford school or in Rushcliffe so my child feels excluded. This isn’t the right start to secondary education. It should be a happy period – not full of distress!”
The Ruddington mum adds: “There is a major problem with schools in the West Bridgford and Ruddington area. They need to expand the oversubscribed schools or build another school closer. Families are not being considered – and the sheer stress that we are being put through is just not acceptable!”
Cllr Walker, who is backing an appeal against NCC’s decision, says: “I am very disappointed that new families moving to Ruddington find themselves in this situation. This family has moved into the Wilbur Chase estate but the places in our local schools are not there. Developers have made payments in the form of Section 106 & CIL to increase school places at our schools, and we have seen the photos of local politicians standing triumphantly in front of a building site, yet the children that are living on the new housing estate that brought the funds to improve the school have not been given places”
She adds: “It made me hopping mad to get a phone call this week from another parent made desperate by the continued mess and inadequate Secondary school places in Rushcliffe. The issue of school places should not have taken anyone by surprise. We know how many houses have been approved to be built and there are formulas that exist to tell us many children will need places. This mess continues as there is no political will to sort it out and children’s education continues to be sacrificed.”
Fellow Labour Borough Councillor Mike Gaunt says: “When the community of Ruddington initially raised our concerns about the number of large new estates thrust on us by the Local Plan Part 2, it was not because we didn’t want people to move to this fantastic village, but because we knew that the wider infrastructure could not cope. This is compounded by the huge number of houses that have also been built in close proximity to the village at Sharp Hill in Edwalton. Now, unfortunately, due to poor handling of this situation, we have children yet again forced to leave their friendship groups and seek secondary places outside of the historic catchment – and this problem is reflected in other parts of Rushcliffe. The families that are moving to Ruddington are being mis-sold a dream that their kids will be able to attend the local schools, and are paying for the mistakes of the Conservative County Council to plan places effectively and the Conservative Borough Council who created the problematic Local Plan.“
However, Colin Pettigrew, Nottinghamshire County Council’s Corporate Director for Children and Family services, denies there’s a big problem: “It is simply not true that families moving into Ruddington or Nottinghamshire in general cannot find places at their preferred local schools. The vast majority of children are allocated a place at their preferred school. This year, 90 per cent of families across Nottinghamshire were offered their top preference school, and more than 97 per cent received one of their preferences.”
He continues: “Demand for school places in the Rushcliffe area is high, so when a particular school receives more applications than places available, the school’s own oversubscription criteria is applied. The local authority seeks to offer a place at the next preferred school, places allowing. In this specific case, the parent’s application did list The South Wolds Academy as one of their preferred schools, whose catchment area they are also in.”
Cllr Walker has also highlighted to us the case of Ruddington resident Mike Chinery who had listed West Bridgford High School and Rushcliffe Spencer Academy as the top two preferences for his 11 year-old step daughter. On ‘Offer Day’, however, the family discovered she had been given a place at Hall Park Academy – which is 15 miles away in Eastwood!
Another new village resident, Alex Perry, 40, reveals her ten year-old son has been offered a school place at Holgate Academy in Hucknall! Rayan currently attends primary school in Wilford Village and had also been hoping to go to Rushcliffe Spencer Academy from September.
Mr Pettigrew adds: “If families are dissatisfied with an offer, they can lodge an appeal. Details are available on our website at www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/admissions.”
St Peter’s Junior School Head Teacher Michael Bradley told us: “I am delighted that so many of our families in Year 6 got their preferred Secondary School option. As far as we can tell, all pupils who attended St Peter’s at the time of applying and live in Ruddington were offered a place at Rushcliffe Spencer Academy, if that was their preference.”
However, he points out: “Although Rushcliffe is the destination for the vast majority of pupils, we also have a larger number of pupils this year going, out of choice, to South Wolds Academy. It seems that families at St Peter’s, and who live in Ruddington, are now very fortunate to have two great secondary schools to choose from!”
To ensure that there are enough Junior School places in Ruddington going forward, Mr Bradley has previously told us:“One possibility is to increase our admission numbers from 90 to 120 which would eventually see us expand from having three classes per year group to four. Should NCC be given the go ahead to undertake a feasibility study, we look forward to working closely with them to explore all options.”
RUDDINGTON.info will keep you posted with further news!
{Top photo of ‘Wilbur Chase’ by Adam Wilkinson}
