Deadline warning on primary school choice
Comments |
by Martin
Jefferies
Parents in Kent have less than a week
to choose which primary school they want their children to attend
next year.
The deadline reminder comes as new
figures reveal a fifth of the county's primary schools are at
bursting point.
Of the 532 primaries in Kent, 104 are
full or oversubscribed, according to figures from the Department
for Education (DfE).
It means parents with children
starting school in September, who have until Monday to pick their
three preferred primaries, are not guaranteed to get their number
one choice.
Mike Whiting, cabinet member for
education, learning and skills at Kent County Council, said: "The
deadline is coming up soon. We've already received a number of
applications but we want to remind parents to get theirs in as soon
as they can."
The DfE figures show that in Kent, 800
pupils are in schools where capacity has been reached or exceeded –
and primaries are likely to become even more crowded in the next
five years.
Estimates suggest that, without
expansion, schools will be at 99% capacity by 2015/16, with just
1,889 spare places countywide.
The opposite is true of secondary
schools, which will be at 90% capacity by 2017/18, compared to 92%
at present.
But 42 of the county's 117 secondaries
– more than a third – are currently full or oversubscribed.
The figures show Rodmersham Primary
School, Sittingbourne, is the county's most oversubscribed primary,
with 37% more pupils than places, while The Hayesbrook School,
Tonbridge, is the most oversubscribed secondary (21%).
Parkside Community Primary School,
Canterbury, and Skinners' Kent Academy, Tunbridge Wells, are the
schools with most number of spare places. Both are less than 50%
full.
Parents will be told at the end of
March where their child will be attending school.
Wednesday, January 11 2012
The KM Group does not moderate comments.
Please click here for our house rules.