Did you get your first choice for your child?  If you did you were one of the lucky ones…

Despite warnings for over a decade from the Liberal Democrat group and others, once again, the Tory Cabinet have let down residents in St Albans by failing to sort out the lack of school places.

So whilst some were lucky, others are facing long treks from one side of St Albans to the other to go to school.

All applicants who have not been offered their first preference school will automatically be placed on the continuing interest list for any schools named higher on the application form than the school offered.  However, in a significant change from previous years, parents should note that all new applications for continuing interest must be made to their home local authority, i.e.  to Hertfordshire County Council for all families living in Hertfordshire.

Further detailed information can be found in the ‘Under 11s – What Can You Do Now?’ leaflet, which is included with the allocation letters for all children who have not been offered their first preference school. This leaflet, which explains the continuing interest process and how to appeal, is also available on the website www.hertsdirect.org/admissions.  Parents can also access other useful information, such as school allocation summary reports, through the website.

School places must be accepted by April 26. This is also the last date to ‘opt out’ of the continuing interest process. The deadline to submit an appeal is 4pm on May 13, 2011.

In St Albans, the proposal to open a 2-form entry ‘Free School’ on Hatfield Road was not agreed by the Department for Education for this September and possibly reflects that the Tory run County Council has left the problem so long that the department questioned the feasibility.  As such, contingency measures have had to be put in place to accommodate children within St Albans.  In addition to the recent increases at Bernards Heath Infants’, Mandeville Primary (30 additional places each from 2008 onwards) and Margaret Wix (30 additional places from 2009), additional places were made available through local agreement with the following schools:

• Prae Wood – 30 additional places (to 60)
• Mandeville – 5 additional  places  (to 65)
• Windermere –  4 additional places (to 34)
• Margaret Wix – 5 additional places  (to 65)

For local people this is a frustrating and the Liberal Democrats will continue to fight for the resources St Albans needs.